One more chilly day arrived, but fortunately we didn’t get the rain that was predicted other than a spitting of what felt like light sleet. Of course the southerly wind was picking up to where it was a necessity to keep bundled up while outdoors.
My arrival at office was early enough for me to get my contemplative prayer session completed, along with running thru the hymns I was scheduled to play over at St. Paul Lutheran. I did have enough time to send an email to the respective parties regarding a buyer and seller wanting to close early since my buyer’s loan was approved in a record time of two weeks, and that included having the appraisal completed and approved by their underwriting department.
When I pulled up to St. Paul Lutheran, I noticed the person who unlocks their doors hadn’t arrived, so I patiently waited with my car still running, just so I could keep warm. He did finally show up, so off I headed to their office where I busied myself with getting music pulled for the next Service I have to play which is the first Sunday of May.
You’re likely wondering why I was scheduled so far out. Well, they have a young man who belongs to Trinity Lutheran who’s working hard at becoming a full-fledged organist, and since Trinity has their own organist on staff, St. Paul allows him to play for their special Sunday Services like Christmas and Easter. Now that Our Savior’s and St. Paul take turns on which church they’ll be attending, is the reason why I’ll be a month out. In the past, I would’ve been concerned over being away from the “old girl” for such a long period, but not anymore because I’m now pretty comfortable with their vintage pipe organ. I dare not tell how long it took me to grow accustomed to it, but there’s definitely a bright side because I’m now a little more proficient whenever I’m called to play an old pipe organ. Believe me, they are different than the electronic ones.
The highlight of my day was having the opportunity to listen to the sermon given by the visiting female Pastor who I believe couldn’t have done a better job. Truth be told, by the time she finished, I was actually so moved by it, my eyes were filled with tears. Being as jaded as I am due to the many hundreds of sermons I’ve listened to over the years, without a doubt, I would place her as being in my top five homilists. You can bet I made sure to wait until she’d finished speaking to the exiting members, just so I could give praise and thanks for today’s homily. I would love to listen to her every Sunday, but unfortunately she’s from the Twin Cities and that drive every Sunday would be quite the chore. Her brother happens to be one of St. Paul’s members, which is why she was today’s guest Pastor.
Before their Services started, one of their members went to the pulpit to speak about a donation card they had at their rear for those suffering Ukrainians. She also mentioned that the arm of their world services mentioned that every dollar give would be matched by their organization. By the time their Services were over, I’d already made up my mind to go back to my office, grab my checkbook and run back with my donation. When I handed it in an envelope with their card, I did mention the reason its amount was so large, was because I’d been trying to think of a way I could donate to their cause without having the “feeling” it wouldn’t be going where it was supposed to. I think today’s religions experience, along with having an opportunity to freely give without feeling it was not going to the right place, must’ve been another welcome Divine Intervention.
Since nearly everyone was Downstairs having their treats and coffee, so I decided to grab a take-away cup and head back to office. Oh, and by the way, their numbers are continuing to grow every Sunday I’m there. Yes! Just as I was walking out, several of the women waved me to their table, so I went. Well, it looks like I’ll be working a little harder at singing and playing during their Communion because they both heard me singing along to a familiar one I’d played a month or so ago. I did tell them today that I’d be glad to do it, but I have to be very familiar with the words, because singing and playing at the same time is harder than it looks. I promised to share my voice as long as that particular Sunday’s Communion hymn is easy. Truth be told, I’m happy about it because it’s been too many years since I’ve lead song for a church. When I was singing along that particular Sunday, I really didn’t think my voice had carried that far, and especially since there was no microphone turned on in their gallery. It did embarrass me a little when listening to them rave about my voice this morning, because I’m really not that good.
When I arrived back at office, I changed my clothes and busied myself for a good four hours with a near non-stop attack on getting some nasty European Buckthorns cut down and then digging down far enough to cut their roots off, just so they wouldn’t grow back. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent over the years trying to keep those terribly invasive bushes at bay. Whenever driving around in our Downtown, and especially where those old railroad right-of-ways are, I can spot a very many of them freely growing and sending out all the more seeds to be scattered by bird droppings. Yes, the birds love their near-black berries, but I think we can find something far better to plant for our winged friends to eat. Thank goodness I managed to find a pair of thick leather gloves that were long enough to go past my wrist because I’ve been poked and scratched too many times by their barbs.
There absolutely must be a heightened public awareness for those living in North Iowa because they do far more damage than they ever could do good. I think it’s high time the Globe Gazette and KIMT to do full documentary on those nasties.
Tonight’s One-liner is: Of all noises, I believe music to be the least disagreeable.
