A Well Kept Man

One of the obligations of a pastor is tending to his sheep no matter where they happen to be...in this case, the town of Aix-en-Provence. After much debate as to the pronunciation of Aix (without resolution as far as I can tell...is the "x" pronounced or not??), we headed off to this university town (no less than 15 universities here) to meet up with a family from my dad's congregation that happened to be in Aix while we were touring through Provence. The objective was to meet up with them for dinner at a local French restaurant, but the objective was complicated due to a precipitation event (also known as heavy rain). We arrived early to check out the town as we otherwise would not have seen this place. Aix is a university town which reminded me a lot of Boulder, Colorado, but without the mountains and hippies. As we were walking around waiting to meet up with our French connection we decided to dive inside a hotel bar next to the rendezvous point to avoid what began as a sprinkle and turned into a two hour deluge. While consuming our pre-dinner drinks, the roof in the bar began leaking water onto an unsuspecting patron (which was somewhat humorous I guess), but I was quickly repaid for my schadenfreude. While waiting outside for the rain to let up, an elderly French woman berated me for failing to go inside the hotel and call a taxi for her (I tried to explain to her my French wasn't that good, but she didn't seem to care...but then she went back out in the rain and walked away, so maybe she didn't really want a taxi and my French really is that bad).

Traveling abroad tends to have a lot of ups and downs, but we have found that taking the time to make unique memories has made this adventure all the better. We had a great time visiting with the Jenkins family and are very thankful to them for giving us a taste of their experiences as well. Plus, I think my dad can now deduct the expenses of his trip as work-related (just kidding, although if he could I'm sure he would encourage his congregation to include him in their travel plans more often).

(If you've noticed I was able to snap a couple photos before it started to rain, but unfortunately I didn't manage to take any after that, so you'll just have to imagine the rain looked like...)

We found a church near our apartment and decided to check it out. The name of the church is Christ Church, the Anglican (Episcopal) Church of Lausanne. We decided to check it out because they have an English service, which is not to be confused with a service in English. I doth wish to honour the service with commentary, however, thou dost protest to my ability to discuss such matters. It was a peculiar service...although they spoke in English it was proper English (as in the Queen Mother herself would be proud). We were lost especially during the Nicene Creed as in Lutheran church we tend to mostly use the Apostles Creed and haven't really committed any other to memory. We didn't know any of the hymns save the last one (The Church's One Foundation) which normally wouldn't be a problem as Lutherans are good singers, but when the melody is unknown (they don't print the music in the English Book of Hymns) it makes it difficult to sing. Most of the prayers were the same and the liturgy was fairly comfortable. The part I found most interesting was how leftover consecrated bread and wine were dealt with; the Priest-in-charge had to drink it all before we left, which she did quite admirably.

I always find going to new denomination's worship services intriguing because of the nuance of interpretation. Who's right and who's wrong? The short answer is who cares; because as long as we're all believing in the same God and accepting the same truths of life everlasting and salvation, then it isn't important. I often feel out of place when I'm at a new church but I eventually find comfort in the mutual love for our Savior, Jesus Christ. I strongly encourage those out there who feel out of place and uncomfortable in their current spiritual walk to know that Jesus Christ's love transcends all of the implications and impugnations of society. Even if you can't understand what people are saying, have trouble singing along; or can't make sense of the thee's, thy's,and doth's, know that Christ is there and He is with you wherever you may go.