Church Mouse: Carefully tended

I don't usually sit right up front in church. Especially if I arrive late. But this was on a balcony and it was for a civic presentation. It was interesting, informative and moved along at a quick pace with a healthy sense of humor. From my vantage point, I'd recognized a few people I know fairly well and have worshiped with at other churches besides the one where this event was taking place. I wondered if a couple of the women sitting in the same pew knew each other. I might find out someday. Here's a phrase you don't often hear in church: 'Military-grade numbered thumb drive.' Succinct, yet still something that might take a moment to click in. The fact that a thing has never been connected to the internet is a concept which may or may not have religious connotations, rising to the level of myth and all. The woman who showed up in the entrance hall basically at the same time I did — being greeted by name by the woman with the blank name tags — and I agreed later as we crossed paths again in the women's room that the presentation had been done well. Another event closer to the river had been too entertaining to hurry away from. Flipping through matted prints of landscape pictures by a local artist, while music was being performed in a different room of the gallery, had me somewhat entranced. Plus, I found something out. The large landscape created by said artist, which used to hang in a local coffee shop a little more than half a decade ago, and is now a prominent feature in our home, has a name. It clarifies that the body of water is a lake, not the river. And 'lace' must be referring to the mostly bare twigs and branches, and/or the shimmering patch of golden leaves still suspended in the sky. I liked the write-up on the back of this and other small pictures, referring to '… shape making' and 'pathways for the eye.' Being able to see your way clear can be important both literally and figuratively. We saw our way clear to show up for a baptism a couple hundred miles away. I haven't sat that close to the front there since being in Sunday School programs. I was pleased to see that my blue and white striped linen shirt kind of matched the bow ties worn by the twin boys (Also, our tan trousers and shoes, come to think of it). My stripes seem to have a bit of a barbershop quartet vibe. I did lean in towards a couple of other singing family members, but minimal harmony resounded. And that one quarter note rest, looking like a sideways seagull on the page, which our recorded accompaniment (not the first little church I've been in that used that reliable convenience) took seriously, kept threatening to throw us off. I don't think the babies cared. Hopefully, it came across as the encouragement to which the liturgy and living word calls us. ***Kate Josephson worked as a church secretary in Red Wing. She seeks out religious experiences wherever she goes.