Well things have certainly gotten interesting at my house!
I’ve taken in a few house guests in the last week, my friend Suzanne’s son Will needed a couch to crash on until his apartment (which is incidentally up the street from me) becomes available and my friend Alyssa’s two cats needed a place to stay until she moves into her new place. Will has been very helpful with the cats, being a fellow cat lover, but Jasper and the male cat Earl have had a few tussles here and there. They are both very vocal cats, suffice it to say. Hopefully they can make peace with each other...
Work has been chugging along. We have been a little short this week due to one girl being on vacation and another ending up in the hospital with a bad illness. She’s recovered, but we were all very worried about her! It has been a bit slow since last weekend was tax free weekend.
Two of my friends, Steven and Charlie, and I are working on a Taize service for the 19th. I’m excited about this since I love music and liturgy and hanging out with them for rehearsal. We have another project we’re working on that I’m also excited about but we’re still in the early stages so I’ll wait til we get further along with it before I say much more.
I had an interesting experience at work the other day. Two teenage girls came up to my counter and asked to be matched for foundation, so I sat them down in my chairs and set to work. I ended up doing full face on them (which was nice because it killed a lot of time) and during the course of our conversation I mentioned that I had spent 10 months in Hong Kong. They asked what I had been doing so I tried to be vague but it’s hard to avoid mentioning that it was through my church. Then they asked what church I go to and I cringed at having to say it. Not because I am embarrassed or ashamed of my church (far from it!) but because people do not know anything about it. I live in a place heavily populated with Baptists, Presbyterians, Churches of Christ, Methodist, Non-Denominational Churches and so forth, and not many know anything about the Episcopal Church. I remember in Hong Kong being glad that the most I ever had to say was that the Episcopal Church is the same thing as the Church of England. (Basically…)
So I ended up trying to explain it, at work, to these young girls. I was glad for their interest, I told them that their curiosity is a healthy sign of growth and to keep asking questions. One girl mentioned going with one of her friends to their church and she said, “It was so weird, the guy was wearing this black dress thing and we just read from this thing… and it’s like the same thing every time! At my church the pastor preaches and gets really into it.” Different strokes for different folks… I reassured her that we all believe in God’s love and that living a good life and showing that love to others is a good thing. … Then steered the conversation back to skin care and make up. I didn’t want to really get too deep with it at work but who knows, maybe she will get curious and google it later.
Sometimes it can be a little frustrating living in a place where the majority of people don’t quite know what my church is all about. Blank stares. “Episco-whuh?” Questions about what Episcopalians believe (how much time do you have? I can tell you what *I* believe but that might be different from another Episcopalian)… When I try to explain I am going through a discernment process the stares get even weirder. But, it’s an opportunity to share my passion with others and educate, and I can’t pass that up.
I am Episcopalian.
Grace & Peace,
Kathleen
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