Role playing

We have a dress up bin that the boys play with regularly. Usually they are knights, or star wars characters, or policemen, or firefighters. But this time? This time they recreated church! Jonathan dressed himself up as a priest, complete with vestments.



He arranged our table bench and piano bench into pews and an altar rail, invited the younger boys to come to church, and served them "communion" (crackers and water).



He was actually very good at it, too!

Thomas started out playing Josiah's Dad, keeping him in line on the pew! Later he switched roles, retrieved a bath toy boat, and installed himself as the boat boy. :)



In real life, Jonathan is scheduled to serve for the first time as an acolyte (in the position of boat boy!) on the first two Sundays of August. He is very excited.

Pretend play is a kind of practice for reality, a trying on of roles and experimenting with your place in the story of life. I love that the boys are exploring this role along with the others.

Another Easter thought

This is the crucifix at the front of my church. On Good Friday the purple veil of Lent was removed, and I saw again the starkness of the crucifixion. It is hideous. God among us, dying the most painful death that man could imagine. It hurt to look at it.

Today I saw it in the early dawn of Easter morning. It is still hideous, but that is not why I cried. I looked on Him who gave himself for us, and I saw love.

8th day of Advent

Today's Advent activity: going to church!

This Sunday was particularly sweet for me, since it has been over a month since I was last at Blessed Sacrament. In fact, the last two months have been crazy in terms of church attendance.

October 22nd - on vacation visiting my family
October 29th - sick
November 5th - in church, I think!
November 12th - visiting Mom in the hospital
November 19th - home with a sick Jonathan :(
November 26th - Thanksgiving/visiting Mom in the hospital
December 3rd - in bed with a migraine

Every now and then Satan fills my head with these niggling little doubts about being in a liturgical church. It is so repetitive. It can get boring. Who really cares about all these old fashioned words anyway? Your mind is wandering again...you're not getting anything out of this (to this last one, I answer: that's not the point anyway!)

But all it takes to remind me of how very much I love the liturgy and our church in particular is to be away for a few weeks. I miss communion, I miss the sense of familial love, I miss seeing the crucifix and feeling the cold of the holy water and smelling the candles. I miss sitting next to Gabe and reading the old words together and knowing that there is deep, deep meaning in them, even if I can't always pay perfect attention to the prayers. I miss holding my son on my lap, carrying him up to the communion rail with us for a blessing and his own little piece of wafer, and watching him sit on Gabe's shoulders at the end of the service and learn to bow when the cross goes by.

There is a deep goodness and beauty and holiness in the mass at Blessed Sacrament. There is a sense of enfolding love from the people of God. There is experiential knowledge of God's best gift to us - the grace of his son's coming. In this season of Advent, as we await his coming in glory, I am grateful to have a place like this to call home.