Choir rehearsal on Weds night had as many members absent as present. The "cream of the crop," for the most part, were MIA from the soprano section, so David had to make do with just the crop. That's how I wound up singing in the quartet in today's offertory anthem.

"Te Deum" (pronounced tedium, according to one of our tenors) by Herbert Howells is not a short, easy piece to sing, but we did it well, I thought, and our director seemed pleased. The two lines done by the quartet should have been done in two breaths, but it took me at least five. David said I must have snuck in the unauthorized ones real good, because he couldn't tell I did it. Choral music lovers can hear the entire anthem here, performed by the choir of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, just click the free audio on the left side of the screen.

Molly's sermon was about chutzpah, based on today's Gospel reading in Luke 8: 1-8 about the unjust judge and the nagging woman. It's one of those passages I've never understood clearly. For the most part, life isn't fair, I accept that, and the unfairness of life is what inspires some of us to help others like we do. This passage implies that if we want to be effective, we need to be persistent in praying for justice.

I've been known to do some audacious things in my time, I pray often and do what I can to see that justice is done, but badgering God for justice is not one of them. I guess I just don't have enough chutzpah. I wish I'd listened more closely to the sermon. Molly probably explained all this while my mind was wandering.