I forgot to update yesterday.
7:47 a.m.
Firstly, I must relate an instant-messaging conversation I had on Sunday with a young man of my acquaintance who lives in a far-off land and happens to take an active part in the rituals of his church, even though he hasn�t totally decided if he believes in what they are symbolizing. That aside, he was explaining to me the tenebrae service which takes place on Maundy Thursday, the purported day that Christ had a seder with his disciples and told them that he was going to be betrayed and executed. According to my friend, in the traditional ceremony there are a number of participants, each illuminated by a candle, who read appropriate passages from the New Testament in a darkened church. As each reader finishes, his candle is snuffed out (that�s my friend�s job). The final candle, traditionally a white one symbolizing Christ, is extinguished last, and the congregants then shuffle out of a lightless sanctuary. In the Greek and Roman Orthodox traditions anyway, when they return to church on Sunday, one candle is lit from which the entire congregation lights individual candles until the church is a blaze of light. It seems like a rather fitting way to welcome the risen saviour, if you believe in that sort of thing (but this is not about me).
Anyway, at my friend�s church, they �white-wash� the ceremony somewhat, not snuffing out the final candle, but whisking it away, then revealing it at the end of the ceremony just before people make their exit into the light of day (or twilight of evening). I commented that this was akin to the Disneyfying of The Little Mermaid, changing the ending so it is more palatable to our modern-day audience. Imagine my surprise when he confessed he had never read the original Hans Christian Anderson, but was only familiar with the Disney version of that children�s classic. I was truly flabbergasted.
However, I have remedied that situation. When I was last at writing group, I noted that Janice had the identical copy to the complete works of H.C.A. that I myself own on a shelf in the kiddie-lit side of the store. I went over there yesterday, purchased it (I love used-book stores, don�t you?), wrapped it well and mailed it to the far-off land whence cometh my friend--surface, mind you, because air-mail would have cost about four times what I actually paid for the book--and he should receive it within four to six weeks. That simple act put me in a good mood for the rest of the day.
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