Evensong

Tonight I went to my first evensong service at St. Luke's. We closed with this prayer, which moved me deeply: "O Lord, support us all the day long of this troublous life, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, the busy world is hushed, the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then, Lord, in thy mercy, grant us safe lodging, a holy rest, and peace at the last; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

I've only just recently started going to church services again, but so far it's only been a positive experience. During the past year I've begun exploring my spirituality on a variety of levels, and while I don't have any answers yet as to what I believe, I'm deeply enjoying this journey.

The service this evening was quite lovely. The congregation was quite small, perhaps 12 people and another 7 in the choir. I enjoyed the intimacy of the gathering, the quiet and calm atmosphere. Normally at St. Luke's we use the Book of Alternative Services, but tonight we returned to old Book of Common Prayer. I really enjoyed the language of the text and the highly interactive quality; it was far more responsorial than our regular service. I also like that there was a great deal of scripture cited right in the service in addition to the readings.

Pastor Dan gave a particularly good sermon on the importance of living humbly and being grateful for the blessings we have. He talked about how we often envy the lucky few who have so much, but that their position is perilous and fraught, and it's a long fall from that peak.

One of the hymns we sang was "Abide with Me." I remember that was Aaron's favourite hymn, or so he told me. I can't remember if we sang it at his funeral, but we should have if we didn't. Whenever I sing it I think of him.

It was strange, and more than a little sad, to realise that I was the youngest member of the congregation by a full generation. I wonder sometimes what will happen to St. Luke's as their congregation shrinks over the next 15 or 20 years. I suppose it will probably be subsumed by another similarly shrinking church in the neighbourhood. When that happens it will be a hard thing for me. I have so many memories in that church--in the building and with the people.