Friday Five: Time Keeps On Slippin', Slippin', Slippin'

This week's RevGalBlogPals' Friday Five is all about time and transitions:

1. If you could travel to any historical time period, which would it be, and why?
I think it would be interesting to set the Wayback Machine for the late Victorian era and the turn of the century, when there was such a passion for social reform -- and when things actually got done to improve people's lives. Purely for the aesthetics -- the fine arts as well as pop culture -- I'd love to visit the Roaring Twenties as well. And it would be interesting to, as an adult, take a shorter trip back to the early 70's and the "back to the land" movement -- again, it seemed like a time when people had optimism in their ability to change the direction and quality of their own lives even if they felt there was no hope in changing the direction of the government or industry or popular culture. I know people who came up at that time, who still live those values, and they're frankly some of the most interesting and inspiring folks I know.

2. What futuristic/science fiction development would you most like to see?
Because I am an unenthusiastic city driver, I would most like to see the day when I can simply sit passively in my vehicle and let it do all the navigating and maneuvering for me. And I hope it's not science fiction to want to see the end of primarily-fossil-fuel-based energy. And I also hope it's not science fiction to want to see Americans become as concerned about sustainable/renewable and healthy living as our counterparts in Western Europe. I really think we've missed the boat in our pursuit of individualistic fat-dumb-happy.

3. Which do you enjoy more: remembering the past, or dreaming for the future?
I can't say that I don't have some fond memories from my childhood -- principally times when I was growing up on our farm, living mostly outdoors and immersing myself in nature -- and from my college days. But I don't consider myself a sentimentalist in this regard. To quote another former farm kid, John Mellencamp, "Your life is now."

4. What do you find most memorable about this year's Lent?
My lack of structured Lenten discipline. In a way it feels like failure, but I'm sure if I'd plotted out a formal Lenten regimen I'd be failing in it as well by now.

5. How will you spend your time during this upcoming Holy Week? What part do you look forward to most?
Our church has over the years tried a lot of innovative Holy Week programming -- everything from a joint Good Friday noon service with the fundamentalist church down the road (don't ask) to Easter Vigil. This year we've dialed it back to our now-traditional Maundy Thursday supper, where we incorporate the Eucharist into a real meal (it's a way to put the Last Supper in context without trying to appropriate a seder in an inauthentic way), and a traditional Tenabrae service Friday evening. There's something about the Tenabrae service I find very moving -- the starkness of the bare altar; the darkness; the slamming of the book. It always brings to mind the metaphor of Christ being "poured out like a libation," to the last drop, for us.