воскресенье, мая 21, 2006

Faces in the Crowd

So... there are two yellow darts stuck to the computer screen due to the fact that I'm being shot at as I type with the "nerf" guns Jon's mom sent out around Christmas time.

Church was great this morning, by the way. It's a much more visual experience than I've ever had before at church--partly due to the fact that I can't understand much of the actual words spoekn during the service. I enjoy the icons and the scoffolding. I also enjoy searching for tiny bits of progress on all the paintings on the upper teirs of the sanctuary every week.

But there are the people to look at too. First, there's the people up front investments you see every week. There are two old priests: one is cranky looking and always does the main part of the liturgy. The other is jolly looking and always behind the scenes. There's also the Kazakh priest who always seems to be late. He's younger--maybe 30 something, like most of the rest of the guys up front. One priest (deacon? Joel, help me out here) has a great bass voice so it's really cool when he chants scripture and stuff. He doesn't look any older than I am, and neither does the other, tenor priest/deacon.

There are two old men who are both pretty short who are the doorkeepers--one is fat and the other skinny. Every Sunday their job is to venerate the three large icons to the left of the big door (open) and then open the smaller door to the left. They cross and bow in unison with each other and are always checking to make sure they're the same.

I'm convinced all the men with ponytails meet at church every Sunday too. There are usually a half dozen to a dozen of them, some with beards, some without. There are some crazy-cool beards to be found at church too. It's like a crazy beard club or something. I like it.

Of course, most of the congragation is neither priests nor ponytailed men. The majority is old women (babushki). Some are tiny--like Grandma Billie tiny, only with a head scarf. One is a dwarf, I swear. She couldn't be more than four feet tall and is super cute with here wrinkly mole face. There are also behemoth babushki--wide as a lineman but with vastly superior moral authority to lecture one on the warmth of their clothes.

Since there are no chairs (except for the oldest and most infirm) everyone stands. Mass, therefore is important if you want to stand in the same place. I'm not a tiny man but I get tossed like a beach-ball in the surf when the behemoths are bulling their way to the bread line or communion. Kids have an advantage when moving through the crowd too, since most of them are tiny and can walk between my legs without ducking.

::side note:: I've mention many times before that the only thing cuter than a little kid is a little kid in a ski hat. Now, I also have to add that "head scarf" can be substituted for "ski hat" with equal cuteness.

So anyway, you've got your regulars that I know by sight, even though we've never spoken. I'm on head nod status with a few. Not with the blind guy who's there every week of course, but, you know. I give money to the same crippled (torso man: he hasn't arms or legs) guy on the front step every week. I leave with the choir singing in my head for hours and hours afterwards.

I'm gonna miss this church.

2 Comments:

Blogger monsterpants said...

Hey Nathan,

Surprise! Out of nowhere it's Gwen! I can't explain the internet, nor do I claim to- but sometimes I end up places on this thing totally unexpectedly, it just happens.

So- I just wanted to say, that it sounds like you are going to be living in Seattle after a long time away? (I am trying to glean a proper impression of where you are at based on these blog entries, I started with the most recent and am working backward, here, it's a little confusing.) If you are, and if you don't have a church you are already tied into and are looking for one with a super-sense of being community with each other and an interesting visual experience usually as part of worship, I would like to invite you to mine. It's called Church of the Apostles and meets in a terrific old church building called the Fremont Abbey (at 4272 Fremont Ave N).

We meet Saturdays at 5pm and almost always do something fun and community-building afterwards, like drinks or dinner or poker or hanging out, etc etc. But, it's an emergent church so, the whole thing is usually very multi-sensory and after reading this post it seems like you might get a kick out of it, and hopefully more than just a kick too, like a good worship experience, maybe some new friends etc. (No babyshki, sorry to say.)

ANYWAY, sorry I never sent you a CD like I promised I would years ago I am a total JERK-WAD! But a real jerk-wad probably wouldn't even remember she had promised that, now would she? And feel guilty about it every time she remembers her old station manager?? Would she?

I wonder if I will ever see you someday someplace sometime. Huh,
- Gwen


PS-- And also my hubby Gary is known for his crazy-cool beard! Which was like 7 inches long in October for his Fidel Castro costume, but even trimmed is beardier than most people are these days.

1:19 PM  
Blogger monsterpants said...

PPS- I am awesome! I just realized you posted this in 2006. Wow, so smart. (It doesn't help that all that date-stuff is written in Cyrillic, but you'd think I'd have noticed the year at least.) Anyway, the offer still stands, but I haven't a clue if it's relevant at all since I don't know where you are now.

3:38 AM  

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