Saturday, May 26, 2007

A Memorable Service

We had another baby dedication in the congregation this morning. At the request of the family I videotaped the ceremony and took some family photos afterwards. I consider it a privilege when families let me be a part of their celebrations this way.

As well, an older, single, man in our congregation who is invaluable to us in leadership brought with him his elderly, frail mother. His camera was not working, so I photographed them together. What a memory that will make. I don't ever recall him bringing his mother to services before.

My sermon (see the post below) was well received. I preached on the same Torah portion about three years ago, but re-read the portion and brought it up to date with a more mature understanding. As part of the Torah service, I held the Torah over my head during one of the prayers, and around for the congregation to touch. I'm wearing a t-shirt with an illustration of a chimpanzee on it. I think when I held the Torah over my head, my face was covered and it looked like the chimp was holding it up. It was one of those, "I wish someone could take a picture of me now" moments. Instead of playing an instrument during worship, I flipped the overheads -- I haven't done that in ages.

Anyone who has attended our congregation for any length of time knows that the rabbi has an extreme sensitivity to scented products. Any time he gets "dosed," his mind starts to work in a funny way. Well, funnier than usual! Today, as he was introducing me before my sermon, he actually forgot my name. This is the person who has introduced me at the end of every service for the past four years when I come up to do the announcements (and who always manages to tease me somehow in order to get me to blush)! Well, today the joke was on him. And, best of all, we have it on tape for posterity.

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