Good Friday

Today we remembered the events of Good Friday in a Tenebrae service at church at 12 noon. Being in the choir, we had to be there for 11.15, to run through the two pieces we were singing. A Tenebrae service is a somber service of meditation and reflection on the Passion of Christ featuring a series of readings, each one followed by the extinguishing of a candle, symbolizing the descent into darkness. Finally, the main candle, the Christ candle is extinguished, and carried out of the sanctuary. The readings were interspersed by hymns and two anthems sung by the choir. That was followed by a short meditation from Pastor David, and then communion. Finally, the congregation left in silence. It should have been a very moving and meaningful service, and for those sitting out in the pews I’m sure it was. However, it was made slightly less so for the choir, since we were sitting in the choir loft, off to the side, and we weren’t receiving the audio feed from the readers microphone, so most of us struggled to hear what was being read, except for knowing the passages so well, that you could fill in the gaps. Moreover, we couldn’t appreciate the visual aspect of the service, as between us and the readers and candles, stood the draped wooden cross, with greenery around the base, blocking our view!
Laura is home with us for the weekend, since she has Friday and Monday off. However, she didn’t come with us, as she was having lunch with a friend, and then going to help her choose a bridesmaid dress for Laura’s wedding. When she returned, we went walking at Ault park, and then by the Ohio river, finding some Spring flowers and blossom for Laura. Living 8 hours drive further north than us in Wisconsin, Spring arrives later up there. In fact the locals say they don’t have Spring, it’s Winter, Mud season, then summer! Maybe the mud won’t be so bad this year, as where she is, they didn’t get much snow this year! But the first thing she said when she came down this morning, having arrived in the dark last night, was “It’s so green!” I’ve included an extra collage of some of the Spring flowers we found for her!
We had a fairly early dinner out at Phoenician Taverna, and now she is out with some other friends!
Have a wonderful Easter weekend fellow blippers!