Vacation is Over

It always seems like vacations go Too Fast, Doesn't it?

I should say though, in regards to my vacation, it was very low key, some would probably almost say 'boring', for me it was perfect, I did a lot of relaxing and sleeping in, saw a lot of friends, caught up on a lot of reading, drank a lot of coffee - things like that. Really an ideal week for me. I also spent a lot of time discerning my time here, what it means and what my overall goals are, and what my progress has been. These are not always easy things to consider. It strikes me that before arriving I took many of my beliefs and opinions for granted as valid and obviously true, but here and now in a different setting around people with different opinions and beliefs, I'm forced to add some substance to my worldview. Believe me when I tell you it is a difficult task.

Enough of that, down to what has been going on. My goodness, it's difficult to look three weeks back, it seems so long ago! Since then we've had Holy Week, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and the preparation that goes along with all of that.

Preparing for Easter
As I look over the past three weeks, it seems that the main bulk of it was spent getting ready for Easter, both practically and spiritually. My thoughts around Easter always seem to be focused on getting myself and others to remember that the Easter season is in fact the high point of the Christian calendar, and it is more worthwhile if you can actually participate in the lamenting and celebrating more fully. Sea Point Evangelical Congregational Church isn't really a place that gets into Lent so wholeheartedly, which is something that is slightly different from what I have come to experience in past years. In recent years the Mennonite Church has started something of a revival of these old Christian traditions such as Lent and Advent that (as far as I'm aware) we didn't so much celebrate in the past. I have appreciated these changes, so I had been trying to integrate it into my faith life whilst abroad as well. However, for the first week of April I was very busy with choir practices and getting ready for Easter, so, it wasn't always easy to be focused on what I wanted to focus on.

Handel's 'Messiah'
As I have mentioned several times before, while here I have been fortunate enough to be a part of the Cape Town Philharmonia Choir. Every year at Easter they do two performances of the Messiah. This year I was given the opportunity to actually sing in the performance which is actually quite an honour beings that not all of their new members are allowed to sing with the performing choir their first year, so I was grateful for that. If you'll read my last post I said something about the upcoming performance and the conductor - I don't want to bore you with reiterating myself. Suffice it to say the performances went very well, I was glad to have my friends there, and they did in fact enjoy it very much, something I was a bit apprehensive about beings that they had never really been to such a performance before, so, it was a successful evening, all in all.

Tenebrae Service
Here at Sea Point Congregational recognize the traditional Tenebrae Service (also known as the Maundy Thursday service) at church. I was very pleased with the format of this service, it did well to recognize the atmosphere of the situation, and I think those that participated were edified by the service as well. We started with a simple soup and bread meal and some lively fellowship, and then went to the sanctuary for a very sombre and atmospheric service led by Thomas in which celebrated communion. It was a moving service, I was happy to have participated in it.

Good Friday
Our Good Friday service was held in the morning, which was good, because I had a choir concert in the evening, so thought it was a full day, I didn't have to miss anything to which I was obliged. Mirjam led the service that morning, and of course she did a fine job. The service itself was quite simple, with the reading of scripture and the singing of hymns and another celebration of Communion together. It was nice to see so many people there.

The other thing about the Easter weekend for me was that my host was having her family in for the weekend, so I needed to find a different place to stay for a few days. It was a bit tight in finding a place, but eventually we found a perfect place at an apartment just a few houses down the street. A very generous woman was gone for the weekend and allowed me to stay in her place for the duration of the weekend - free of charge! Safe to say that was an answer to prayers.

Easter Sunday
Saturday was my day to relax, and good grief did I need it. Sunday proved also to be very busy, but very nice. We celebrated the resurrection together as a church, and the sanctuary was full, which is always nice. I was double booked after church, and I felt bad about leaving some friends behind, but I ended up having Easter dinner with Thomas, Mirjam and Matthew, which was very nice. Soon after that I headed out to perform at our second concert of the weekend. I would say the second performance almost went better than the first, which is a rare thing. I was just very glad to have my friends there for the performance. Afterwards we headed back to my friend Ester's house to enjoy post-performance discussion. And then I was on vacation.

Vacation Overview

I already went into my vacation details a little bit, really there isn't much to say other than that it was quiet and relaxed, though I did end up doing a lot of soul searching and reading and studying. I also went to see a few movies, and even an opera (the Met's performance of 'Madam Butterfly' - not bad, very minimalist stage setting, excellent soprano performance). The vacation was good, so good that I am a bit sad to see it go, but I think once I get back into the routine of work, that will be good for me as well.

OK, that will do it from me for now. I feel almost sure that I have managed to miss something rather significant, three weeks is a long time to cover. As usual, any questions just let me know.

Until next time,

Vacation

Hey, I'm now officially on vacation, and I have been ordered to not do any work. Frankly, Thomas warned that I was dangerously close to failing my vacation assignment, ie 'relaxing', so this is all you'll get until next week. This is going to set off my bi-weekly updating, I realize this, but really, that's just the way it's going to be.

Cheers,