Trinity Sunday

I wrote this icon under the supervision of Master Iconographer Aleksandr Kharon in San Francisco.  Note the elbow of the right figure goes into the frame. When I drew the picture onto the base, it didn't quite fit in, so I cut off the elbow.   It took many hours and I refused to re-do it so Aleksandr carved the frame to contain the elbow.  I figure since the Holy Spirit does prod us quite a bit, making sure the elbow was visible was appropriate.

Isabelle did come to church this morning.  I had to carry her down the stairs, but by the time the first service started she slowly worked her way up the stairs from the undercroft and she seems able to go up and down now.  She wouldn't eat any cheese at coffee hour, but by the time we got home at noon she was hungry.  Things seem to be looking up.

We had an odd kind of sermon this morning.  I used materials from our Godly Play program to talk about the Trinity.  The way Godly Play talks about the Trinity is to use the Creation Story, The Faces of Easter (the life of Jesus) and Paul's Story along with the three large white felt circles from the Baptism Story.  I put a narrow table in the center aisle and used it to place the story of Jesus' life, told in a set of pictures on wood.  Then I took out the Creation story, also a set of pictures on wood and as I described each card, I asked people where in Jesus' life would this particular card fit.  We came to a consensus as to where each card would go.  Did the same thing with the story of Paul.  We had to move pictures around and what we ended up with was an interesting tangle of related stories.  Over all of that we put the three overlapping baptismal circles, representing the three members of the Trinity.  I doubt that anyone came away with a better understanding of the Trinity, but it was lots of fun.  One person said they were such a visual person that they really appreciated a sermon that was more visual than aural. 

A community chorus is starting up in town.  The first rehearsal was today. They will be rehearsing Sunday afternoons at our church.  The theme for the first concert at the end of August is appropriately "mountains, rivers and wind."  I was hoping for an earlier start to the group (like last year), but it wasn't to be.   Most of the pieces they're doing are more in the popular vein, but they are doing In Stiller Nacht by Brahms. I've always found that being able to sing in a group satisfying for the soul.  Maybe in my next town there will be a group to sing with.

Then it was off to the Baccalaureate service, held this year at the Roman Catholic Church (the four churches in town, rotate the service).  I read 1 Corinthians 13.  It was a short service, but very nice.  We have two young women in our parish graduating.  This is one of the largest senior classes in a while, with a total of 20 young men and women.  I know that one of our young people is in an earlier grade and they have just 10.  The school itself houses all children in the area from kindergarten to grade 12.  The parents do a lot of fund-raising so they can have the "extras" that living in a metropolitan area would provide such as trips to Boston or New York to go to museums or plays.