Back in the 60's the folk music was great!

Sunday evening, Judy and I went to Melrose Chapel for a 60's folk music sing-along. The choir from that church put on their beads, tye-dye shirts, and peace jewels, dusted off their various musical instruments, and hosted the event for about 50 of us music lovers. We sang Amazing Grace, Puff the Magic Dragon, Blowin' in the Wind, and This Land Is Your Land, among others. I was thinking, as I was singing and sometimes just listening, about the years while I was in high school that I sang in a folk group at 5:30 Sunday evening mass at Our Saviour's Church. Can you imagine being allowed to sing "C'mon people, now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, and love one another right now....." in church? Well, we sang it every week, along with Blowin' in the Wind and the like for at least a couple of years. Our electric guitars and drums resonated throughout the big old creeky structure, not to mention the powerful lyrics of these songs. I played my acoustic guitar, which was probably not heard above the rest of the noise, but I loved the feeling I had as a teenager to praise God and creation and send up my appeal for peace, love, and understanding every week. It is a highlight of my high school years, those memories. So anyway, last night, for about 2 hours, I relived it all. There were some fun songs too--if you have heard The Unicorn Song, which tells about Noah gathering animals for the Ark, you know it is a happy song. Last night, the animal sound effects the group added to the song made us all laugh out loud. I am glad we got out on one of the coldest nights of the year to be warmed by the folk music of the 60's.

A lot of my thoughts have been about the TEC that is going on this weekend. There are about 45 teen candidates, which is amazing. I have many adult friends on the team, and I hope they are not overwhelmed by all these energetic kids! Mario and I have bowed out of TEC. I can't do it anymore. We always joked that TEC is 3 days and 2 naps. The last one I was on, I couldn't keep up. So we figure we gave our part and will go quietly away. I still write wheat letters. I am amazed by the 70-year olds that are still doing this. Their dedication to enriching teen's faith lives in TEC is to be admired. I wrote a prayer for them for their weekend, which I hope they take to heart:
Let us put on Christ and travel through our secular society with confidence, conviction,
and the sure-footedness that we can walk in Christ's footsteps and be beacons of light
for the world.

Nolan is now calling me Grandma. Yesterday at lunch, he was at the other end of the table, and we had our own little game of "I See You" going on. As I left, he gave me not one, but two lip- smackers, and he told his mom, "I kissed Grandma over there." He is talking up a storm and lots of fun.

I am listening to the morning news, and Hillary and Barack are going at it, aren't they? This morning, Hillary is talking about their passionate spouses. And Bill's roll in the campaign is once again being demonstrated as Tom Brokaw is interviewing him...he is talking about how MLK would feel today about the leading contenders in the Democratic party being a woman senator and a black senator. He is still an eloquent and intelligent speaker.

I wish Mom didn't have to go through these painful spells, but it sounds like she got to the hospital in good time last night to ward off the worst of the past. I am thankful for that this morning.