I woke up this morning fully aware that my cold was here to stay. I have probably used an entire box of tissues today. But, cold or not, today was going to be a busy day.
I went to Ash Wednesday services at St. Mary's. I have to say that I am a little confused about the timing of today's gospel. It's the letter to the Corinthians (I think) that talks about not being a hypocrite, praying for ourselves, giving charitably in quiet, etc. And we read it on a day when they put ashes on our foreheads as an outward expression of our faith. It just seems a bit ill-timed.
I understand it is the beginning of Lent, and we don't want our days of abstinence and fasting to appear to be so. Our spiritual journey is internal. I get that. But how is wearing ashes all day not "showing off" your prayer? Doesn't everyone in my office now know I went to church this morning before work? I know I'm not prostrating myself on the street, but it is pretty obvious when you have a black cross on your forehead that something is going on today.
Back to my day. I worked through the morning with some ferocity and ate lunch at my desk (which I have a personal policy against) to make up for the fact that I was leaving early to meet with the stage crew for the Janney show. If I haven't mentioned it, this is an elementary school production of Damn Yankees that I am stage managing. The girls are all very sweet and should be excellent help backstage on the show. I feel a bit odd not being available to help them next week (since I can't just keep taking off from work to be there with them), but the director told me it isn't necessary - and to be honest, I don't want to take advantage of the flex time my boss is letting me use.
The drive home went pretty quickly considering it was almost rush hour. I spent a bit of time working once I got home - as this is how flex time works - and will do a bit more tonight after I get home from our volleyball game. It's hard to build the roster for the game in advance, since we're never sure who's going to show until we get there, so I'm heading over early to warm up my arms so that as the team gets there we can make some decisions.
That's all I've got for now. Love always, ~Heather
I went to Ash Wednesday services at St. Mary's. I have to say that I am a little confused about the timing of today's gospel. It's the letter to the Corinthians (I think) that talks about not being a hypocrite, praying for ourselves, giving charitably in quiet, etc. And we read it on a day when they put ashes on our foreheads as an outward expression of our faith. It just seems a bit ill-timed.
I understand it is the beginning of Lent, and we don't want our days of abstinence and fasting to appear to be so. Our spiritual journey is internal. I get that. But how is wearing ashes all day not "showing off" your prayer? Doesn't everyone in my office now know I went to church this morning before work? I know I'm not prostrating myself on the street, but it is pretty obvious when you have a black cross on your forehead that something is going on today.
Back to my day. I worked through the morning with some ferocity and ate lunch at my desk (which I have a personal policy against) to make up for the fact that I was leaving early to meet with the stage crew for the Janney show. If I haven't mentioned it, this is an elementary school production of Damn Yankees that I am stage managing. The girls are all very sweet and should be excellent help backstage on the show. I feel a bit odd not being available to help them next week (since I can't just keep taking off from work to be there with them), but the director told me it isn't necessary - and to be honest, I don't want to take advantage of the flex time my boss is letting me use.
The drive home went pretty quickly considering it was almost rush hour. I spent a bit of time working once I got home - as this is how flex time works - and will do a bit more tonight after I get home from our volleyball game. It's hard to build the roster for the game in advance, since we're never sure who's going to show until we get there, so I'm heading over early to warm up my arms so that as the team gets there we can make some decisions.
That's all I've got for now. Love always, ~Heather
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