Palm Sunday, April 5

We first attended services at Epiphany Lutheran in Richmond. It was a different kind of service because it not only observed Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, but the service also told the story of the Passion ( actually the bulletin said it was Palm and Passion Sunday). Both stories were told with processions, special music, and dramatic readings of scripture. Very well done and inspiring. In the afternoon we made another trip into DC ( again had to deal with traffic jams, and accidents). This time our plan was to attend a concert at Washington National Cathedral. We were about one-half hour late for it, but I was thankful we could hear the majority of it. It was the St. John Passion by J.S.Bach, performed by the cathedral choir and baroque orchestra and directed by Michael McCarthy. Awesome music in a beautiful setting. The production was spoken in German, which pushed me to translate the little German I did know ( of course the program guide provided a translation of the words). Again we heard the Passion story, but in a manner through which only Bach could do. And, as the program guide noted, "is anachronistic yet contemporary and ultimately timeless".