On Digital Mastery, Kitty Retrieval, and Wonderful Weddings

The projector is in and we WILL be watching clips from The Village on Sunday morning as part of the sermon. I'm kind of torn on this because I was looking forward to playing the Adrien Brody part. However, I do think the film itself will be a better illustration of issues in truth telling. Thanks to our new church treasurer, George, who came over in blazing heat to teach me how to work the gizmo.

Sophia the Cat, beloved companion of our new minister Jeanne, came out from the chimney last night. She waited until the pest control man arrived and he still had to be paid, but YAY for Sophia. My guess is that her freakout was her way of saying, "Richmond?!? I thought you meant Richmond, Maine! Virginia?Are you out of your mind? Have you seen what they've got on the ballot for November?!?"

In other news, we've come to the end of the first half of wedding season. This was a great year for weddings for me. No bridezillas, no clueless grooms, no angry parents, no invasions of uninvited varmints or critters... a good season. So it means alot when I share that one of the high points of an already great season was the wedding of Dottie and Jim.

Here is a photo from the ceremony. That's Jim in the sandals, Dottie in white, and I'm the tall shoeless gal. We did the ceremony right there on that rock in the mighty James River. Jim arrived via canoe, their dog Jake was in attendance, and it was a beautiful day. Thanks to Dottie and Jim for letting me be a part of their special day. It was one of the greatest weddings I've ever attended. I'm grateful to have been a part of it.

Sunday Sermon on Truth, Lies, & Doubt; Other News

I storm the pulpit this Sunday for the third installment of my summer series on Alexander McCall Smith's The Sunday Philosophy Club. This week we look at Truth from practical, philosophical, and religious perspectives. We start at 10 AM in the interest of the heat index. Feel free to check out the website for directions or other church info at www.richmonduu.org
(Added Bonus: If a new piece of equipment arrives, part of the sermon will be a brief movie clip from "The Village". Otherwise, I'll just act out all the parts.)

Things are starting to hop again at First UU after a brief summer lull. Our new minister, Rev. Jeanne Pupke has arrived to Richmond. Poor woman. Her first days here and it is smoking hot, Richmond miserable, and last we talked her cat was hiding up a chimney. Welcome to River City!

We have a New UU class starting August22 at 7PM for those of you who've been waiting for the past two months to try it out. Vespers continues in cool comfort on Tuesdays at 5:30 with yours truly leading through August. (See previous posts on What is Vespers? and some of the themes.)

My biggest project is our Community Circles program. We have 11 groups to join that are fun, exciting, and introduce you to other members of First UU. The program includes four book groups, an Adventure circle, a cycling group, two performing arts groups who go see plays and music together, and three UU interest groups. More to come on that front.

Hope to see you Sunday!

Vespers August 1 - God

The topic for today's Vespers service is God. I chose this service topic in response to the latest Middle East violence. A frequent reaction to wars is to despise all efforts to describe God. The argument goes that every time we humans set out to determine who or what God is, we feel an overwhelming urge to kill people who don't agree with us. So, the logic goes, eschew all God-talk and peace will have a chance.

Part of our religious heritage is the belief that pride, greed and violence are human characteristics; not our only or best characteristics, but definitely ours. Any concept of transcendence, permanence, or love must work to remove itself from our worst pitfalls. To illustrate a peaceful variety of perspectives on the divine, we will be reading three poems by Virginia Hamilton Adair: Whodunit, Long Beginnings, and Enormous Day.

Musical selections are "God Don't Ever Change" and "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" as recorded by Corey Harris.

Vespers July 25 - The River

The Vespers topic for July 25 is the James River.

After numerous reports and studies on the foam in the James River, I decided to make the river a theme for our contemplative Vespers service. I recently performed a wedding ceremony on a large rock jutting into the river. The groom arrived by canoe. The wedding party was mostly barefoot. The music of the ceremony was the splashing and rushing of the river past us. It was a beautiful day that renewed my affection, admiration, and wonder concerning the river.

For the Vespers service readings are from T.S. Eliot, Henry David Thoreau, and our own church member Ann Woodlief. We will contemplate the themes of the river's solitude, power, history, ecosystem, and beauty.

Musical interludes are from the solo recordings of Thelonious Monk.

Minute 16 Entered After Decades of Expectation

If WNYU radio does its work, my fabulous super-stardom will be officially over. I was interviewed in Central Park on Sunday on the subject of "The Ballad of John Henry" and responded with some nonsensical groupie rant about the Drive-By Truckers. If aired, this will mark the final minute of my Warholian 15. How apt that it be in NYC.

Unlike many, I chose to do my fifteen one minute at a time over a 20 year period. Some highlights include: Minute 1 when I was a dancer in a troupe who opened for LL Cool J, Minute 6 when I was immortalized in a true crime novel, and Minute 12 when my children and I were on the local paper's front page as pro-choice supporters.

It's been a good run, but I'm ready to step out of the dim 10 watt bulb of the minute-at-a-time limelight. In my upcoming anonymity I plan to clean out my kitchen, write more often to my grandmother in Florida, and work on my Spanish. In years to come, you will not see me on a "Where are they now?" special relishing Minute 2 as a performance artist or my 10th minute cameo in a PBS news blurb on schools and volunteers.

No, fame like mine comes at a price, and I will spend the next few decades recovering from the frantic biannual pace of blink-and-you'll-miss-her stardom.