A Sunday in pictures

It is the Sunday before Christmas and I chose today to document with photographs. Outside, the ground is covered by snow and ice. 

After the disaster that we like to call an "election," it feels almost hard to believe that Christmas will arrive. But it will, right on schedule because Christmas isn't about elections or polarization or any of the other stuff that has made people believe that their voices don't matter or that they are not represented by elected officials.

Christmas delivers a message of hope. For Christians, it is about a baby who came to this world to save us from ourselves.

"Gabriel's Message" (the Basque Christmas Carol) is one of my favorite songs that shares the Christmas message:

So... my day. My Sunday. The first thing for me was to choose a fashion statement for church. I chose this gray sweater set (it is actually one piece) and that necklace, which I made in a jewelry making class.

I turn the digital camera toward the necklace and got this selfie. 

I went downstairs and Zoey was waiting for me. She has a lot to say when she isn't napping.

I made scrambled eggs this morning. Here is one of the lovely, farm fresh eggs that I buy from one of the local farmers.

I found a ride to church. The combination of rain and snow that had come down in the past few days resulted in enough ice to make walking treacherous. Today's choir practice was the last one before Christmas Eve, which is this coming Saturday.

We practiced anthems and service music for Christmas Eve. Afterwards, we went into the church for the service. Giselle, an intern at Saint Martin's, gave today's sermon. She talked about the power of calling things by their name. She talked about Mary, who was not yet married to Joseph, being pregnant. At that time, women were killed for that. Joseph was told by an angel to marry her, so he did. If Mary had been killed before Jesus was born, would we read this in the Bible?

Mary conceived a child, who was to be the savior of the world. The Holy Spirit sent the child to Mary, who was patient and kind and ready to be the child's mother, to introduce him to the world and to the love that human beings were capable of. But human beings did not show that love. They disapproved of Mary's being with child so strenuously that they killed her. Joseph wept because he loved Mary but feared standing by her in her hour of need.

Even though the Savior of the World was never born of a human mother, the Spirit that was to be the Savior lives on, ready to touch humans and give them the qualities of faith, hope, and love, those things that were sadly lacking when Mary died at the hands of other humans.

Joseph was kinder than others.  He saved Mary's life. The narrative above did not have to be written.

And now, in the 21st century, we still need to call things by their names. Giselle talked about growing up with health challenges and of not really knowing the health challenges were until she insisted that someone name her struggles.

Names have power.

Linda serves breakfast after the church service!

It is time to decorate the church for Christmas. We make bows.

Redoing last year's wreaths.

A bow making project.

Some pictures really don't need captions!

Cooperative effort.

On top of the world. Below are a few more images of the decoration project.

After the decorating activity was over, Giselle drove me home. And home is where I stayed. It was too slippery and cold to go out for a walk.

Outside looked like this.

Snow and ice are everywhere. In just a few days, it will be the winter solstice.

At dinnertime, I made a fruit salad and a green salad, and we had pizza.

Later, I made tea, which I drank in my special new mug.

It keeps the beverage warm. I added delicious honey that comes from a local beekeeper.

One of my bee photographs is on the mug.

At night, I played rummy jack with my mom.

There are many ways to combine numbers and colors.

And the day draws to a close. 

Tomorrow's blog post: An interview with a vocal music teacher.