I'm going to church tomorrow, because of my meeting with the priest there this week. There are few people that I instantly like. I pretty immediately liked her. The parish cat roams the office freely. Millie sniffed me, but prefers the lap of her priest. I supposed someone could make a comment about a priestess and her "familiar," but I like the homeyness and informality. We talked for about an hour and a half. I told her WHY I was so concerned about getting the condo blessed and explained that I knew this was an irrational fear, but it was very real to me none-the-less. She was very understanding. She asked if we could wait until after Easter week and her daughter's graduation and do it in early June. Which is fine by me. However, she was understanding enough to say, that if she needed to get her butt over in a hurry she'd do it. She has her own wounds and is very understanding. I told her that while Betty is so medically fragile I didn't want to get REAL involved in church, but that I would eventually if people were nice to me. I did ask her if the guy who was my boss when I was at West Georgia that nearly gave me a nervous breakdown -- the job I had to quit -- if he went to church there. The good news is that he doesn't. That would make for a less than worshipful experience!
Today I went to the Dogwood Festival and an artist there did the most extraordinary batik pieces. I bought four lithographic reproductions of the originals. One is called "Blessing of the House." It is a Rabbi with his prayer shawl on holding up his hands to bless a house. Above him are the Hebrew words, "Spread your protection over our roof." The prayer shawl is made of the Hebrew symbols for "Know who you stand before." I really like the piece. I feel like I bring antiquity into my house in an elegant way, and that the hands of the Rabbi raised in a blessing pose, will help protect my home. The other three are also special. One is a colorful and stylized rendition of "Jonah in the belly of the whale," and a non-hokey, non-childish rendering of Noah's Ark. The last work is titled, "Woman of Valor." Around her are many symbols of home and hearth, a blue bird of happiness. The edges of the work have the Hebrew symbols which read, "Lucky is he who finds a woman of valor. You can trust her. She provides. She speaks wisdom, and she is compassionate." Out of the artist's Israeli roots, come some wonderfully meaningful and special pictures that I had to own (well at least the reproductions of them). These works speak to my heart right now. I feel privileged to own them. I am happy that I am at a place in my life where I could buy all four. I feel blessed, even as I feel anxious about what goes on around me right now.
