2007-09-30

Mick’s and my Sabbath was a little different today, as I had two services to sing instead of one. The choir sang “Poor Old Laz’rus” at the 11 AM service, which was mighty fun to do, and then sang a variety of pieces for a funeral of a beloved choir member, Harry S. We offered two pieces from the Messiah, “How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place” from Mendelssohn’s “Elijah”, Darke’s Mass and a rousing rendition of "Amazing Grace" with trumpet and descant. Somehow, I managed to sing every high note, by God’s good grace. Thank you, Lord.

It was so hot in the chancel that I found myself sick and faint. and it was a long, long service! However, our hearts were full and we received many compliments on the singing.

I was designated to stay afterwards for the reception and did so, becoming extremely weary and developing all manner of aches and pains that put the damper on the rest of my day. However I would not have missed any of the love-filled time together with Harry’s family. They had numerous slide shows prepared and a banquet of good food, enough that we could all make a full meal of it. At the end, I brought home the extra salad Mick had made – we wanted to be sure there was enough – plus a bonus meal of ham sandwiches and cupcakes.

We ate our supper while watching a film called “Seraphim Falls” that only a devotee of the Western genre could appreciate. It was an unending emergency for poor Pierce Brosnan, who played a Civil War officer who had inadvertently killed Liam Neeson’s character’s family in the midst of a questionable sortie. David Von Ancken, who wrote and directed the film, is to be praised for an air-tight screenplay. But the unending blood and gore, the casual carelessness of the killing and the lack of let-up created an emotional numbness and fatigue for me which lessened my appreciation for the excellent ensemble and wonderful scenery.

I was weary and sore in SO many ways, so I confess that I did nothing more useful than to doze for most of the rest of the evening, rousing for the Gaia Meditation, for which Mick offered the closing prayer.

We called Bill H, returning several of his calls which we had missed in the classic way of telephone tag. Bill and we chewed over the matter of mounting a matching funds campaign for L/L Research’s operating funds in 2008.

Our needs have escalated since we took on much-needed staff a year and a half ago, so we need to raise upwards of $30,000.00 to cover our obligations for the next year. The fact that all funds will be matched is hopefully a powerful incentive, and we sincerely hope that those seekers who find our work helpful will join in with helping us pay our bills.

Mick and I ended the evening with watching some CSI episodes and, in my case, napping. I will be glad if the repairman can fix my bedroom TV so that at the end of the day I do not have to wake up in order to climb the stairs to bed! We said our final prayers and bade each other a fond good night at 11:30.