A View of Ocean View (Presbyterian Church)

Our family attended Ocean View Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) today as our vacation venue for Sunday service.  It's pretty much identical to Emmanuel, except for the absence of Asian people and people under the age of 50, having no contemporary praise music, and most importantly, the use of "debts" instead of "trespasses" in the Lord's Prayer.  In fact, the bulletin actually listed:

• The Lord's Prayer ("debts")

... to make this absolutely clear.

The bulletin was also clear in communicating that outer ring of the communion cups contained grape juice and the inside rings contained wine, lest they stumbled the poor unsuspecting recovering alcoholic, or purists like our Will Fehringer who insist upon having wine.

But seriously, it was fantastic to worship this morning.  One thing that Pastor mentioned in the congregational prayer was the need to "rest from our labor and abide in the work of God through Christ."  That's so important, and personally I struggle with this given my achievement-orientation and "do it myself" attitude.  I am utterly frustrated unless I'm "doing" something.  I suspect this is why I'm constantly multi-tasking.

What was difficult was trying to sit through the service with Daniel and Sophia, which is sort or like trying to guide a bull through a china shop.  Thankfully, we made it with a minimal amount of grumbling and irritated glances from those who were sitting around us.

But the folks at the church were mostly wonderful and warm.  It dawned upon me that when we talk about the (big "C") Church, these are the people who I will worship with together on the other side of Glory.  To these friendly octogenarians with warm smiles and hearty handshakes, my thanks for letting our family worship with you all on a summer day.

Between the boardwalk in Rehoboth and hitting the beach here in Sea Colony, I did catch the Yankee game on television and found myself:

1. Thrilled, upon turning on the TV, that the Yankees had battled back from a 5-0 deficit to take a 8-5 lead.
2. Furious and crushed after Mark Teixeira hit a grand slam to put the Angels up 9-8.  When the bases were loaded with Teixeira coming up to bat, I was screaming "Why are you letting Edwar Ramirez pitch to their best hitter with the game on the line???  Put in Rivera!!!"
3. Thrilled as the Yankees rallied back in the bottom of the eighth to win the game 12-8.

Vacation's great.  Gotta hit the books and do some reading eventually.