O Tannenbaum -- and not the royal ones, either

For the first time while living in California (been here a year and a half now), I finally attended Mass. The wife and I went on Christmas Eve, joining all the families with sullen college-student children crashing at home for the holidays and attending a holiday Mass as part of the deal.

As with every time I go, I found the experience wholly rewarding. Obviously this makes me wonder why I don't go more often. Not even the musical presentation -- why does every Catholic church still play hymns like it's 1974? -- could mitigate my spiritual vibe. I haven't met the choir or musical director yet who can ruin the sublimeness of Christmas hymns.

Even more satisfying and twice as surprising was the wife's reaction. She's a pretty hardcore agnostic, in that I'm convinced she has reached such spiritual conclusions out of honest and sincere reflection. But she's never been a fan of the Catholic Church, for which I can't really blame her. It's not like the Church has exactly reached out to women in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, what with the whole "women aren't, in fact, equal" and "your body is not yours" opinions that Herr Ratzinger et al continue to take. But the service was so impressive that on the ride home the wife nearly made me drive off the road with her evening's evaluation.

"You know, that wasn't so bad. In fact, if you want to go again, I'd like to go with you," she said.

We'll see.