Mark Twain Does Church

We don't do church often.
But Peter, a husband of one of Elizabeth's bookclub members told us as a supper gathering that a Twain scholar was going to do a supper service around Twain at the Unitarian church in Albany.
So we decided to go.
It was not a lecture/sermon as I expected, but a set of dramatic readings by other church members with John Cooley giving some overview. He has included two of Twain's stories in his recently edited book,

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Hymns included Mark Twain's Battle Hymn of the Republic
an antiwar parody of the Civil War favorite, reflecting in tone the sharp sarcasm that marked his later life.
The service included a fine balance between that kind of intense criticism (generally not published in his time) and that understated humorous ironic sort that he used earlier in his life to reflect similar social criticisms.
Huck's struggle with the "sin" of helping Jim escape was played out very well by one fellow dressed in Huck costume. A couple of women did a fine job with Eve's Diary selections focused on virginity and virgin birth.

Well, it was a fine service, held in the all purpose room rather than the sanctuary. Like many churches, worship cuts back in the summer, so I suspect they like the smaller room and like not having to have the sanctuary cleaned. Peter told us that they usually don't have summer services, but this year they divided the weeks up and let members design a service. This seems to have worked.

Interesting too was the floor. Peter and other members had taken the old flooring from School 16 and 19 before the wrecking ball destroyed it and put it in this recreation room. It was beautiful and reflected my values of free and recycled.
We will not become regulars, but perhaps we will go again. Afterwards, we had a fine buffet brunch at the Shalimar on Central (Pakistani food) and enjoyed the quiet sense of the city on a rainy Sunday morning.