SUNDAY 1/4/09

Awoke early today. Guess my system is still somewhat on EST. We decided to go to the 8:15 service at St. Paul’s It was good to be back and to be warmly greeted by several friends. One of Dan’s h.s. classmates was the first person we saw when we got to church. I had know her, too, when I lived here the year after we were married. The church was still decorated beautifully for Christmas with two trees, Advent wreath, etc. They were having an undecorating event this afternoon. The associate pastor preached on “Look at the Shape We’re In” and used soap bubbles to illustrate “getting in shape” --- i.e how bubbles form into a perfect round shape in order to be more stable, etc.

Two things happened during the communion service that were memorable. First, as we were going up for communion a homeless man was returning. He had his blanket over his head and wrapped around him. I was reminded of the meeting in 1962 on the spot where we were worshipping. The meeting was to decide whether the church would remain downtown or move out to a larger parcel of land away from the center of town. Dan and I were for moving to the new area but the vote went the other way. In later years we saw that the decision had probably been a wise one. Seeing this man in the beautiful new (since that time) sanctuary made me realize anew that it was the right decision for the church had remained in the center of town near where this homeless man was. Also, as Joe (the pastor) was placing the bread into my hand he said not only “the body……” but “welcome back” That was special.

After the service we visited with a few people and then went to a SS class that someone had invited us to attend. It was a lively class finishing up a series on Proverbs. They got off subject quite a bit of the time but we enjoyed the interaction. We’ll probably visit around a bit to see what other classes are doing. There appear to be 8 or 10 adults classes. One, the Double 20s was in existence when I was here in 1961-62. At that time it was made up of young couples in their 20s – hence “double 20s” Later they kept the name because most of them were in their 40s (2x20). Now I think the name has no significance except that it has been called that for so many years!
Brunch was at a newer Mexican restaurant, Paisano, that we had been to several times last year. They have a good Sunday brunch selection. I had been looking forward to their huevos rancheros and I was not disappointed! “Green or red or CHRISTMAS?” Not being able to decide between green or red, I went for Christmas, which meant that I got some of each.
The El Paso Times is not a good substitute for the Washington Post. Although I hate to admit it, I think I would have preferred the Richmond Times-Dispatch! Anyhow it was good to read about some of the local news and happenings.

We napped a bit and then watched Agnes of God, which we had gotten out on Friday when we got our library cards. This was an academy award winner some years ago starring Ann Bancroft and Jane Fonda. It was well acted but I did not really like the movie too much. It had too many loose ends and a not-entirely-satisfying ending.