Sunday in Seattle

Cana and I arrived in Seattle yesterday afternoon for a six day five night vacation in the heart of the retail district. Yesterday was a harrowing day of motion sickness for Cana, from the car ride to the airport in KC all the way to the baggage claim in Seattle. After a good afternoon's sleep and then night's sleep she and I were ready for Sunday in Seattle.

I attended Plymouth Church (UCC) just three blocks from the Red Lion Hotel where we are staying. It was a great service--a lectionary based sermon, a very friendly (and mostly older than me) congregation, and an absolutely gorgeous modern sanctuary. Everywhere there were the cross-like (?)symbols that also look like a sea creatures (?) or maybe a stealth bomber (I don't think so though aircraft manufacturing is still big here--these are UCCers after all (???). The symbol I am speaking of appears in the logo above. Rows and rows of windows of that symbol. The church has great acoustics, and a really fun and faith filled choir from the congregation. The church had sponsored a Zimbabwean music workshop yesterday and the choir beautifully sang several songs, led by a Zimbabwean church musician. And we actually sang "Rejoice the Lord is King" (in English :-))---something I don't think I have done for at least three years (in English or any other language). This summer is pointing me back to the fact that I really really like good traditional worship, and it doesn't HAVE to be stuffy and boring or "yesterday" in rendition and celebration.

Cana and I did some shopping this afternoon. I went to Nordstrom's---forgetting that even the sale stuff is so over priced (and I mean that) that I feel scandalous just looking at the bottom of the sale shoes and seeing that half price is $230. Eeeek. There are some homeless on the streets here--much like Westport. We did encounter an evangelizing group---one younger gentleman in white shirt, tie and in a wheelchair was handing out tracts just outside a Starbucks where we sat. Everybody that came by, he said, "Here's some hope." People said some incredibly rude things back to him...he handed one yellow folded tract to a young kid with a "Life Sucks" tshirt. When he offered a tract to us, I said "we got it already..." meaning hope, not the tract, and I think he got it, too.

Tomorrow--Pike's Market...