Last night Mona and I were at St. Simon’s in Gamboa. As I said last week, St. Simon’s is a small but faithful and wonderful congregation. Outside of the church are many mango trees, which attract bats. Last night a bat decided to visit just before the service started; he was looking for the belfry, I suppose, but as you can tell from the photo, there is no belfry. As I processed to the chancel of the church, the bat kept flying over my head and kind of dipping down by my head on each pass. I know the bat won’t slam into me and I know it won’t hurt me, but it still made me nervous. Once I arrived at the front of the altar, the bat retired to a corner to rest. It came back out for another flight during the Prayers of the People, and then disappeared again during the Peace. Since the congregation is a small group, I have them join me around the altar during communion. The bat decided to go for another round, and this time was joined by a friend. It’s just a little distracting to have two bats flying about the nave during communion; well, actually it’s a little distracting to have two bats flying about the nave at any time during the Mass. After everyone returned to their seats for the announcements, our Chiropteran friends returned to continue their arial ballet, still missing everyone’s heads yet making the majority of the congregation nervous. The Dynamic Duo retired, once again, as we prepared to leave. I love listening to the frogs and their music outside of St. Simon’s; it is a nice, comforting sound, but I can do with out the bats zipping over my head. One can’t avoid God’s creation at St. Simon’s in Gamboa!
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