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Power Outage and Shabbos as a Guest
Mar. 4th, 2018 12:29 pmI really should manage to write here more--or at all--but I can't say I've managed much of the sort of writing that should go here lately. The last few days' events deserve a mention, though.
Like most of the East Coast, the DC area had a massive wind storm--gusts up to 70 mph (110 km/hr)--all day Friday and into Saturday. My apartment lost power on Friday morning, and it wasn't restored until Sunday morning. This also means that my relatively drafty apartment had no heat. Fortunately, some friends who live nearby have a guest bedroom and were able to take me in. I really appreciate it, and also feel a little guilty for accepting their hospitality when I feel like I'm not capable of reciprocating: my apartment doesn't really have much space for guests.
Dinner on Friday night with the family I was staying with--a found family of six adults, three kids, and four dogs--was particularly notable. It was the first time I'd ever been present when Shabbos candles were lit, and for some reason it touched me a bit more than I expected. I'm still trying to put together why: my partner Jan pointed out that Christians say grace before meals, and in fact I've had to participate in that with relatives many times, and I've found it uncomfortable. Why this seemed different, I don't know. It may be because this time it was with people I actually really like, or because in this case it was something their family does occasionally on special occasions, and not just an everyday thing.
I think, also, that part of why I liked it is that ritual meals feel like a very important ritual practice to me. Although I will never participate in the Mystery of the Eucharist, one thing I really appreciate about it is the idea of the whole congregation--and really, the whole Church--sharing in a meal. I very much want to include group meals, shared both with friends and with the gods, in my ritual practice, though figuring out how to do so is harder when I still don't have a good solution for offering disposal. But I think that seeing the Shabbos candles really hit me because of that, and I'm really glad I was offered the chance to participate in.
Like most of the East Coast, the DC area had a massive wind storm--gusts up to 70 mph (110 km/hr)--all day Friday and into Saturday. My apartment lost power on Friday morning, and it wasn't restored until Sunday morning. This also means that my relatively drafty apartment had no heat. Fortunately, some friends who live nearby have a guest bedroom and were able to take me in. I really appreciate it, and also feel a little guilty for accepting their hospitality when I feel like I'm not capable of reciprocating: my apartment doesn't really have much space for guests.
Dinner on Friday night with the family I was staying with--a found family of six adults, three kids, and four dogs--was particularly notable. It was the first time I'd ever been present when Shabbos candles were lit, and for some reason it touched me a bit more than I expected. I'm still trying to put together why: my partner Jan pointed out that Christians say grace before meals, and in fact I've had to participate in that with relatives many times, and I've found it uncomfortable. Why this seemed different, I don't know. It may be because this time it was with people I actually really like, or because in this case it was something their family does occasionally on special occasions, and not just an everyday thing.
I think, also, that part of why I liked it is that ritual meals feel like a very important ritual practice to me. Although I will never participate in the Mystery of the Eucharist, one thing I really appreciate about it is the idea of the whole congregation--and really, the whole Church--sharing in a meal. I very much want to include group meals, shared both with friends and with the gods, in my ritual practice, though figuring out how to do so is harder when I still don't have a good solution for offering disposal. But I think that seeing the Shabbos candles really hit me because of that, and I'm really glad I was offered the chance to participate in.
