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so begins a week of tooth-pulling
Oct. 6th, 2008 08:30 amLiterally, for my coworker who is getting her wisdom teeth out. Just figuratively, for me - library school midterm.
We went to church yesterday, at the Unitarian Church. I don't know if it's going to be something we can do - I don't know if any church is going to be something we can do. They had a children's service in the community room, which they seem to do every other week, with singing and candle lighting and joys and concerns and about 15 words on the week's topic (forgiveness, for Yom Kippur.) Then the children went to the RE classrooms, and the grownups went to the regular service. There were probably 20 kids in the range of PreK-5th grade, and the RE classes are (babies), preschool, K-1, 2-3, 4-5, with maybe 5 or so kids in each one. It seems a decent size. K-1 was run this week by an assistant at Casper's school. We also met the RE coordinator, who had the classic cheery demeanor of an elementary school teacher and basically ran the service.
There was no way Dillo was going to go to the nursery, because he is so slow to warm up, and Casper was reluctant to the whole endeavor. She didn't want to go in the first place, and sat in mr. flea's lap through the children's service, and didn't want to go to RE. So I sat in the (tiny) quiet room with the kids and mr. flea attended the service. The main congregation seemed to trend quite old - I would estimate 50% retirees, and older-looking retirees (looked older than my mother and stepfather, for example). It's a small place, though it was full, and judging by the calendar seems to be quite active. The music was decent; the main sung piece I heard was a Jewish prayer piece, and the piano at the offertory was very good. The interim minister was an ocean geographer and lived in Woods Hole for 12 years before becoming a minister, and gave a routine lesson on forgiveness.
We didn't really get a chance to talk to many people, what with children and our natures. Didn't see anyone we recognized from elsewhere (except the teacher from Casper's school) which actually very much surprised me - Athens being a town where everywhere you go you run into someone you know, and between the neighborhood, the librarians, and the environmental scientists you'd think there would be Unitarians.
I don't know if it's the right thing for us. I like, in theory, the idea of community and religious education that is broad and inclusive for the children. In practice, attending church makes me feel squicky, and talking about feelings and spirituality makes me feel squicky, and all these nice open-hearted, touchy-feely people make me feel squicky. And clearly I am the one driving this train, if it is to be driven; the children are children, and mr. flea, while he agrees with the idea of going to church, is never going to get us out the door regularly on a Sunday of his own volition.
I am thinking of trying the Episcopalians, who also have the advantage of being in our neighborhood, because I may be better able to handle ritual I do not believe in. In ritual, you can at least go through the motions.
We went to church yesterday, at the Unitarian Church. I don't know if it's going to be something we can do - I don't know if any church is going to be something we can do. They had a children's service in the community room, which they seem to do every other week, with singing and candle lighting and joys and concerns and about 15 words on the week's topic (forgiveness, for Yom Kippur.) Then the children went to the RE classrooms, and the grownups went to the regular service. There were probably 20 kids in the range of PreK-5th grade, and the RE classes are (babies), preschool, K-1, 2-3, 4-5, with maybe 5 or so kids in each one. It seems a decent size. K-1 was run this week by an assistant at Casper's school. We also met the RE coordinator, who had the classic cheery demeanor of an elementary school teacher and basically ran the service.
There was no way Dillo was going to go to the nursery, because he is so slow to warm up, and Casper was reluctant to the whole endeavor. She didn't want to go in the first place, and sat in mr. flea's lap through the children's service, and didn't want to go to RE. So I sat in the (tiny) quiet room with the kids and mr. flea attended the service. The main congregation seemed to trend quite old - I would estimate 50% retirees, and older-looking retirees (looked older than my mother and stepfather, for example). It's a small place, though it was full, and judging by the calendar seems to be quite active. The music was decent; the main sung piece I heard was a Jewish prayer piece, and the piano at the offertory was very good. The interim minister was an ocean geographer and lived in Woods Hole for 12 years before becoming a minister, and gave a routine lesson on forgiveness.
We didn't really get a chance to talk to many people, what with children and our natures. Didn't see anyone we recognized from elsewhere (except the teacher from Casper's school) which actually very much surprised me - Athens being a town where everywhere you go you run into someone you know, and between the neighborhood, the librarians, and the environmental scientists you'd think there would be Unitarians.
I don't know if it's the right thing for us. I like, in theory, the idea of community and religious education that is broad and inclusive for the children. In practice, attending church makes me feel squicky, and talking about feelings and spirituality makes me feel squicky, and all these nice open-hearted, touchy-feely people make me feel squicky. And clearly I am the one driving this train, if it is to be driven; the children are children, and mr. flea, while he agrees with the idea of going to church, is never going to get us out the door regularly on a Sunday of his own volition.
I am thinking of trying the Episcopalians, who also have the advantage of being in our neighborhood, because I may be better able to handle ritual I do not believe in. In ritual, you can at least go through the motions.