Monday, December 31, 2007

Final Weekend of '07

"Fast away the old year passes. . ." the lyrics go in "Deck the Halls". And indeed, the just-finished final weekend of the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven seemed to fly by! As if "Father Time" couldn't wait to get to Ought Eight!

Perhaps one explanation for the swift flying of the hours is that I was engaged in one of my favorite creative activities: preparing and then delivering a sermon. Choosing as my text the "Epistle" reading from the lectionary, the Letter to the Hebrews 2:10-18, I titled my message -- that is, the message the Lord gave me -- "Para Destruir el Imperio de la Muerte / To Destroy Death's Power".

Now please, dear reader, do not consider me vain about the correction above. I take sermon preparation seriously, and continually pray over it. I firmly believe that, from the salient features of a text that leap at me upon first reading, to the conclusion that gets crafted, I am submissive to God's working, so that the words of the message are more His than mine! It's really a very humbling experience!

That the sermon's title is in both languages (espaƱol and English) should reveal that the message is bilingual. Indeed, I again deliberately prepared the message as a code-switching exercise. The gist of the message is that the Babe of Bethlehem naciĆ³ para morir; es decir, Jesus' purpose in being born on this Earth was to "give his life a ransom for many" (from Mark 10:45, my favorite Scripture verse) by dying for us on Golgotha. And delivering it Sunday morning at Mexican Christian Church (Disciples) was a true delight!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings I worked, as usual, at Fiesta Texas and its "Holiday in the Park." Let me tell you, being outside in Los Festivales (the first theme area entered past the turnstiles) before, during and after sunset is exquisite! As the sun sinks beneath the western horizon, the lights decorating the trees and edges of buildings become bright and beautiful. And the Christmas songs likewise lift the spirit! One of these may be titled "Welcome to Our World" -- the lyrics are indistinct, as the woman who sings it lacks the clear voice of a Karen Carpenter (two of whose songs are also in the recorded repertoire). From phrases of this soft lullaby that I've been able to hear, I gather that it's a welcoming to the Baby Jesus. I sure do hope I can find out more about the song!

After signing out of work Sunday nite I went to Take-a-Break, the employee cafeteria, to eat the "special", chicken cordon bleu. The meat portion of the dish was small and nothing to write home about, but the veggies (cheese potatoes and peas and carrots) sort of made up for it. Then I passed thru the interior door, into Sangerfest Halle to enjoy yet again the show "Happy Holidays". This one features a live band, mainly fellows from the country music shows band of Sundance Theater during the regular park season. I don't find the song repertoire notable; it's mostly very contemporary songs of Christmas. But still some are fun to sing along to, and the park's show brochure encourages singing along. What truly impresses me about this show is the frequent costume changes the four guys and four gals go thru during it! Having acted in a musical (as a volunteer cast member) years ago, I know the demands of making a quick change of costume backstage in order to speedily return front-and-center!

Once the show ends, I change back into my street clothes and exit thru the employee entrance. After the bus picks me up a foursome boards at the "Guest bus stop". They may be a mother and three sons; two of the young men wear Penn State shirts. Since Penn State won the Alamo Bowl the nite before, I congratulate them on the Nittany Lions football team's victory over the Texas A & M Aggies. Then I ask what part of Pennsylvania they're from. This commences a very nice conversation all the way to downtown, about Penn State and its terrific coach Joe Paterno, about San Antonio and their positive impressions of my hometown ("home" since January A.D. 2002, that is), and about comparisons between Fiesta Texas and Hershey Park and another themepark in their home state.

Downtown I get off the bus (the Pennsylvanians will get off closer to their hotel) and board the "line-up" bus to head home. Two or three stops down the line a couple get on -- and HE's sporting a Penn State shirt, too! Once again I give my congratulations and then query them on what part of the Keystone State they're from. Their home is Pottstown, which has connections with my Mom! So once again I enter into a delightful conversation. And when again I disembark, as for the earlier foursome I wish for them a safe trip home and add "Y'all come back soon now, ya hear?"

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