Vespers

In the past few months I have added two positive events to my life. The first is a late afternoon walk which takes me to a beautiful nearby lake. The second is Zoom Evening Prayer from the Church of the Ascension in New York City. It starts with an opening prayer for forgiveness. The lectionary leads us through a Psalm or two, followed by readings from the Old Testament and New Testaments. The readings are not always easy. Led by each Priest we get the context and a better grasp of the meanings. There are also prayers the needs of particular people and the world.

Both the walk and the Evening Prayer allow me to mark the end of another day, as the light is slipping away and the birds are nesting. After both of these daily rituals, I feel uplifted up and sense the mystery of the unknown.

In this yuletide season, I am also reminded of my mother’s love of Christmas and its music. For a young girl growing up on a farm during the Depression with many siblings, there were few gifts. Our mother never went overboard with Christmas. It was more about church and singing. Her personality remained pragmatic, but she did splurge once in a while. Smells of her wonderful cooking and baking filled our house. The memory that I will never forget is the stereo playing not only traditional Christmas music, but also the smooth and romantic sounds of Johnny Mathis. Accompanying him, we all sang our hearts out.