First Sunday as Lector

First, my prayers go out to those trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina. The situation in and around New Orleans sounds especially bad.

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My first Sunday as Lector went well, but not without nerves.

When I stood at the lectern and tried to take a breath before beginning the first reading, I couldn’t! It was like I hit an air pocket. Finally, I figured I needed to start reading sometime. So I announced the lesson and read Micah 6:1-8. I was afraid I would gag, but I couldn’t just keep standing up there. But I did o.k. even if there was a bit of nerves in my voice.

It’s a bit strange that I got so nervous since I have plenty of public speaking experience, some in much more trying circumstances. I guess it goes to show how seriously I take Lector duty.

Between the two readings, my forehead was sweating. And it took me a second to find my second lesson, Philippians 4:4-13. But it went better. I did say “passes” instead of “passeth” because saying trying to say “passeth” was too big a risk for me. Sorry, King Jimmy.

I told people I was going to change a word, but even they couldn’t tell which one.

The Epistle lesson during Holy Communion, Galatians 5:16-24, went well. I didn’t even come close to cracking a smile while saying “lasciviousness.” And I wasn’t nearly as nervous. You think I would be since Holy Communion is our main service. But I guess Morning Prayer got the nerves out of my system.

Oh yes, I wore a new dark blue pinstripe suit for the occasion. That met with approval/shock.