convent

went to the convent yesterday with the lovely 84 year old helen.

found out the origami hat is called a miter. the bishop carries a shepherd's crook and wears this hat which can be "as unique as the bishop. and damn ugly" according to a 76 year old friend of helen's. i had a blast with these ladies.

they told me they were on the way out to the convent once, oh, twenty years ago or so, and stopped by the black horse tavern for drinks. then they went to meet with the mother superior with liquor on their breath. funny. they laughed when they spoke of it. i laughed right along. i hope to have friends for this length of time when i am old.

the miter the bishop lady had on was beaded by a native american, i knew that. i could tell by one glance at it. i asked her after if it was and she said,

yes, cree.

i knew it was northern.

it's heavy in the summer.

it's made of leather isn't it?

yes, she made me a stole (sp?), moccassins, and miter.

they are gorgeous.

thank you.

so i nearly kept up with whole service, and what i found to be most interesting was the altar boys (aka, priests. they looked like overgrown altar boys. grey haired, towering over the short rotund priestesses.)

the women did a lot of singing. these female priests. which i enjoy. before one priest was to sing the reading from the new testament, she went over to the bishop who anointed her with oil and laid hands on her and prayed. it was quite regal.

the overgrown altar boy got the same blessing, and held the bible open for the singing priestess. while another towering altarman (i shouldn't call them boys), swung the incense thingy, what are they called? censure i think (maybe not), and the whole time we were singing he kept swinging that censure and wafting incense all around the sanctuary. fortunately it wasn't right in front of me or i would have broken out into a fit of coughing to rival an emphezema patient.

so, this chapel we were in was gorgeous. the altar was inlaid with icons and gold leafed. if i were to join any church, this would be it. man it was gorgeous.

i'm not opposed to the liberal standings of this particular genre of churches, as i'm pretty open minded. get 'em in, we'll clean 'em later, is my opinion.

i'm still in need of a good scrubbing now and then.

i was noticing how goodlooking some of the priests were. wowza. what a load that is to carry. not only standing in for God, but being a looker too. i had to keep looking away because there were some mighty fine heirs of righteousness present and i didn't want to transgress, if you know what i mean.

the ladies, not so much.

one priest stood up after they shed their vestments, and he was wearing scarlett from head to toe. a more gorgeous get up on a priest i have never seen. apparently only bishops can wear this color. and it was stunning. that miter and scarlet getup are the strongest argument for being a bishop i've ever heard (or seen, as the case may be).

that's all. i was standing there the whole time with my irreverent humor running through my head thinking,

you God are merciful to get a kick out of me.

but He does, go figure.