All’s Well . . .

My last full day in Oxford, Advent Sunday, will soon come to a close. And it’s been a good one. The Mass at Pusey House was wonderful, topped off by Lo He Comes, the Helmsey version as the Lord intends, of course. No, I wasn’t able to sing it all the way through. The service was already emotional for me. Tears started flowing on the third verse. I made myself sing the last verse with vigor though. Yes, I’m a sop. Deal with it.

Oh, I mentioned it was rainy. But the sun came out and illuminated parts of the service through the incense in timely fashion. Like I said, wonderful.

Later, after my usual Sunday lunch at Shanghai 30’s (highly recommended), even though I was very far from the front of the line at New College Chapel, I got a great seat with wonderful views for their special Christmas service. The service wasn’t as emotional for me as mass this morning (which is a good thing actually given I was practically front and center), but it was excellent.

Then I rushed back and heard the end of the famous St. John’s Advent service (that I attended two years ago). In its own way, it was neat to hear it on the radio here in Britain.

As I’m about to leave tomorrow morning, I now have a very positive attitude toward my stay in Oxford. Oh, I haven’t forgotten how difficult much of it was. Nor do I have any illusions about my ability to handle academic stress. But the past week or two has been very nice. And even in the difficult periods were times very meaningful to me. So I’m leaving with a positive attitude, yet still very ready to leave. And that’s close to perfect, isn’t it?