Dr. Victor Ludlow is a professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU, and an author of several books. He is also a member of our ward. Every spring, he travels all over the world and holds a Passover Seder Service at least 20 times. He usually charges $40 a person for this interesting and educational experience. Well, this last Friday, he held one in our ward, for only $5 per ward member, and $10 per guest. Absolutely no children or infants under the age of 14 allowed. Not being Jewish, I didn't know much at all about the Passover Seder Service, so Clint and I bought tickets, and we took our friends, Amber and Jared, with us.
The whole thing took about 3 1/2 hours, but it really was quite fascinating and educational. Much of it also seemed rather bazaar, but then again, the same can be said about many LDS rituals. We each received a pamphlet explaining all about what we were doing and what each item and action symbolizes.
We each went through all of the motions of the whole service, including the eating of parsley dipped in salt water, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs, etc. We also partook of the fruit of the vine (Welch's grape juice, which is, technically, fruit of the vine). I had heard of bitter herbs before, but didn't really know what it meant. Well, we had to eat the bitter herbs at 3 different points throughout the service, so I am now well-acquainted with them. Oh, the horrific bitterness of them! I have never in my life put anything so incredibly vile and repugnant in my mouth. It was kind of entertaining to look around the gym at the faces as we were to eat the bitter herbs. There were some comically twisted faces, hands clasping throats, and even some gagging going on. I sneaked a strong breath mint after each bite, but even that didn't alleviate the powerful aftertaste. Just one more reason to be grateful that I'm LDS.
We also recited each of the prayers and songs that go with the service. One of the songs has a catchy, but obnoxious tune, and it has been annoyingly stuck in my head for the last several days. The dinner itself was actually really yummy.
Despite the bitter herbs, I'm really glad that I went. I learned a great deal about the Passover, and all that it represents. While I have much respect for the Jewish faith, I have never been more grateful to be LDS. Not just because I never again have to eat the bitter herbs (seriously, it was bad), but because we, as members of the LDS church, know that Elijah has already returned to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. If any of you ever have the opportunity to experience something like this, I highly recommend it (please take some strong breath mints, though).
Now, I mentioned that children and infants were not allowed, so where were my children, you might ask? I had previously arranged for my brother, Wes, and his girlfriend, Sharlyn, to come babysit, but my in-laws showed up just before we were leaving. So, instead, my in-laws took Tayson and Brennen out to dinner, then back to their hotel pool to go swimming, which Tayson loves to do. I won't bore you with the details of Tayson's near-drowning experience. Suffice it to say, he was rescued, he's okay, and he still loves to go 'swimming'. I will also mention that I'm signing him up for swimming lessons this summer.
The next day, we all went up to the South Towne Expo Center, where the guys all attended the massive gun show in one half of the building, and the girls all strolled through the massive Scrapbook USA expo in the other half. Now, anybody who knows me knows that I would rather pluck all the hairs from my head, one-by-one, than scrapbook. Needless to say, I did not attend for the scrapbooking, but rather for the company.
After a day spent among guns n' scrapbooks, most of the family (one brother returned to Vernal to hunt for women, and one sister and her family returned home to Tremonton) congregated at our place for some pizza and a movie (Enemy of the State - edited). We all had fun visiting together, and Clint's parents and two youngest sisters stayed the night before returning home the next morning.
Katie (Clint's baby sister), Jeff (Clint's sister's husband), Brennen, and Josie (Clint's younger sister):
Kayleen (Clint's brother's wife) and Tayson. Kayleen is pretty much Tayson's 2nd most favorite person in the world. She is second only to her daughter, Susana. Clint and I fall somewhere below that.
Grampa McKeachnie and Brennen:
Grampa McKeachnie (Clint's dad) with four of his five grandchildren: Tayson, Brennen, Eli, and Susana:
Dads aren't the only men who are fluent in the language of shmoopsie. Grampas can be quite proficient as well:
4 comments:
I love big, burly grandpa getting all schmoopsie. I'll definitely have to get some video of Lilly and my dad when we go to visit in May.
The whole Passover thing sounds interesting. Good thing you are rarely without breath mints. :)
I fell the exact same way about scrap booking! I HATE IT!! If I ever attend passover, I will bes sure to bring mints.
I did the same passover dinner with Dr. Ludlow at BYU. I have a pretty good picture of my face eating the bitter herbs.
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