Mystical Murmurs: My Interfaith Life

Last Friday, J. went to settlement on his parents' home. Actually, he didn't go -- he signed all the papers ahead of time, and then busied himself with all the small tasks required to completely empty a house: loading the car with anything left to be brought home, hauling away the last-minute trash, locking the property securely. Then he headed back to New Jersey.  Taking care of the house has been a big burden that I'm glad he's done with (as well as that 10-hour round-trip drive to central New York State).  And yet ... Now we've both been through the process of disposing of the family home, with all the attendant sorrow.  His family home was special to me, too. The house itself was an average 1950s-era "raised ranch" (I never knew that term until we listed the house for sale), but the location was magic. His mom and dad built the house in 1959, on a hillside outside their small college town.  In the 1970s, they also bought the wooded uphill lot ...

Holy Week, like all of Lent that precedes it, should be a time of faithful reflection, of additional reading or other practices which deepen our faith. We should build in extra time for solitude, for retreats, for time away with God. Have I achieved this in my life? In addition to working four full days, here's the rest of my schedule for Holy Week. You be the judge!      Monday night :  pick up new glasses; buy a couple of small Easter gifts; LAUNDRY      Tuesday night : choir practice moved up to 7 PM; DO LAUNDRY POSTPONED FROM LAST NIGHT      Wednesday night : Tenebrae at 7:30; DEFINITELY DO LAUNDRY      Thursday night : choir at Maundy Thursday service at 7:30; watch in the garden, 9:00-? FINALLY DO LAUNDRY. LOW UNDERWEAR ALERT!      Friday (vacation day??) : dye 4 dozen eggs; buy some chocolate for kids; figure out what to have for Easter dinner, since J. doesn't want ham again ;...