2007-04-01

Holy Week began with Palm Sunday services at St. Luke’s. We sang a particularly gory Russian song called “Crown of Roses” by Tchaikovsky, a folk-song sort of piece which is as lovely as it is psychologically disturbing! I also read the Narrator part in the very long Gospel for the day, which takes the listener from the Last Supper through the crucifixion. It went well, praise the Lord. I must have been stopped on my way out of the church after the service a couple dozen times by people who wanted to say, “Good job.” it’s a grand thing about St. Luke’s. People are incredibly thankful and supportive for such modest efforts there. The Spirit is alive and well at S. Luke’s.

I had a difficult time of it at church, despite the happy occasion of reading well, because of my interstitial cystitis symptoms. After the pre-service choir practice I had to change my diaper, which left me feeling vulnerable, as I had brought only one extra. Then, right during the sermon, probably the most exposed time in the service a person has in the chancel because it is just one man, talking and the congregation is looking for stimulus, I absolutely had to leave for a bathroom run.

Disaster! I gathered my best dignity and scooted, er, walked in a stately manner, out of my choir pew to the chancel door, walked the length of the church outside and then down the outside steps to the undercroft and the choir bathroom. I successfully managed my symptoms and made the return trip to the choir pew. That simple effort had spiked my pulse to 140 and I was most grateful that Fr. Joe was still preaching away, as it took me a few minutes to normalize.

These are tough symptoms around which to work. Working with Carmen yesterday on Papa’s archive, I had to stop and rest every few minutes, because of the same racing pulse and back pain, and all I was doing differently from my usual way of working was to be sitting up at a desk and working with CDs rather than reclining somewhat in my Mama Chair and typing on Traveller, my laptop. Carmen kept urging me to rest; she would do all the work. But I preferred moving through the work with her as I could, for I knew that even moving at quarter-speed, I could help a lot.

And that is my general preference. I press on! These symptoms simply steel my will to serve.

Jim had cleaned the house and it smelled and looked grand. We enjoyed our lunch together and then he caught up on e-mail and worked on a proposal for a landscaping customer while I came upstairs and napped, which felt so good! Bath time woke me, and afterwards we greeted Romi, our only meditation group member to attend today. We had a beautiful silent meditation and then Romi worked for hours on Gary’s downstairs computer, his personal machine rather than the one he uses for L/L work, to install parts that would speed it up.

We gathered for a turkey feast – except for me, as I was fasting and merely drank for my supper, green tea and then Romi’s Love Tea, both delicious. Ro was using some of the exotic tea Pupie had sent us for the Midwinter Gathering. Yum! We greatly enjoyed watching a couple of episodes of “Planet Earth” before offering the Gaia Meditation.

After that, Romi departed for home and Jim and I said good night to Gary and called Mom McCarty before we retired for our kitty snuggle and bedtime at 11 PM.