This is Life!: Revolutions Around the Cruciform Axis

The Fatherhood Chronicles LII

A brief moment of unmitigated, unpasteurized, unhomogenized fatherly pride happened last night at Vespers. Well, actually a couple of moments.

First, during one of the prayer litanies, Sofie got a little restless, so we let her down. She walked around a bit, but finally came up to me on my left side, and pointed at my prayerbook. I had her sit on the floor, and then I let her hold my book. As she grabbed it, she attempted to make the sign of the cross: pinched her little fingers together and made the vertical. I helped her with the rest of it, then she opened the book and turned some pages and tried to make the sign of the cross a couple more times during the prayers. She sang with the choir a couple of times.

It was glorious. She was there all good-smelling from her bath and dressed in her footy pajamas worshipping her little heart out with the rest of us.

But the best part of all happened after the service was over.

Anna was talking to one of the parishioners, so I took Sofie up to the iconostasis. I helped her make the sign of the cross in front of the icon of the Theotokos, then held her up so she could kiss it. We did the same in front the icon of Jesus the Pantokrator.

As we finished, Father Patrick was closing the Royal Doors and said, "Now there's a little girl that loves Jesus."

I smiled in response . . . and glowed the rest of the night.

I'm still a bit luminescent.

Glory be to God.