Morgan

Last year about this time, I met Morgan -- a California girl who had become homeless after arriving at NYC. She wasn't a junkie or anything like that. Sometimes things in life don't go as expected like been robbed everything including money and identification as in her case. We simply lost touch of one another. Last I heard, she was offered a job. I hope she's fine and not using the subway any more as shelter or a place to sleep at night.

a whole new experience, pt. 2

MAUDY THURSDAY
(maudy, Latin for mandate; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maundy_Thursday)
Service divided into four parts, not three as it's usually broken down.
* Call to worship
* Worship -- reading from the Gospel of John, the Last Supper; remembering one's baptism (getting sprayed with holy water, three times, no less; Randy getting sprayed by Scott without warning) and communion (the two sacraments instructed by Jesus)
* Reading of the Shadows (tenebrae, Latin for shadows; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenebrae)
* Loud sound (gong played by Paul) in complete darkness that symbolizes the earthquake when Christ died during the eclipse; leaving the Sanctuary in darkness
** Maudy Thursday serves as an introduction to the Holy Friday service, which concludes with the celebration on Easter Sunday.

HOLY FRIDAY -- SEVEN LAST WORDS (3 HRS)
* I arrived 30 minutes late (12:30pm), but I stayed till the end (3pm). I wouldn't really know everything that took place. I kept passing out thanks to all the medicine that I'm taking.

EASTER SUNDAY
* The church was crowded to the roof literally (full house, including the balcony and the chapel).
* Scott - "Jesus is on the loose."

In all I spent five hours in church this past week, much more than I'd have expected to stay in church.