Skip to main content

Church Again


Maybe I should take a temporary break from posting about things I'm reading to write about something else for a change.  How about church?  Today was the second Sunday we were permitted to return to church in person again.  Last week I was there just with a few of my children, today the whole family was back.

It's not quite the same, of course.  Everyone is required to wear masks.  And of course there is social distancing enforced, with many pews blocked off.  For now we are permitted to operate at only 25% of capacity, which in our small parish means no more than 31 people present.  (Though we can sneak in a few more if need be by having my family sit up in the choir loft with me.)

To make sure we don't exceed the limit, we have set up a system for people to reserve a spot if they want to attend, which they do by contacting yours truly.  I then keep a list.  So far it hasn't been a problem, though--I don't think word has fully gotten around yet that we are again open.  Last week there were 11 people (plus some Meilaenders in the choir loft), today 15 (again, plus Meilaenders up above).

For me, the most disappointing thing is that there is no congregational singing permitted.  I miss the music, which is an important part of worship for me.

On the other hand, it means I don't have very much organ practicing to do--just a bit of pre- and post-service music, and something for background during communion.  So I don't have to work too hard at it.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dursli

Back to Gotthelf!  I have already mentioned that I re-read Gotthelf's novella about the five young women who were ruined by drink.  Last week I also re-read the second of his two early novellas tackling the problem of rural alcoholism, Dursli, der Brannteweinsäufer, oder Das heilige Weihnachtsabend  ( Dursli the Brandy Drinker, or The Holy Christmas Eve ).  This story also warns against the pubs springing up all over the Emmentaler countryside and their consequences for the rural poor.  But it is also--even more than I had remembered, in fact--set in the broader political context of the times. Gotthelf begins the novella, in fact, before he ever even introduces the main characters, with about a 10-page discourse on the problematic reception in Switzerland of the ideas of the French Revolution.  Its call for equality and freedom, he says, is naturally interpreted by the poorer classes not in terms of true Christian equality and freedom, but rather as a ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chinese Painting

The Wall Street Journal  has been running some interesting articles under the heading of "The Staying Inside Guide," offering suggestions for artistic or cultural resources to view online during the pandemic.  Yesterday I came across an interesting one entitled "Immersive Painted Worlds," on Chinese painting, about which I know virtually nothing.  (The article may be behind a subscription firewall.) The article has an impressive number of links to various things online, and I watched the first couple, a pair of 15-minute videos from a former BBC program called "The Culture Show," which together form an episode on "The Art of Chinese Painting."  I thought they were quite interesting.  The first episode introduced me to the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang , which I had never heard of before.  Located in the Gobi Desert, they contain a wealth of wall paintings and statues that are well over 1000 years old and were unknown to the outside world for cen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Paris Cafes Open Again

Now this is good news: I just read in the Times  that cafés in Paris are once again able to open for outdoor service .  I've never even been to Paris, but that is still a welcome sign. I have written before--it probably deserves another reflection sometime--that this lockdown has not been a big deal for me.  I worry about the college, and naturally I'm not thrilled about a salary cut forced by the college's losses.  But in terms of my day-to-day life, the lockdown is more or less irrelevant.  It makes grocery shopping more of a pain, and it keeps me away from my office, but otherwise interferes with little that I want to do. But the thing that I do miss is the opportunity to get to Europe once in a while.  I had to cancel a planned trip to Germany with students over Easter.  And this very morning, as it happens, I was supposed to arrive in Poland for a conference of the Austrian Studies Association.  Alas, those trips were not to be. And ...
Post a Comment
Read more