5 days in

I have only been here for five days, and yet it feels as though so much more time has passed.  The pace here is so much slower than to what I'm accustomed, which is quite lovely.  It is nice not rushing from class to class to the library to class to the library to prayer to dinner to more reading and more writing to a small amount of sleep and then doing it all again the next day.

I've been enjoying life in the parish so far.  The first day or so was devoted towards administrative tasks, such as managing donations from the Sunday offerings, creating the parish bulletin, and balancing the check books (Quicken is an absolutely thrilling program).  Tuesday I had training to be MC (master of ceremonies, a.k.a. the one running around like a frenzied chicken without a head and sending the altar servers in every which direction) at the vigil and Sunday masses.  It was a bit to remember, particularly for someone who's had little experience and absolutely no training as an altar server.  We've also begun preparing for the Widest Yard Sale, which will be coming up next weekend.  The parish rents out booths to vendors, who bring in various things to sell--artwork, furniture, etc.--and the parishioners also donate items.  It should be a pretty good fundraiser.

My favorite thing so far has been going to visit the home-bound with Fr. Steve.  We'll sit and chat with the folks for a few minutes and then he'll do a very brief communion service.  It is such an intimate experience to witness and beautiful to see how the church reaches out to help connect the body of Christ.  It's absolutely stunning how blessed the people feel to have someone come to them.  There is such joy in their eyes.  I'm also looking forward to working with a couple of Franciscan sisters out in Mosses (40 minutes  northwest of Selma) where there will be opportunities to work with elderly programming and youth summer camps.  One thing we'll get to do is to go visit people in their homes to hear their stories.  This is quite an opportunity for your token white northerner.  Segregation is so intense here that, generally speaking, a white person is not going to be welcomed into a black home in Mosses.  But the sisters have developed an incredible reputation in the area through service and spreading the love and hope of Christ.

A good friend of mine from Boston College has embarked on a road trip from Massachusetts to Texas and is staying with us this weekend.  It's so nice seeing a familiar face from home!  Tomorrow we'll go through downtown Selma to see some of the historical sites and particularly the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where Bloody Sunday occurred in 1965.  Bloody Sunday was when unarmed, non-confrontational civil rights pioneers attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery and were met by extreme police brutality.  Children were beat with billy clubs.  Young men and women were attacked by police dogs.  Clouds of tear gas filled the air.  You should go Google this event.  It is a crucial moment in the Civil Rights movement.

"Two Minute Warning" by Spider Martin

The marchers had no idea that when they crossed the bridge
they would be met by a large force of armed officers.

Here are some links providing some more background info on the Edmundite Southern Missions and the
Civil Rights era:
http://www.edmunditemissions.org/history/general.asp
http://racialinjustice.eji.org/timeline/

Tomorrow night (Saturday) will be my first time coordinating mass.  Pray for a relatively calm experience!