Monday, March 24, 2008

Koinonia Watch

As ever, a mixture of deep seriousness and hysteria.
We ate supper together in the parish centre, then the Dufflepud was despatched to the chapel to watch while a posse of friends prepared a surprise party to celebrate one chorister birthday plus a farewell for the Dufflepud...Birthday cake and balloons, Pass the Parcel, a wildly hilarious game of stick the tail on Dostoevesky (a rabbit rather than a literary giant in this case) and a piggy pinata...Lots of laughter and warmth. Heavens, I am going to miss this group so horribly much. I hope they know how much I love them all, and what their friendship has meant.

My turn on watch was from one to two...space and peace where it was most needed. I love the fact that those young people make it possible for St M's to watch all night long (one even slept outside the church door) where so many churches sustain it only until midnight. There's something very special about going into the church on Good Friday morning to find the altar ablaze with the lights that each person has left as a sign that they have been there, have left their prayers and their love with the Lord in the garden.
We watched the last half hour together, then at 8.00 am I led some short prayers...
"Lord, it is time to leave you now, for soon you will go where we cannot follow..."
The feeling of desolation those words evoke always surprises me with its power...then it's time to take the hammer and break the 12 hour silence with the harsh noise of metal driving into wood. Some younger girls have watched for the first time this year, and find the whole thing strange. They giggle as they hammer, but that's OK too. That's how it must have been:some embarrassed,some indifferent,some hiding discomfort beneath a mask of bravado -while outside, at a safe distance, friends flinched at the sound of every blow.

4 comments:

liz crumlish said...

Kathryn, this is giving me goose bumps just reading about it! What a wonderful community you describe. I just know you will embrace your new community as they will embrace you with as much life and love. Look forward to sharing that journey too.
Looks like moves are afoot here too,weighing up all the loss and abandonment against new hope and new opportunity. Basically its my call - hoping I'm reading God's mind accurately. So scary.
Resurrection blessings.

Anonymous said...

Kathryn,

I have been (silently) walking with you the bit of the journey of leaving that you have been recording on your blog. It makes my heart ache and reminds me of finishing a parish internship (much much shorter and less intense of course than a curacy) in deep sadness at the loss despite the joy of moving on to the new (in my case full time seminary).

Blessings on you, your family, and your people (old and new) in this process.
----

P.S. We're still trying to work out travel plans in this corner of the world... A very exciting opportunity for classmates and I to be part of an exchange/study tour in conjunction with the seminary in Cuddesdon has come up. That would be in January. If that happens, no trip to the UK this coming summer. All is up in the air right now.

-Sophia at I Will Sing (my blogger account is acting funny at the moment...)

Ruby said...

I hope that when you read this you are safely tucked up in your new home, refreshed and ready for a new adventure. I loved spending time with you. XOXO

Chris said...

Kathryn

Blessings and prayers as you prepare for your licensing and the next stage in the journey.

I know that you will continue to enrich the lives of God's people in your new churches - and, I'm sure, to receive lots from them too!

Chris