'[...] Christians have a responsbility.' - Krister Stendahl (Wikimedia Commons). Yahoo! News, or its algorithms, served up a twofer on antisemitism this morning. No, make that a three-fer! As I was scrolling through ithe Yahoo! directory Tueday morning, I came across this headline, "How Weaponizing Antisemitism Puts Jews at Risk," over an op ed piece … Continue reading How a Swedish Lutheran theologian’s response to the Holocaust guides my attitude to performative ‘anti-antisemitism’ in an election year
Harmonica — minor tunes (including Dorian) and a primer on the modal scales
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56Vu-V9aAAo&t=7s LearnTheHarmonica.com https://www.youtube.com/@Learntheharmonica. Fair warning: If you surf onto this page looking for basic harmonica instruction, keep surfing! I'm a rank beginner, and I'm entirely self-taught. So I'm pulling together YouTube videos of tunes I want to learn and links to copies of the music in standard notation (the "dots"), mostly from The Session website. … Continue reading Harmonica — minor tunes (including Dorian) and a primer on the modal scales
Irish tunes for harmonica
d r a f t (i.e. work in progress) Keyword search in YouTube on "Irish harmonica" yields a directory at: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=irish+harmonica Worth going back to. Also a good YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@HarmonicaForTheSoul. Óró Sé Do Bheatha Abhaile https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HF4q1Db09I Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, March 17 (!), 2020 The Session -- https://thesession.org/tunes/7480 -- has the dots, mostly in … Continue reading Irish tunes for harmonica
‘When everying is antisemitic, nothing is antisemitic’: Why partisan crackdowns on free speech backfire. (It’s complicated.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FFAcHMO488&t=971s “[...] Now He Says the Term Is Being Weaponized,” PBS, May 1, 2024. “Look,” said Cohen, pointing to his bloody nose swollen three times itsnormal size, “what that sonofabitchy bird did. It’s a permanent scar.”“Where is he now?” Edie asked, frightened.“I threw him out and he flew away. Good riddance.”Nobody said no, though Edie … Continue reading ‘When everying is antisemitic, nothing is antisemitic’: Why partisan crackdowns on free speech backfire. (It’s complicated.)
‘After the final no comes a yes’: An English major-y romp through Wallace Stevens and the empty tomb in Mark 16:1-8 (1 of 2)
The Empty Tomb, St. Elizabeth‘s Catholic Church, Columbus, Ohio (Wikimedia Commons). My inner child was an English major, so I was intrigued to find Wallace Stevens quoted in an book by biblical scholar Elaine Pagels, who is more likely to quote obscure third- and fourth-century Christian mystics than 20th-century poets. What's more! The quote made … Continue reading ‘After the final no comes a yes’: An English major-y romp through Wallace Stevens and the empty tomb in Mark 16:1-8 (1 of 2)
An aging hippie reflects on student protests, in the 60s and now, and the lessons of Passover in wartime
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U75KcMUjMyI 'Seder in the Streets to Stop Arming Israel,' Brooklyn, April 23, 2024. What's an aging hippie to do? Coverage of the student protests over US support of Israel's conduct in Gaza brings back so many memories of the anti-war movement of the 1960s, it ought to come with a trigger warning. Most of the … Continue reading An aging hippie reflects on student protests, in the 60s and now, and the lessons of Passover in wartime
Scary headlines distract from student protesters’ Passover service, message of support for Gaza
Shabbat service Friday at Gaza protest, @TheIndypendent, New York City. Over the weekend as the Passover holiday neared, the headlines blared. "Anti-Israel Protests RAGE At Columbia, Biden CONDEMNS Anti-Semitism on Campus" (The Hill), read one. "Columbia University campus security concerns ahead of Passover," said another (ABC News), in more modulated tones. And a third, "Rabbi … Continue reading Scary headlines distract from student protesters’ Passover service, message of support for Gaza
‘How Firm a Foundation’: Reading the lectio divina with a shape-note folk hymn when a hard rain’s about to fall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnQDqufENb0 Sacred Harp singers, Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church, Old Chicora, Fla., 2018. According to longstanding custom in the shape-note singing community, the annual Illinois Sacred Harp Convention is held the Saturday before the third Sunday of September. In 2001 that came out to Sept. 15 -- the Saturday after the World Trade Center was destroyed … Continue reading ‘How Firm a Foundation’: Reading the lectio divina with a shape-note folk hymn when a hard rain’s about to fall
A twofer for spiritual direction: ‘By their fruits — and (harmonica) toots — shall ye know them’; intersectionality, too
Ameya Deshmukh, 'Squirrel' (Wikimedia Commons). Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director in advance of our session for March. I’ve been writing these for several years now, primarily in order to help me focus my mind before we talk. It’s not a record or an agenda of our sessions. (Often enough, … Continue reading A twofer for spiritual direction: ‘By their fruits — and (harmonica) toots — shall ye know them’; intersectionality, too
A reminder, without mentioning Trump’s name, that Hitler won Germany’s last free election with 37.4 percent of the vote
David Lee Preston, Twitter (now "X"), Dec. 7, 2015 Comes now Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker and gives powerful evidence it's time to start taking the comparisons of ex-President Donald Trump and Hitler more seriously, Godwin's Law notwithstanding. Godwin's Law, similar to a logical fallacy known as the Reductio ad Hitlerum, holds that sooner … Continue reading A reminder, without mentioning Trump’s name, that Hitler won Germany’s last free election with 37.4 percent of the vote
Ordinary Time 