Toy Boat Toy Boat , T-Pain, Bless my throat

Laura called me into her room to watch this last night when I got home from work.
I loved it. It's no Dick in a Box, but these days what is? Without spoiling it I will say that the exposition to the joke is quick and easy, the rhymes are clever (and some of them are even tight), and the simplicity is inspired. Of course, as soon as T-Pain got involved I was hooked anyway. My favorite very quick shot (don't blink, you might miss it) involves a man who is very unhappy with grass.
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In other internet news my favorite blog author is back in the country and is writing again. When Other People's Emergencies lit up again in my Google Reader I thought I was imagining things. Welcome back, TS!
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Annnnd in real life news, I was at St. J's Saturday night for the 7pm Mass to lector when Sister M informed me that I was also going to be helping with the Blessing of the Throats. I got a bit anxious. But then I thought about all of the things I usually dislike about the Church and one of them is how I feel that the hierarchy can get really possessive about God. So for a lay person like me to go around blessing throats, that's way more in line with my actual beliefs. I don't think we always need intercessors. We can bless each other.

So I stayed and blessed throats after Mass. The absolute best part was that once I memorized the blessing I could look into people's eyes. I was smiling uncontrollably because it was kind of silly -- me with those huge candles and so much shorter than everyone else. Since I was grinning so madly, the otherwise very solemn congregation started to smile back. So as I said the blessings, we just smiled at each other, and sometimes laughed a little.
I got to just stand and make eye contact and smile with so many strangers. To me, that was the whole blessing in a way. As we handed candles back to Fr. M later he winked and said, "You know it doesn't work without the candles." And we all laughed, the veil lifted. We don't need candles or oils or waters. It's all in the people. Tradition is just a way to get everyone there at the same time. Like going to your high school football game on Thanksgiving. Being in a church where the priests think that way and understand religion in that way too is so refreshing.