Claude's back was hurting. He would not be going with me this Sunday. I got ready and practiced the hymns on the piano at home. The organ at Church is still not working so I am playing the piano. It is always a good idea to run through the hymns at home before I go to Church.
When sacrament meeting started all was as usual until it was time for the sacrament hymn. Usually the person conducting the meeting stands and introduces the hymn by saying something like, "We'll now prepare for the sacrament by singing hymn number..." I was seated at the piano waiting to play and no one came to the pulpit. I leaned around the edge of the piano and the counselor doing the conducting, Bro. Anderson, was in a quiet conversation with Pres. Jenkins, our Stake President. When they finished Bro. Anderson quietly walked across the stand and around to the piano. He said, "We don't have the bread for the sacrament. We want to have you play sacrament hymns until they arrive with the bread." I asked him if they wanted me just to play or if they wanted the congregation to sing with the playing of the sacrament hymns. He said they wanted the congregation to sing. I turned to Jill Jenkins, the chorister. She is a teenager and new to the calling of chorister. This was a different situation and I wanted her to learn from it and have a good experience with it. I quickly explained about the need to fill time till the bread came. I told her and Bro. Anderson we would begin with the sacrament hymn in the program for that day. Then we would simply sing through the hymns as they came in the hymnal until they were ready to bless and pass the sacrament. Bro. Anderson went to the pulpit and explained to the congregation what we were going to do. I played the introduction to the sacrament hymn in the bulletin and we sang through it. Then I played the introduction to the next sacrament hymn in the hymnal and we sang all of it. We would do this one more time before the priesthood holder came in with bread for the sacrament. Then we sang one more sacrament hymn as the Elders (missionaries assigned to the Georgetown Ward) prepared the sacrament. The hymn timed perfectly with them finishing the sacrament preparation. Then they blessed the bread and passed it to the congregation, then the water. It was a most moving moment. In my 69 years I have never had this happen quite like that. It was powerful to sing and think about the words to the sacrament hymns. They speak of the Savior's Atonement and our prayer to Him and the lessons we are to learn from the Atonement. The congregation was really reverent and it seemed as if that is how each Sunday should go, not that an error was made in getting bread to the Church. It was truly a good experience and an answer to my morning prayer.
After choir practice, I went to visit Papa at the nursing home. It was a lovely day so I took him to the park along Elkhorn Creek for some fresh air. As we walked from the nursing home to my car, we looked at the beautiful mums in different colors planted in the flower beds of the nursing home. There was also a tree changing colors in the parking lot and the sun was shining on them and I drew Papa's eyes to that as well. He loves trees and nature at its finest. A leaf had fallen from a tree and skittered across in front of us. It was mostly brown but my eye caught a bit of red in it as it tumbled across in front of us. I paused and picked up the leaf. The picture at the beginning of this post is a picture of what we found. It looked like a leaf within a leaf. The changing of the color was beautiful to me and to Papa. I took it to my car with us and snapped this picture. I posted it on Facebook with this thought, "Look at how autumn changed the color on this leaf. Absolutely amazing." A friend explained it was a fungus that can irritate those who suffer with hay fever. I really wanted to go Boo, Hiss! I was having such a positive experience with this leaf and just didn't want anyone to rain on the parade I was experiencing. It is an interesting fact to know but for me the true power of this experience is the lesson learned from the coloring of a leaf by the hand of God. I believe we learn lessons from everything we experience in this life. I love when the lesson I feel is such a positive one. This leaf showed all the variety that we are blessed with just so we can have joy in this life journey.
As I drove home I reflected back to Tuesday evening, October 8th. Claude and I went to Louisville to the temple. I had the name of a relative I was standing as proxy for. We did some initiatory work before we went to the endowment session. This time the words of the entire session were displayed on the wall as they were said. I looked around and saw no one that appeared to be hard of hearing. That is usually when the words are displayed. It appeared that this time the words were there for my benefit. It just gives me an added dimension of what we are hearing as I see those words. I understand more and the session for me is a different experience with heightened learning because of this little change in the norm.
I learned from these three things that we can get into routines and have good experiences in each of those routines. But when something a little bit different happens, we become more aware of those things we do automatically. We are prone to have a more deeply felt experience that will stay with us and lift us a bit more that usual. The norm is good. But these moment confirm the importance of the norm and strengthen the lessons we are to learn from the good things we experience and do.
Grateful for the lessons that leaf brought to my life.
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