Sunday afternoon

The Blessing of the Backpacks, Briefcases, and BlackBerries went exceeding well. There were vast quantities of the items to be blessed gathered around the altar like sleeping puppies. I explained the theology of this act, pronounced words of blessing as I asperged them, then asperged the kiddos, who were gathered in the front row, to much giggling. This parish is so full of joy, even as individuals within it struggle with their personal financial, medical and emotional battles. The joy continued in the tangle as everyone retrieved their kits, so that I could set the Table and proceed with the service.

Dear A had made me a new stole with pictures of children of many hues encircling the globe. Perfect for the day, and for the focus of the day on our children and on their education. And after the service there was a potluck. Oh, carbohydrate excess!

Two long meetings after that, and a lot of work got done. I made it home without falling asleep at the wheel, and have had all good intentions to take a wee nap, but have gotten distracted by the odds and ends of work that need tending, the Redskins making themselves look like a bad joke, and reading some things in the Sunday paper.

But the true bliss of "l'heure bleu" is listening to Arvo Part's setting of "My Heart's In The Highlands" with countertenor Matthew Owen. I am utterly blissed by it...so I hardly mind that I've got an 8 pm dinner meeting that will probably run until 10 or so.

So you, too, can be filled with such bliss:



...and a bonus: Part's "Spiegel in Spiegel," which some moviegoers will recognize from "Wit"...