Out in The World in Everyday Ramblings

I took this Saturday in the neighborhood. People are always doing whimsical things like this around here if you look carefully. This is a utility pole next to a bus stop. That is the busy street I am always talking about off to the left and a disrupted street due to “urban renewal” to the right.

We have been under a Winter Weather Advisory for a few days and yesterday we had about 3 and ½ inches of rain and now on day 6 of the month have almost had our average rainfall for the whole month…

In spite of the rain I had a geared up out in the world day yesterday, which was good for me. I went to church for the second service where I sat with Mrs. Sherlock (we had to cancel our Saturday walk because of the weather) and then we had tea and chatted and then walked back to church for a congregational forum.

It was a formal two-hour meeting in our historic smaller sanctuary with the full board and our senior ministers and senior administrator to answer some of the intense concerns that were brought up during the last raucous forum right after the election in November.

A Catholic Priest moderated the forum.

Wow. He is a skilled mediator that has worked in Ireland and South Africa and it was very clear that the church leadership took our concerns seriously but was also determined to protect themselves from the passionate views of the congregants. They seemed to be walking back some of the proposals previously under consideration.

There were about 250 folks at the meeting, almost exclusively 50 or older. We have one board member that is 36, a high school math teacher, who added a much needed younger perspective.

It was good practice for all the Democracy in action I know I will be involved with for the rest of my life as I am able.

They say they are now going to have small listening groups to interact with us. I sure hope that goes better than the “listening session” President Trump had on Black History month last week.

I hope to get my voice heard about the adult programs part of congregational life sometime in the next few months.

After the meeting I waded over to the Portland Art Museum to watch a movie, a documentary called even if I lose everything

about the contemporary composer Arvo Pärt. He is from and lives in Estonia and now also Berlin part of the year. He is 82.

This screening was kicking off a week of concerts and lectures about him and even more exciting, listening to his music at the first ever festival of his works here in the U.S.

I am going to be busy and enthralled as I splurged (totally unlike me) and bought the premium pass to the festival.

His music is the most ever played around the world by a living classical composer. It has this spare beauty that is so deeply felt that speaks to me profoundly and I love everything he does. At least that I have been exposed to.

Before the movie I had a lovely chat with a couple that just discovered his music recently at a concert and decided to take the light rail into town on a soaking wet day to see the movie.

It will be interesting to interact through the festival with my fellow premium pass holders and find out what it is about his music that speaks to them.

Now if the snow will just hold off it will make logistics this week so much more manageable. But that is a self-centered request I know…

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Last updated February 06, 2017