Adventures in Matrimony

After my musing last night about the limited opportunities for adventure in the real world (especially if you don't want to do anything actually dangerous or uncomfortable), I had an adventure today. It wasn't anything amazing, no talking dogs beneath a pink sky, no saving the world. But it was a rut-breaker at the very least, and something I've never done before.

I assisted at a wedding today.

I've known it was coming since last Sunday, but it was so much more than I signed on for. I thought I was just going to carry in the cross as I do most Sundays, and maybe carry a torch (candle) at a few points during the Mass. But no, I got to do a lot more. I was the lector for the First Reading (from the Song of Solomon), the Psalm (Psalm 67), the Epistle (Colossians), and the Prayers of the People, matrimonial addition. I took the pail of holy water and set it on the altar, and the platen that held the wedding rings and set it on a side table in the sanctuary; I forget the name of that little table. And for the first time I was the chalice bearer as well, helping to serve communion.

*Song of Solomon 2:10-13 (Many waters cannot quench love)

*Colossians 3:12-17 (Love which binds everything together in harmony)

*Between the Readings, a Psalm, hymn, or anthem may be sing or said. Appropriate Psalms are 67, 127, and 128.*

I only messed up about three times. Rev. Angela tried to say something helpful during the psalm, and it just threw me off. I had to start it over. Then I lost the page for the Prayers of the People, and was distracted enough about that that I lost my place in Colossians for about ten seconds. And when I served communion, I was sufficiently thrown by my first-ever communicant being a little kid that I held the chalice way too low for the adult with the kid.

But it was good, and interesting, and fun. Aside from the little mess-ups and stumbles, I read well and with feeling, and I didn't make any mistakes in putting things away. One of the pieces our organist played was Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, the same piece to which I walked up the aisle 28 years ago. And when it was all over, the groom praised m reading, thanked me, and pressed an unexpected, folded $20 bill into my hand.

This was the fourth wedding I've ever attended, and the first I've been to at St. Michael's,et alone served at. It was Rev. Angela's first wedding officiation as well. I told her afterward that when I was a kid, I would sometimes say that I'd never done such-and-such before. My dad would say, "You'll never be able to say that again." Hooray for finding a new experience at the age of 50!

And it was Saturday, which means it was the day the next to last Doctor Who episode of the season aired in the UK. I'm really not going to get all spoilerish as we head into a top secret season finale, but check out Martha Jones from a key moment in "The Sound of Drums":

Martha Jones, Defender of the Earth

Looks pretty determined, doesn't she? From all that I've read, she's going to be the key to getting the Earth out of its latest scrape. Good for her! I'm actually not too worried about Martha getting through it. I'm nervous about the Doctor, though. There have been a number of ominous hints lately, and I hope I'm interpreting them wrong. That's all I will say for now.

But the episode had some fun moments. Harold Saxon was as funny as he was menacing, writer Russell T Davies disposed of last week's cliffhanger with a clever variation on "With one mighty leap...", and there was a truly chilling moment in which Saxon's wife dances to the music of disaster. And we got to see a certain planet again. Good stuff! And it all starts airing in the States right after the 4th of July, on SciFi.

Karen