Sunday in Sointula

My reading spot near Sund's Lodge

Yesterday was Sunday, and I like the idea of a day of rest, but I did not attend the service at the church in Sointula, a small evangelical congregation associated with the Evangelical Free Church of Canada. I like to attend church services when I travel. My preference would be for a Catholic service, as I was raised Catholic. The Catholic service is the same all over the world, and Catholics know they are Catholics wherever they are, even if in some places there is the addition of local color.  Protestants are different. There are so many branches, so many denominations, or at least that is what it looks like to this outsider. Thus, congregations are connected by community. Protestants are therefore more sociable. In Sointula there is usually a small collation after the service, at which people sit and talk. Catholics don't do that. They go home after church.

335 Kaleva Road

Also, for a Catholic who did not grow up with frequent Bible readings, it is always a chance to study the Bible more closely You can see from the well-thumbed Bibles of the congregants here that they take the reading of Scripture seriously.

Yesterday, however, I stayed home and worked. I am departing already on August 31, and there remains much to do. First, I want to finish work on the seventh chapter of my novel. Second, I am grappling with the conclusion of a book review (The Seventh Function of Language by Laurent Binet) Third, my essay on Camilla, on which I have labored for some time, needs finishing touches. And, then, of course, there is the social side of life here. Friends are coming for dinner next Monday. What on earth am I going to prepare? Plus, there is the poetry reading at the Pub that I am supposed to organize in memory of Hillel Wright, who recently passed away.

Bethany

After yesterday's pensum, however, I did go for a bike ride out Kaleva Road. Sund's Lodge is normally my goal, where I can also sit for an hour and read. Posted here are pictures I took along the way.