A Spell for Eric?

Eric? Spells? Hold on, hold on, I'll get there. But not yet. Yesterday was Maundy Thursday, the day that we celebrate the institution of the Lord's Supper (Communion, the Eucharist). It is a somber occasion, as it was also the evening Jesus was betrayed by Judas, abandoned by his apostles, arrested... well, you know the rest, I imagine. So what did I do during the day to prepare for this somber occasion?

I went to a casino.

Wait, wait, it's not as bad you think. An old friend with whom I am very close came home (she lives in a town North of where I did, and my parents still do) to visit with her father, who is not well. I'm going to try to be like Aslan, and not tell you someone else's story, so I'll just leave it at that. The point is, it wasn't a social visit, exactly. We met at the casino because it's about halfway between here and there, and I needed to cut down on travel time, since I needed to come back for two services last night (a healing service and the "regular" Maundy Thursday service). It was very good to see Kristy again, and I'm glad that I was able to take the day to go support her however I could. I'd be lying if I said fun wasn't had as well, but I'm of the opinion that fun is healing, too, so I don't feel guilty!

So we said our goodbyes and I trucked on home just in time for a bite to eat and to get dressed and go to the healing service, which was (and I am assured always is) very emotional and touching. Very powerful. If you have an opportunity to go to one, you should. Then there was a little time between services.

So I'm hanging out in my office, killing time, and in walks Eric.

Eric is great. I can't think of anyone in the congregation who would say anything snide about Eric. He's always employing his many talents for the church, and even though I've only been here since October, he's already helped me out (sometimes on very short notice) lots of times. Now, you can probably guess that Eric is a busy kind of guy, so we haven't had time to just chat in what feels like a long time, so I enjoy the opportunity to do so in this little time between the two services.

He asks me, "What's new?"

What's new are blogs, Jenny's www.yarnpie.blogspot.com and this one. Now, when I name my blog for him, he says something along the lines of, "Now, that's where your tastes and mine diverge. I never got into D&D or The Lord of the Rings or any of that. He starts telling me about the books he's been reading--and it turns out that I haven't.

"What we ought to do sometime," says Eric, "is you should give me one of your books to read, and I should give you one of mine. That way I can see the book through your eyes."



Yes. That's exactly what we should do. That's awesome. It's got me thinking, pondering, where do you start? Where did I start? And you know what? I know exactly where I got my start. My father gave me a copy of Piers Anthony's, A Spell for Chameleon and told me that he thinks that I would like it. I devoured it. But I'm not sure that A Spell for Chameleon is where I want to start Eric, I was just a boy when I read it, and, well... it's punny. The whole series has an inordinate amount, I mean a LOT, of puns.

When I make a firm decision, I'll let you know.

God loves ya,
Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
041406