Sunday, June 06, 2004
Busy Few Days
As I hinted would happen when I posted a few days ago, these past few days have definitely lived up to their predicted harrowing pace. Friday, I was up very early in order to get up to St. Luke's Church in Evanston where I was to help prepare the continental breakfast served before Commencement. Fruit cut up, danishes arranged, coffee brewed and poured, I journeyed up the stairs to enjoy a little bit of it myself and have some conversation with those folks whom I would not be seeing after the day was done. All the professors and guests were arrayed in their academic robes (I always think that looks so neat!) and everyone else was in a cassock and/or a surplice. The church itself was amazing! High, vaulted ceilings, huge stone pillars, a glorious East-facing High Altar, an ornate Risen Christ crucifix hanging from above and a huge organ all combined to produce a visage of grandeur difficult to rival. Unfortunately, all that is just a visage, as the parish itself is apparently embroiled in a bitter civil war, and most folks are staying away from their normal services s attention is apparently focused on the conflict rather than the Divine Liturgy. Oh well...
For Commencement itself, I was assigned to chaplain the two recipients of the Doctor of Divinity, Honoris Causa degree: Rev. James M. Barnett, and Rt. Rev. Barbara C. Harris. This was quite an honor given the accomplishments of these two noble persons. Barnett, as you can see from the link above, wrote the book on the permanent Diaconate and Bishop Harris (Ret.) was the first woman elected to a Bishopric in the entire Anglican Communion. She was an absolute hoot - here I am, in awe over being assigned as chaplain to this famous personage in the Episcopal Church and she looks at me and says, "I'm sticking close to you so you can tell me what to do." Both of them were warm and genuine people and it was my honor and privilege to know them for this brief time.
Commencement was a wonderful service, celebrated by our Dean, Rev. Jim Lemler. It was somewhat bittersweet as this will be the last Eucharist service he presides over for Seabury, as he is departing for his new assignment as National Missioner at 815 (815 = National Headquarters address). All the graduates looked resplendant in their hoods as they received them and the extended passing of God's Peace saw its fair share of tears and hugs. I wonder if I'll get emotional when it comes time for me to graduate? I doubt it. The sermon was delivered by Rev. Alan Jones, and, while it was lengthy and sometimes disconnected, it was an eloquent combination of a sermon and a Commencement address. Communion proceeded apace gracefully, as we had five communion stations set up to facilitate the large number of people. The music, played by Dr. Robert Finster, was excellent and spiritually filling. This was also a bit bittersweet, as he is now officially retired. All in all, it was a grand service, followed by a wonderful reception back at the Seminary in the West Garth, which was thankfully graced by cooperative weather. Rushing immediately from the reception, I went to see...
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban!!!
It was awesome! Of the first four books which I have read in this series, this one is my clear favorite. While I will say that I think the fourth is technically the best book, Prisoner of Azkaban was more entertaining to me.
Hurrying from the end credits to get to Friday night supper with the regular crew, I ran out of the theater straightening my tie (having not had the opportunity to change) and adjusting my shirt. Dinner was at a dumb restaurant and so I'll say no more about that.
After supper, we went over the the Seabury apartments and had a campfire. It was a lot of fun and a good end to a great, but stressful day.
And, of course, yesterday was the Cookout! It was so much fun! Despite the 12 cancellations I had that morning (!!!) those who did come had a blast. Burgers flaming on the grill, beer flowing from the coolers, and conversations running the gammut from school to the Pistons, I think we all enjoyed the somewhat ecclectic company of one another. Given the amount of burgers I have left, we'll have to do it again sometime soon. After cleaning up the cookout, I departed with David, Jeff, and Sam to go to a house party of one of Jeff's friends. We stopped off at David's new apartment first to check it out. Wow! The man is living in the lap of luxary! We took our drinks on the private thrid floor balcony overlooking the neighboring beer garden. Ummm...yeah...wow...
Returning home after a long night, I collapsed into bed where I had a dream I was in the Vietname War and was responsible for manning a huge machine gun. Griffin and Pierre seemed to be fighting for the V.C., which is odd, and I did my absolute best not to hit them with the steady stream of lead emitting from the end of the barrel. I hope I missed them!
Now, I am doing precisely what I want to do. It is my last day of freedom, as CPE begins bright and early tomorrow morning. Tonight is not only Jackie's last night to celebrate at Canterbury, but it also the season finale for the Sopranos!! It seems I have another exciting night ahead of me! Woo hoo! And now, I have realized that this post deserves chapter headings, so I am going to sign off. Peace!
-R
As I hinted would happen when I posted a few days ago, these past few days have definitely lived up to their predicted harrowing pace. Friday, I was up very early in order to get up to St. Luke's Church in Evanston where I was to help prepare the continental breakfast served before Commencement. Fruit cut up, danishes arranged, coffee brewed and poured, I journeyed up the stairs to enjoy a little bit of it myself and have some conversation with those folks whom I would not be seeing after the day was done. All the professors and guests were arrayed in their academic robes (I always think that looks so neat!) and everyone else was in a cassock and/or a surplice. The church itself was amazing! High, vaulted ceilings, huge stone pillars, a glorious East-facing High Altar, an ornate Risen Christ crucifix hanging from above and a huge organ all combined to produce a visage of grandeur difficult to rival. Unfortunately, all that is just a visage, as the parish itself is apparently embroiled in a bitter civil war, and most folks are staying away from their normal services s attention is apparently focused on the conflict rather than the Divine Liturgy. Oh well...
For Commencement itself, I was assigned to chaplain the two recipients of the Doctor of Divinity, Honoris Causa degree: Rev. James M. Barnett, and Rt. Rev. Barbara C. Harris. This was quite an honor given the accomplishments of these two noble persons. Barnett, as you can see from the link above, wrote the book on the permanent Diaconate and Bishop Harris (Ret.) was the first woman elected to a Bishopric in the entire Anglican Communion. She was an absolute hoot - here I am, in awe over being assigned as chaplain to this famous personage in the Episcopal Church and she looks at me and says, "I'm sticking close to you so you can tell me what to do." Both of them were warm and genuine people and it was my honor and privilege to know them for this brief time.
Commencement was a wonderful service, celebrated by our Dean, Rev. Jim Lemler. It was somewhat bittersweet as this will be the last Eucharist service he presides over for Seabury, as he is departing for his new assignment as National Missioner at 815 (815 = National Headquarters address). All the graduates looked resplendant in their hoods as they received them and the extended passing of God's Peace saw its fair share of tears and hugs. I wonder if I'll get emotional when it comes time for me to graduate? I doubt it. The sermon was delivered by Rev. Alan Jones, and, while it was lengthy and sometimes disconnected, it was an eloquent combination of a sermon and a Commencement address. Communion proceeded apace gracefully, as we had five communion stations set up to facilitate the large number of people. The music, played by Dr. Robert Finster, was excellent and spiritually filling. This was also a bit bittersweet, as he is now officially retired. All in all, it was a grand service, followed by a wonderful reception back at the Seminary in the West Garth, which was thankfully graced by cooperative weather. Rushing immediately from the reception, I went to see...
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban!!!
It was awesome! Of the first four books which I have read in this series, this one is my clear favorite. While I will say that I think the fourth is technically the best book, Prisoner of Azkaban was more entertaining to me.
Hurrying from the end credits to get to Friday night supper with the regular crew, I ran out of the theater straightening my tie (having not had the opportunity to change) and adjusting my shirt. Dinner was at a dumb restaurant and so I'll say no more about that.
After supper, we went over the the Seabury apartments and had a campfire. It was a lot of fun and a good end to a great, but stressful day.
And, of course, yesterday was the Cookout! It was so much fun! Despite the 12 cancellations I had that morning (!!!) those who did come had a blast. Burgers flaming on the grill, beer flowing from the coolers, and conversations running the gammut from school to the Pistons, I think we all enjoyed the somewhat ecclectic company of one another. Given the amount of burgers I have left, we'll have to do it again sometime soon. After cleaning up the cookout, I departed with David, Jeff, and Sam to go to a house party of one of Jeff's friends. We stopped off at David's new apartment first to check it out. Wow! The man is living in the lap of luxary! We took our drinks on the private thrid floor balcony overlooking the neighboring beer garden. Ummm...yeah...wow...
Returning home after a long night, I collapsed into bed where I had a dream I was in the Vietname War and was responsible for manning a huge machine gun. Griffin and Pierre seemed to be fighting for the V.C., which is odd, and I did my absolute best not to hit them with the steady stream of lead emitting from the end of the barrel. I hope I missed them!
Now, I am doing precisely what I want to do. It is my last day of freedom, as CPE begins bright and early tomorrow morning. Tonight is not only Jackie's last night to celebrate at Canterbury, but it also the season finale for the Sopranos!! It seems I have another exciting night ahead of me! Woo hoo! And now, I have realized that this post deserves chapter headings, so I am going to sign off. Peace!
-R
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