* I found out the badly-damaged house (where it looked like a tree made a direct hit on what was probably a bedroom) near my office building was unoccupied, so no one was injured. The house will probably have to be torn down but at least no one got hurt.
* Yesterday was, of course, Ash Wednesday. And because most of us work (so no "typical" early morning service) and because we're between ministers, the secretary and I, between us, worked up a short Ash Wednesday service: a couple of prayers (she did one, I did one) and some Scripture reading, and a "the purpose of Lent and ashes" reading. And yes, we distributed ashes.
Not all Disciples churches do this. I find it important and valuable, and our secretary was raised Catholic so I know they're meaningful to her.
Yes, it was odd this year being one of the people who marked crosses on people's foreheads and whispered "from dust you came and to dust you shall return" to them - it was something I would never have been prepared to do before but these past few years have changed me.
Oh, not all the changes have been good, but perhaps this greater acceptance of (or at least: less tendency to want to turn hard away from thinking about) mortality, and willingness to do things that might be "hard," are probably a good change.
I do admit as I got towards the end, as our newest members (a couple of men) came up and I did it, I could feel the catch in my throat and my eyes watering a little - one of them is like 80 and the other just a bit younger, and they're really nice guys, and I had the thought of "I might not have them as friends for very much longer, given their ages" and that got to me a tiny bit. But then it was my turn and I turned to the secretary and she did it for me and she was very nearly crying at that point.
Ash Wednesday can be a lot. I think it's especially a lot for those of us who lived through the pandemic now. It's probably more a lot for people who lost near and dear ones; the only people I lost were a cousin I'd not been in contact with much and an old family friend who had been very ill (leukemia).
I think it's a lot for me also because I remember my dad, whom I still miss. Next week - the 13th - would have been his 90th birthday.
* But also, I caught myself thinking how maybe this was my "zombie apocalypse" skill - people joke about that, like "are you good at repairing engines? can you deliver a baby and cut the cord? do you know how to spin yarn from wool?" and most of the skills I have - knitting, and baking bread, and sewing - are things that lots and lots of people can do, so I wouldn't have high demand skills
But maybe the more spiritual side? I have presided over, if not exactly a funeral, an interment of ashes. And I've preached sermons. And I can come up (usually) with prayers pretty off the cuff if needed. And in an end-of-the-world situation, maybe God would forgive me for being unordained and yet presiding over marriage vows for couples, if there were no longer the legal or ecclesiastical structure to support such a thing, but people wanted the officialness of a vow.
It's strange to realize that I seem to have Skills in this area despite wrestling very hard with doubts some times, but I guess maybe that's also evidence of God's much-vaunted sense of humor?
* So far it looks like my trip next week is still going. There are some claims on Social Media about "DOGE is looking at Amtrak" but Amtrak is a semi-autonomous company that is just subsidized by the government, and appropriations for this year have already been made* and also, the board it has is on through 2029 so.....hopefully. Though you never know now, it seems lots of "extrajudicial" stuff is being done and if the courts try to stop it, it's slow. At any rate, I expect to be getting on a train next Friday night for a short break, which I badly need
(*yes, those appropriations could get ganked, just like NIH/NSF funding, just like some of the student financial aid stuff was....but I hope not. Or at least I hope selfishly Amtrak has enough funds to get me to Illinois and back.)
* But yes, it's been a VERY busy week, and next week will be busy. I have two job candidate interviews Monday and have decided to skip CWF as it's at 6 pm and it's likely the last interview won't be over until after 5.
I really hope the candidate for another position we made an offer to will accept, both because they will be a good fit for the department but ALSO I really want to be done with these. I realized the other day I've served on a hiring committee for most of the times between 2019 and now, even including the pandemic (that's when we started heavily doing Zoom interviews)
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