Day 10-14

Personally, I blame God. After all, He made days. Granted, that was a long time ago (way back in Genesis 1:3-5, to be precise), but technology has moved on since then. It may be time for Him to update the design...or at least provide us with a day-extension app. 24 hours just doesn’t kick it anymore. Is this Evolution, or merely a problem with Intelligent Design?

It’s difficult to say. What’s easy to say, though, is that finding the extra time in the day to take my Daily Eucharistic Bread has been hard enough. Finding the extra extra time to blog about it has been even harder. Hence why, despite having managed by (if Job will forgive me) the skin of my teeth to go more or less 5 for 5 on daily Eucharist since Tuesday, I’m fallen hopelessly behind with the blog.

So…time permitting, let’s try to do some catching up.

Day 10 (Wednesday).
Nothing tricky with this one. Every Wednesday evening at 7.15pm, St Peter’s holds its weekly Contemplative Eucharist. As luck would have it, this is right after St Peter’s weekly Wednesday Evening Forum. Since, as luck would have it (and for reasons that still puzzle me), I regularly lead that forum, I am therefore admirably placed to get on line to put on the Eucharistic nosebag.

The Contemplative Eucharist is undeniably pretty. Candles. Subdued lighting. A soft, gentle, and reflective modern liturgy. As well as Scripture, it includes a meditative reading from a Christian writer: either ancient or modern. Undeniably, as I say, pretty. And it draws a decent crowd – many of whom either don’t or can’t attend the more regular High Church Sunday service. I usually duck out of it. Maybe that’s because it’s a little too soft and gentle for me. Maybe it’s because, when it comes to being reflective, my thoughts revolve around how little time there is to get done all the things I need to do. Or maybe it’s because God’s 24 hour day design just doesn’t work anymore, and as soon as the forum is over I have to scuttle home and get dinner on if there’s any chance we’ll get to bed at a decent hour. Whatever: I normally duck it. But tonight, of course, I couldn’t. Not if I was going to get my Daily Bread. And get it I did. Except that was all I got. The priest is still out of town. Tonight’s service, therefore, was celebrated by Deacon Nancy. Nancy is wonderful, selfless, loving and giving. Nancy has all the qualities a good deacon should have. Including the inability to make the Holy Spirit dance the fandango over the bread and wine. So, for the second day running, it was reserve sacrament body of Christ and not a drop of blood of Christ to wash it down. Oh, well: it still counts.


Day 11 (Thursday).
This is the one day a week that St Peter’s doesn’t offer Eucharist. Thus, I was rousted from not particularly holy dreams when the little hand was still stubbornly pointed towards the 6 in an effort to be up, dressed and ready to drive the 15-20 minutes north to Atonement in order to catch their early bird special service. Once again, I was impressed with the turn-out. Including the two of us, I counted 14 people all composed, intent, and ready in the congregation…and this at an hour when all I’m usually capable of doing is scratching my backside and preparing to take the dog out for his morning walk. It must be an Atonement thing. Still, it’s impressive.

What’s less impressive, though, is the drive home. The pre-Eucharist commute north up Lakeshore Drive is pre-rush hour. The return leg south, however, is decidedly rush. In Chicago, 45 minutes can make a big difference. I reckon Peter lived in Chicago and had to commute Lakeshore Drive during rush hour to get to his fishing business. How else could he have got the idea that, with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years? 25 minutes to eat my Daily Bread: 2 hours eaten out of the day. God really needs to reconsider this 24 hour thing.


Day 12 (Friday)
On Friday’s St Peter’s has a Reserve Sacrament service at 12.15 p.m. Nothing hard here. No early alarm clocks. No rush hour traffic. No dinner to prepare. This one should be easy. And, in part it was. Except for the business telephone call that had to be cut short. Except for the 1.00 p.m. business meeting downtown that had to be got to. Apart from the need to get through a day’s work in time for getting ready to meet friends and go to the theater that evening. Apart from…apart from…apart from the shortage of hours in the day.

Apart from these problems, I made it. Deacon Gordon was once again presiding. God, though also in attendance together with the 5 of us in the congregation, was once again represented not only without wine but in the shape and texture of an increasingly stale Body of Christ. Perhaps I should be grateful. After all, it’s important to reflect on the corporeality of Our Lord; the divine mystery of which is infinitely easier to comprehend when His trans- or con- substantiated Body
happens to be sticking to the roof of one’s mouth. (Like I said before, if you’re Christian Militia, my number is unlisted!) Roll on Sunday.


Day 13 (Saturday)
10.00 a.m. Eucharist at St Peter’s. Just like yesterday, should’ve been easy. Just like yesterday, should’ve been simple. Just like yesterday, should’ve been should’ve been. But, just like yesterday, wasn’t. Just like yesterday, had to cut things short before, had to rush to things after, had to…had to…had to. But, it got done. But, just like yesterday, just like Wednesday, just like Tuesday, our beloved priest was still away. So…yup, once again the Sacrament was Reserve. And, unlike wine (which I didn’t, of course, have), the Reserve appellation is not always a good thing. Jesus knew what he was talking about when, according to Matthew, he talked about salt losing its flavour. When it comes to Reserve Sacrament, maybe it would be better if, as Peter said, a thousand years were like one day.


Day 14 (Sunday)
Ah! That’s more like it. If only every day could be like Sunday. Except for the need, Pentateuchal injuctions against it nothwithstanding, to catch up on work. Except for the need to try and get a jump on the week ahead. Except for the need to find time in all of this to do Sunday chores…to meet up with friends visiting from out of town…to phone relatives…to find time to fix dinner…to catch up on blogs…to find time to relax…to find time to find time to have a word with God about why He, in His infinite wisdom, designed, way back in Genesis 1:3-5, a day with only 24 hours in it!

Say what you like about Evolution. Just don’t get me started on Intelligent Design. (P.S. My number is still unlisted!)