This week's Pipedreams was especially enjoyable. Here's the link
http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/listings/0636/ My favorite piece is with a trumpet at about midpoint in the program, an Italian composition. The last number starts with an extensive pedal solo that I would love to see performed in person. How does anybody get their feet to do that?

Choir rehearsal was again exhausting. Five of our eight sopranos were absent, which made it difficult for the three of us to hold up the high end of things. Tommy was back in the bass section after being MIA for several months. He, Bill, Max, and I are the quartet for the Psalm (146) this Sunday, an unusually melodic arrangement. The final Hallelujah ends on an F, not difficult for me unless I'm hoarse. Please keep my voice clear, Lord, at least through Sunday.

For my friend who asked for the Lectionary schedule, here's the link:
http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/index.htm And to answer your other question, yes, we have 4 Bible readings every Sunday. There's usually a common theme that ties all 4 together, but most of the time it's too vague to detect easily. Our daily office also includes 4 readings, but I've been omitting the Job readings since we started them. Job's friends remind me too much of some friends I've had, they really grate on my nerves. Ed Bacon would say that's the one I need the most, the one I like the least.

Ed was in one of my dreams a couple of nights ago. I was walking on Capitol Street by the Post Office (in the old location before it moved), when I found a thick roll of bills, about 2 inches in diameter, lying on the ground. They were bound with a rubber band, and, at first glance, seemed to be mostly $5 and $20 bills. My first instinct was to pick it up (which I did), keep the money, and keep my mouth shut about my good fortune. Then my conscience began to bother me, so I walked across the street to the Cathedral to discuss my dilemma with my favorite priest. He took one look at the money and said, "That belongs to the Judge."

In the next scene, I was in Ed's office talking to him and The Judge, a man with whom I was not acquainted. I was suspicious and wondered if he really were a judge, or had Ed concocted a scheme to get the money away from me and split it with his co-conspirator. I was unwilling to hand over the cash until he proved he was who he claimed to be, and that the money really belonged to him. He said he had no idea how much was in the roll of cash, then I realized that I didn't either. Both men were amused by my apprehension. The dream ended before the problem was resolved.

I see a couple of practical issues and at least one spiritual issue in this tale. First, is the cash flow dilemma we're currently facing. The dream is telling me, "the cash is there, and it doesn't belong to anyone else." Actually, the check we were expecting was found in the mail (post office) that day.

Then there are those two functions within that I don't always trust - The Priest and The Judge. Do they conspire to rob me of good fortune sometimes? Or do they partner in an effort to steer me in the right direction, help me to do the right thing? And why do I have trouble trusting them?

The numbers, too, are significant. Some people are afraid of reading too much into the meaning of numbers, but are they aware of how many times the Bible stories use numbers and assign special meaning to them? The numbers here are 2, 5, and 20. 2+5=7+20=27, or that could be combined as 720, drop the zero and we have 72 (an especially significant number in my personal history, but that's a story for another day).