A long time 'til Advent...

The fifth and last of our Lenten Wednesday night series wrapped up last night, with an interesting overview of the life and legacy of George Herbert (1593 - 1633), Anglican priest and poet.

Interestingly, we learned, his poetry was not known until after his death, but today two of our (1940 Hymnal) hymns are Herbert poems set to music, and his texts are frequently found in anthems sung by Anglican and other choirs. The class concluded with a study of the poem using "metaphysical conceits," which we learned about in the class on John Donne two weeks ago, title "Love", from The Temple, a collection of his poems.

It's been an interesting series, even if I missed almost half the classes due to being away on business. This is something new for St. Bartholomew's, and one interesting element is just observing who turns out regularly for this. It's an interesting cross-section from people who've been here for decades to those who've been here for months, though Seattle traffic does tend to "select" for those who live/work closer to the church.

It was sad, and not only Fr. Daniel noted this, to have the series come to an end. We had a different series last Advent, and it's Fr. Daniel's plan to continue to conduct these during Advent and Lent. As my wife noted, this seems to be cementing the church family relationship in our little parish.

But there will be other activities ahead, between now and then. On Saturday the Mens' Group will meet for the first time; for Matins, breakfast and grounds work party. It's been sunny for a few days here, and every Seattleite instinctively knows what that means:
    Rain! (The forecast says Saturday.)