We went with our dog and two cats. We didn't see any giraffes, but lots of dogs and pet-lovers, maybe a hundred people at the service. The music wasn't to my taste other than one hymn that was pretty good (but too short). There was an absolutely unexpected interpretive poem/bongo/interpretive dance solo piece, which I loved for what it was. They read the names of people who had asked for prayers, and also read the names of all the US soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan this week and their rank.
The best part was the sermon. The priest in charge was Rev. Winnie Varghese. She spoke about St. Patrick, and talked about our pets. In particular, she talked about the unconditional love we get from our pets, which is the love we sometimes can't find for ourselves. Then she talked about the kid who committed suicide after his roommate secretly videotaped him kissing another man. In her eyes, the tragedy was that he couldn't accept himself, especially compared to the love and loyalty that we were seeing from the animals in the room. She then addressed the latest campaign against gay teen suicide, the "it gets better" campaign that that been getting some pr this week. She said she talked about it with someone who was gay and older, and they told her that in fact, it doesn't get better. She said that this person didn't feel significantly more accepted by the world around her than when he was a teenager. What had changed was that he felt better about himself, he managed to erode his self-loathing. That's what gets better, and its something we can see for us every day in our pets. It clearly resonated with the people in the room, and was very topical. My recap sounds a little hokey, but it worked in the room. Overall, a very good time.
I have always wanted a pet giraffe! They're sweet-dispositioned, vegetarian, and even though they are so very tall we have such high ceilings here in NYC. It could happen.
4 comments:
I just pray that who ever keeps letting their dog shit in front of my door would pick it up !
We went with our dog and two cats. We didn't see any giraffes, but lots of dogs and pet-lovers, maybe a hundred people at the service. The music wasn't to my taste other than one hymn that was pretty good (but too short). There was an absolutely unexpected interpretive poem/bongo/interpretive dance solo piece, which I loved for what it was. They read the names of people who had asked for prayers, and also read the names of all the US soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan this week and their rank.
The best part was the sermon. The priest in charge was Rev. Winnie Varghese. She spoke about St. Patrick, and talked about our pets. In particular, she talked about the unconditional love we get from our pets, which is the love we sometimes can't find for ourselves. Then she talked about the kid who committed suicide after his roommate secretly videotaped him kissing another man. In her eyes, the tragedy was that he couldn't accept himself, especially compared to the love and loyalty that we were seeing from the animals in the room. She then addressed the latest campaign against gay teen suicide, the "it gets better" campaign that that been getting some pr this week. She said she talked about it with someone who was gay and older, and they told her that in fact, it doesn't get better. She said that this person didn't feel significantly more accepted by the world around her than when he was a teenager. What had changed was that he felt better about himself, he managed to erode his self-loathing. That's what gets better, and its something we can see for us every day in our pets. It clearly resonated with the people in the room, and was very topical. My recap sounds a little hokey, but it worked in the room. Overall, a very good time.
I have always wanted a pet giraffe! They're sweet-dispositioned, vegetarian, and even though they are so very tall we have such high ceilings here in NYC. It could happen.
Thanks for that lovely report, Lambert.
damn just got my giraffe blessed last week. should've waited
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