Watching at the Cross

In my church there is a Maundy Thursday service in which we wash each other's feet (my kids' favorite service of the year) and then after communion the stripping of the altar, when all the decorations are removed from the church. An eight foot crude wooden cross is brought in (it sits against the side of the building the rest of the year) and leaned agaist the altar, and members of the congregation take turns keeping a vigil at the cross for an hour each all night.

I was there from 6 to 7 this morning, and I did feel God's presence. But I will tell another part of the story, not that part. When I went in I noticed a small pile of sawdust on the polished wood of the altar platform, and when I went to the altar to pray I heard a faint noise coming from the cross. About 6:30, which must have been about sunrise, a carpenter bee emerged from the cross and started flying around, trying to find the sun. Now if you don't have carpenter bees you need to understand that they are larger, louder, and slower flying than bumble bees. The poor bee was stuck inside the church because its home had suddenly been moved. It must have been terribly confused trying to figure out where it was.