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Tuesday, July 05, 2005
I Love a Parade
I was so excited when the whole town turned out for a parade to welcome me as this church's new pastor.
What did I know?
My first day on the job was July 1, 1993. The parade came three days later, my first Sunday in the pulpit.
Right after church, there they all came -- civic dignitaries, marching bands, 101 different kinds of floats, even the local lesbian potluck dinner society. Though I personally prefer teal and fuchsia, the prevelant colors turned out to be red, white, and blue.
So, okay... What did I know?
Yesterday Alameda threw another 4th of July parade. And First Presbyterian Church had our own float 2/3 of the way back in the marching order.
We were sort of anti-climactic, though, following immediately behind Trader Joe's young staff on their skateboards dressed like beach bums (bare chested) and bummettes (halter tops).
Adding insult to injury, the "Pirates" junior cheerleaders -- right behind us -- kept rushing up on their strong young legs and almost bumping into our noble float.
Still, we kept our cool and garnered some crowd approval all along the 3 1/2 mile parade route.
And rightly so, for we were pretty cool. The float was a not-quite-to-scale convertible model of our Victorian Sanctuary, filled with singers who belted out old-timey patriotic songs. I spotted just two people who made a point of standing up as we passed by singing the Star-Spangled Banner.
(Which reminds me... One long-ago midnight in Galway, Ireland, Joanne and I saw a bar band close their show by playing the Irish national anthem right at the stroke of midnight. Everyone had to stand at attention, of course. Immediately afterwards the band yelled "Thank you, and good night!" No encores. Period. Sly ol' devils.)
This annual parade gives Alameda the chance to say, sing, show to each other that we're a wonderfully diverse community. We've got innumerable differences among ourselves, some as opposite as red and purple on the spectrum, yet we're able to blend with a little imagination into a harmonious rainbow.
Between July's, our challenge and our goal is to be as accepting, understanding, and affirming of each other as we'd like to receive for ourselves. I'm pleased and proud that our church family said Amen! to that by our presence in the parade.
Like the man said, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Everything else is just commentary."
posted by Jack Buckley at
10:48 AM
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