Observations from Week...10-ish?

1) As a pastor, I am a member of both the United Methodist Women and the United Methodist Men. I even played around with that this week by attending the UMM meeting and being the only female in the room. I find the gender identity label play in that fascinating. (Did you think I'd just put my thesis on the shelf and leave it there? HA!) Does that mean that clergy are without gender by virtue of our position? That being "clergy", wearing a robe and taking on that identity disclaims us from a gendered identity? Or is it some sort of transcendence of gender, where being clergy means we are not limited to one or the other side of the artificial gender binary that the system of UMM/UMW assumes? The likelihood is that I'm overanalyzing what was designed to simplify the organization of the church, but I still think it's interesting to consider.

2) I fixed the wobbly-Britney-Spears-microphone problem thanks to the advice of theater guru and all-around-cool-person Colleen. I learned to avoid the robe-tripping problem by wearing my white robe, which is hemmed to be shorter than the black one. Impromptu speaking, however, remains a skill that eludes me.

3) At the end of my 12-hour-day today, I knew that my brain would go into catch-up reprocessing mode as soon as I went back to my apartment. I didn't want to face that right away, so I went to distractionville: Buffalo Wild Wings on game day when I knew that the local team was playing. I nibbled on wings, sipped my water, and basked in a room so noisy and full of television screens and action that it was impossible to hear my own thoughts. I couldn't get sucked into thinking about my to do list for the next day, evaluating myself on the day's activities, or thinking about the busyness of the fall schedule. For a few minutes, I shut my brain off and enjoyed the distractions of three football games at once, the shouts and jeers of excited (if slightly inebriated) fans, and the sharp scent of buffalo wings. Only after that respite did I head back out into the evening air and allow advance planning for the next day to creep back into my consciousness.

4) The youth had a dunk tank for their kick-off event. I avoided becoming a victim of the contraption using the excuse of dry-clean only pants. I never thought I'd say this, but I was saved by the suit.

5) The acolytes at the church are mostly middle-school students, so I often notice that they are wearing shorts and flip-flops or jeans and sneakers beneath their black robes. I love it. I love that they're comfortable enough in the church that they don't feel like they have to dress up to be there. I love that they come to serve as they are. And I love the symbolic blending of the inside-the-church sacredness of robes and the sacred ordinariness of the clothing the youth wear every day.

6) I am consistently impressed by the way the people of the church use their gifts to serve in many, many ways, often without people noticing or commending them. I'm working to find a way to celebrate that more often in the church, but in the meantime, I continue to take note of them, thanking God for them in my heart.

7) I haven't exactly found a rhythm to church life, but I have found a sort of tide. There's an ebb and flow to the weeks, and to the month. While Sunday is not the most important day of the week, it is often the busiest, so there is a sort of buildup, starting with midday on Tuesday, as Sunday approaches. Monday morning seems to be a day of tying up the previous week's loose ends and setting the first steps for the new week, and things are *usually* calmer on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. Likewise, the first week of the month is usually the most hectic, with meetings almost every night. In the second week things begin to slow down. The third week starts a little busy, but usually lulls toward the end, and the fourth week is most often quiet, as the calm before the storm of another first-week-of-the-month. Of course, the tides aren't constant enough to be relied upon, but at least some semblance of a pattern is emerging for me. It helps to give hope when, after the insanity of the first-week, I know I can look forward to the calm of the fourth-week. However, I'm pretty sure that the liturgical seasons that overlap that schedule will change it around. Advent, for instance, is three weeks of building up to the fourth week of the month. It's not routine, but routine would probably be boring, anyway.