Cleaning the Altar

This past Saturday (the 19th), I went with my girlfriend to clean up after a church had been vandalized.

When we got to the church, most of the damage had already been undone. There were several crosses that had been smashed amongst the pews. There was a safe in the basement that had a hole punched through it. The vandal(s) had dumped powdered bleach all over the items in the basement, including chairs and tables.

The church is having an event this weekend, so cleaning up was a top priority, not just cleaning the damage, but doing as much as we could to get the church in general in top shape.

Part of my job was to clean the altar. It was wonderful. I was polishing/washing and my girlfriend was drying. As I was wiping down the altar, I was singing softly “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy… on me.” It was a wonderful connection. God’s presence is real in the world and such events do nothing but confirm God’s hand in all things as far as I am concerned. It was a truly spiritual experience and one that I’ll never forget.