Two Days In A Row

I finally broke the grip of the unholy troika - aching body, schedules and weather - that was conspiring against my riding the winter pig bike to work. By weather I mean snow and/or ice. On the way home last night I was fighting against 20mph winds from the south, so I just thumbed my nose at Mother Nature and pressed on. Today there are west winds at about 15mph. Damn you Mother Nature.

Easter was good. TOYH decided to skip church and perfom a mission of mercy by preparing an Easter meal for the EG and DM. We spent the afternoon over at their place. The EG is making good progress getting around with her new hip. There's still some pain, but she's able to get up and down the short flight of stairs in their house.

Since TOYH and the girls didn't make it to Calvary for Easter service, I suggested we go to my church in the evening. It was very nice. Easter is great and all, but sometimes the attempted spectacle and production values of an Easter church service get to be a bit tiresome. At Mercy Seat Lutheran Kae preached a wonderful sermon and there were four baptisms. If I remember my church history correctly, the ancient church baptized folks on Easter after their instruction in the Catechism. Other than the baptisms, the only thing that was really different in the Easter service was a candle that was brought to the altar during the processional. (The processsional consisted of the two pastors and a 10 year old girl carrying the candle, not a lot of spectacle at my church.) It was the same candle that was taken from the altar at the end of the Good Friday Tennebrae service. I'll let you figure out the symbolism.

At church, TOYH and I proudly sported the hand stamps we received at First Avenue the night before at the Mike Doughty concert. Nothing like spending Holy Saturday in a bar. Doughty actually kind brought that up. He asked "If Jesus died on the cross yesterday and tomorrow he's resurrected, where is he today?" His bass player Scrap said, "He's here at First Avenue." I can live with that answer. But in 1st Peter it says that after the cross, Jesus was preaching to the spirits in prison, or hell I guess. If Scrap and 1st Peter are correct, hell has some pretty fine music.