d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz--aO7epEs Murphy Campbell | Jam Sessions, FOX8 WGHP, Greensboro, NC | May 29, 2025 It's 1 degree below zero and sunny outside this morning, and the National Weather Service (or what's left of it) forecasts a high of 6 above. We have about five inches of snow on the ground, and … Continue reading Here’s to Murphy Campbell and today’s rising generation of young old-time southern Appalachian musicians
Potawatomi acculturation strategies for avoiding removal — article in archaeology journal (verbatim excerpts)
d r a f t Good background discussion of acculturation in the context of archaeological digs at WindrosesiteorLittleRockVillagein Kankakee River Valley; Pokegon settlement on St. Joseph River north of South Bend, Ind., and Benack Village site in Marshall County, Ind. -- on Tippecanoe River https://www.potawatomiwildlifepark.com/history Elizabeth Bollwerk, ControllingAcculturation: APotawatomiStrategyforAvoidingRemoval," MidcontinentalJournalofArchaeology,Vol.31,No.1(Spring2006),pp.117-142 https://www.academia.edu/695665/Historical_Archaeology_A_Midwestern_Case_Study_Controlling_Acculturation_A_Potawatomi_Strategy_for_Avoiding_Removal Bollwerk of the International … Continue reading Potawatomi acculturation strategies for avoiding removal — article in archaeology journal (verbatim excerpts)
What can a white spiritual mutt learn from the Black church in a time of neofascist ethnic cleansing? (Advent 2 of __?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMG2IsXMskw 'I've Got Oil in my Vessel,' traditional gospel blues, NC fiddler Joe Thompson, 1997. Editor's (admin's) note. Second of ___ (I'm shooting for four) Advent meditations, prompted by a parish workshop exercise in which we were asked to craft a personal mission statement. My spiritual director suggested I operationalize it by asking myself: Who, … Continue reading What can a white spiritual mutt learn from the Black church in a time of neofascist ethnic cleansing? (Advent 2 of __?)
‘Awake, for night is flying’: An armchair theologian’s mission statement for Advent and the new year (1 of _?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdN7vC2q9Mc 'Wake Awake, For Night is Flying,' arranged by F. Melius Christiansen (St. Olaf College Choir). "Wake, awake! for night is flying,"The watchmen on the heights are crying;"Awake, Jerusalem, arise!"-- Philip Nicolai (Hymnary.org) A couple of weeks ago, I attended a planning workshop at my parish church that took an unexpected turn. The workshop was … Continue reading ‘Awake, for night is flying’: An armchair theologian’s mission statement for Advent and the new year (1 of _?)
Thinking of scripture as story: ‘In the beginning …’ to ‘… making all things new’ (spiritual journal – Nov. 2025)
Editor’s (admin’s) note: Lightly edited copy, with links added, of my email in advance of this month’s appointment with my spiritual director, giving her a heads-up on what I’ve been journaling about (or, in this case, why I haven’t been journaling) since our last meeting and, more to the point, helping me focus over time by … Continue reading Thinking of scripture as story: ‘In the beginning …’ to ‘… making all things new’ (spiritual journal – Nov. 2025)
I want to speak with a PERSON: An old newspaper guy laments our chatty new world of bots, media hype and AI slop
Screen grab, AskTech Support, Microsoft Office Assistant, Nov. 7, 2025. Since the media hype about artificial intelligence began to peak two or three years ago, I've studiously avoided it. I've learned not to click on social media videos featuring housecats fighting off bears, certain political figures striking heroic poses and other AI slop. And when … Continue reading I want to speak with a PERSON: An old newspaper guy laments our chatty new world of bots, media hype and AI slop
Why George III gets a bum rap: Trump’s comic-opera tyranny flirts with state terror and gives real kings a bad name
d r a f t 'No Kings' rally at Illinois Statehouse, Springfield, Oct. 18 (photo Debi Edmund). When the Trump regime first announced it would send “military troops” (whatever they meant by that) to Chicago, the reaction from Capitol Fax readers in Illinois was immediate and withering. Subscribers to the state government newsletter include lawmakers, state agency officials and … Continue reading Why George III gets a bum rap: Trump’s comic-opera tyranny flirts with state terror and gives real kings a bad name
‘Dwelling in the Word’: Looking at the Book of Revelation in a parish study group during apocalyptic times of huge turmoil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx8QKlE6jMk Son House, 'John the Revelator,' in concert, 1965. Book of Revelation 1 (NRSVue). 4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the … Continue reading ‘Dwelling in the Word’: Looking at the Book of Revelation in a parish study group during apocalyptic times of huge turmoil
‘If I am only for myself, what am I?’: No Kings placard raises moral imperative. If not us, WHO? If not now, WHEN?
No Kings rally, Illinois State Capitol, Oct. 18, 2025 (screenshot, Debi Edmund). In the past 65 years, I have probably joined, watched and/or covered literally hundreds of rallies, lobby days, demonstrations, political speeches, festivals, street fairs and other outdoor events. Saturday's No Kings rally in front of the Illinois State Capitol was one by far … Continue reading ‘If I am only for myself, what am I?’: No Kings placard raises moral imperative. If not us, WHO? If not now, WHEN?
A hard punch in the gut: Trump’s military photo ops trigger memories of racial violence (spiritual direction, October ’25)
Memorial to first Black students at Clinton High, Clinton, Tenn. (Wikipeda CC BY-3.0). Editor’s (admin’s) note: An lightly edited and expanded copy of my email in advance of this month’s appointment with my spiritual director, giving her a heads-up on what I’ve been journaling about (or, in this case, why I haven’t been jouirnaling) since … Continue reading A hard punch in the gut: Trump’s military photo ops trigger memories of racial violence (spiritual direction, October ’25)
Early Catholic missions to Potawatomi people in northern Indiana, southern Michigan — misc. references
d r a f t Kevin Kilbane, Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend Their presence drew the first Europeans to what is now northern Indiana. They played roles in the founding and growth of parishes and institutions such as what became the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College. They held strong in their faith … Continue reading Early Catholic missions to Potawatomi people in northern Indiana, southern Michigan — misc. references
Primary sources on Potawatomi Trail of Death in central Illinois, Sept.-Oct. 1838
Memorial at Fulton County Courthouse, Rochester, Ind. (Chris Light, Wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0). In September and October 1838, a band of Potawatomi Indians from northern Indiana crossed central Illinois under an armed guard of Indiana state militia. Their forced removal was known as the Potawatomi Trail of Death, and it was part of the Indian … Continue reading Primary sources on Potawatomi Trail of Death in central Illinois, Sept.-Oct. 1838
A canticle for Brother Cat (for Bryce and strays, ferals and rescues everywhere) on St. Francis’ feast day
Brother Bryce the Cat Our parish church held a blessing of the pets on St. Francis' feast day. Debi and I thought about taking Bryce to be blessed, but decided against it. That would have meant loading him into a cat carrier, a process he protests vociferously. Plus we weren't sure the other animals -- … Continue reading A canticle for Brother Cat (for Bryce and strays, ferals and rescues everywhere) on St. Francis’ feast day
Green shoots of resistance as Trump regime’s ‘s***storm’ threatens rule of law, federal system of government
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJThCmtwLOI WGN News, Chicago, Sept. 30, 2025. For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: "It might have been!" "I told you so." -- John Greenleaf Whittier, "Maud Muller" (revised PE). On Nov. 9, 2016, the morning after President Trump was elected to his first term in office, US Supreme Court-watcher … Continue reading Green shoots of resistance as Trump regime’s ‘s***storm’ threatens rule of law, federal system of government
Trump’s military photo ops in US cities bring back memories of Jim Crow, civil rights movement — but with a twist
Tennessee National Guard at Chinton High School, 1956 (Public domain, PICRYl). An offhand remark on a recent podcast about National Guard members patrolling the streets in Washington, DC, sent me down memory lane. The memories aren't particularly happy, but, in an odd way, they give me hope for our future at a very dark time … Continue reading Trump’s military photo ops in US cities bring back memories of Jim Crow, civil rights movement — but with a twist
‘A shame for the nations’: What can a spiritual mutt make of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement as the Gaza war grinds on
Demonstrator faces Israeli soldier in occupied West Bank, 2012 (Wikimedia Commons). With the self-examination and repentance of the High Holy Days coming up fast, Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin wrote a column for Religion News Service that touched me deeply. Using a Yiddish expression that's too nuanced to translate easily, he suggests the hard-right settlers in Israel's … Continue reading ‘A shame for the nations’: What can a spiritual mutt make of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement as the Gaza war grinds on
‘Waiting for the spark’: Christian authors prepare to resist Jim Crow (Señor Cuervo?), Trump’s incipient fascism
Kristin Du Mez CONNECTIONS, Substack ['about' page]. For the past eight to 10 months, I've drawn comfort and inspsiration, in the root sense of the word, from a podcast featuring historian Kristin Du Mez of Calvin University and three other scholars of religion. They collaborate on a (more-or-less) weekly podcast called the Convocation Unscripted, where … Continue reading ‘Waiting for the spark’: Christian authors prepare to resist Jim Crow (Señor Cuervo?), Trump’s incipient fascism
You think a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich? Baloney! Here’s reason to hope Anglo-American law can survive Trump
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATrOEdcu230 Chris Hayes, 'All In with Chris Hayes,' Aug. 27, 2025, MSNBC. NO Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised [unlawfully dispossessed] of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful … Continue reading You think a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich? Baloney! Here’s reason to hope Anglo-American law can survive Trump
Remembering a calico queen, a semi-feral little ‘scamperpuss’ and the joy — and heartache — of adopting rescue animals
The day we lost our calico cat Elizabeth (pictured above at left) to an arterial blood clot, her pale ginger housemate Bryce (at right) hid under the bed. By evening, however, we were able to cajole him out to join us for kitty treats while we ate supper. For our usual ritual, in other words. … Continue reading Remembering a calico queen, a semi-feral little ‘scamperpuss’ and the joy — and heartache — of adopting rescue animals
How does a ‘man of unclean lips’ respond to Trump’s authoritarian bigotry? (spiritual direction notes, August ’25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQcW0SrubUk Ruth Ben-Ghiat on How to Resist Authoritarianism | The Civic Forum | Aug. 15, 2025 Editor’s (admin’s) note: Lightly edited copy, with links added, of my email in advance of this month’s appointment with my spiritual director, giving her a heads-up on what I’ve been journaling about (or, in this case, why I haven't been … Continue reading How does a ‘man of unclean lips’ respond to Trump’s authoritarian bigotry? (spiritual direction notes, August ’25)
David Brooks discusses ‘moral injury’ inflicted by Trump’s cruelty and bullying (notes for spiritual direction, July ’25)
David Brooka on PBS News Hour, March 3, 2025 (quote at 5:40). Screen shot. Editor’s (admin’s) note: A copy of my email, with necessary links and edits, in advance of this month’s appointment with my spiritual director, giving her a heads-up on what I’d been journaling on since our last meeting and, more to the point, … Continue reading David Brooks discusses ‘moral injury’ inflicted by Trump’s cruelty and bullying (notes for spiritual direction, July ’25)
Moral injury and Trump 2.0: Are you on the bus? Off the bus? Or thrown under the bus with Black and brown people?
Google News directory, news items, July 7, 2025, 11:08 a.m (CST). A week after President Trump was re-elected, Psychology Today posted an article to its website noting that the outcome "reflects a moral injury for many -- a psychological wound caused by betrayal of deeply held values." Explained Mary Ann McDonald of Holy Cross College in … Continue reading Moral injury and Trump 2.0: Are you on the bus? Off the bus? Or thrown under the bus with Black and brown people?
Trying to follow Pope Francis’ pastoral example on interfaith dialog and preaching from the pulpit of our lives
Francis and Lutheran leaders, Malmö, Sweden, Oct. 31, 2016 (Lutheran World Federation). Back in the 1990s when I was first teaching at a liberal arts college founded by the Ursuline sisters, I met a Norwegian-American pietist Lutheran of the older generation at a church potluck. He asked me what it was like teaching at a … Continue reading Trying to follow Pope Francis’ pastoral example on interfaith dialog and preaching from the pulpit of our lives
Fighting cancer as a group activity — of science, religion, communities of trust and walking the talk with Jesus
Fr. Pollard and Eleanor Roosevelt inspect radiation counter at ORINS, 1955 (Wikipedia). When I was growing up in East Tennessee, an Episcopal priest in a neighboring city was also the executive director of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies, a consortium of universities that worked with the old Atomic Energy Commission to promote nuclear medicine research … Continue reading Fighting cancer as a group activity — of science, religion, communities of trust and walking the talk with Jesus
Church historians sparking resistance to Trump regime’s cruelty, emerging autocracy (spiritual direction April 2025)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8KbfUJslr2Q Kristin du Mez and Jemar Tisby react to DEI ban (Convocation Unscripted). Editor’s (admin’s) note: Lightly edited copy of email I wrote in advance of this month’s appointment with my spiritual director, giving her a heads-up on what I’d been journaling on since our last meeting and, more to the point, helping me focus over … Continue reading Church historians sparking resistance to Trump regime’s cruelty, emerging autocracy (spiritual direction April 2025)
Israeli law professors warn partisan crackdown on pro-Palestinian students threatens ‘prelude to persecution’ of Jewish, other progressives
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt_8BmsFZzU Passover seder at protest camps, Penn and Swarthmore, April 28, 2024 (WPVI-TV Philly). Editor's (admin's) note, April 15. The essay by Itamar Mann and Lihi Yona of Haifa University is detailed, and closely reasoned -- difficult to paraphrase -- and I've tried several times to work up a post. But events keep getting ahead … Continue reading Israeli law professors warn partisan crackdown on pro-Palestinian students threatens ‘prelude to persecution’ of Jewish, other progressives
‘Let me tell you a story’: Awkward truths about prodigal son(s), empire, pigsties and the interpretation of parables
Jacob Jordaens, 'Prodigal Son,' 1640 (Wikimedia Commons). Luke 15:1-3, 11ff. (NRSVue). Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 So he told them this parable [...]:11 “There was a man who had two … Continue reading ‘Let me tell you a story’: Awkward truths about prodigal son(s), empire, pigsties and the interpretation of parables
Who wins? center-right analysis of trans athlete bans in kids’ sports hits a home run with this weary Democrat
Girls' Softball Game, 2009 (Tequask, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia). Yesterday I'd had it up to the keister with politics, so my heart leapt up when I read JVL's column in The Bulwark. "I know the Republic is falling and we have more pressing concerns," he began. "I know this isn’t important, in the grand scheme … Continue reading Who wins? center-right analysis of trans athlete bans in kids’ sports hits a home run with this weary Democrat
It’s not all about green beer: How an Anglican hymn attibuted to St. Patrick got me through a midlife career change and a 12-step recovery program
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fqzWs6KPoE St. Patrick's Breastplate, arr. Ron Lewis, Church of the Apostles, Columbia, SC, 2022 It's not all about St. Paddy's Day parades, no matter how much fun it is to march behind your local candidate for city, county or state office. Nor is it always and only about pub-crawling and dyeing the Chicago River green. … Continue reading It’s not all about green beer: How an Anglican hymn attibuted to St. Patrick got me through a midlife career change and a 12-step recovery program
Timothy Snyder sees antisemitic, fascist parallels in Trump’s tactics against Ukranian president, Palestinian student
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t39_pRTAni4 Washington Post, Feb. 28, 2025 (YouTube). Editor's (admin's) note. This post started out journaling about Timothy Snyder's warning about the Trump regime's flirtation with antisemitic and Russian fascist tropes. As Snyder commented on similar tropes in Trump's attempt to deport a Palestinian activist at Columbia, it morphed into my thoughts on what I believe … Continue reading Timothy Snyder sees antisemitic, fascist parallels in Trump’s tactics against Ukranian president, Palestinian student
Notes on ‘Illinois Nazis’ in an iconic 1970s comedy, in real life and Gov. Pritzker’s state-of-the-state address (notes for spiritual direction, March 2025)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTT1qUswYL0 Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director today in advance of our session for March, archived here so I can go back later and see what I was thinking about when I posted it. Taken together, these emails give me a rough benchmark of my spiritual journey. 4:02 PM (6 hours … Continue reading Notes on ‘Illinois Nazis’ in an iconic 1970s comedy, in real life and Gov. Pritzker’s state-of-the-state address (notes for spiritual direction, March 2025)
‘Up against a shark, what can a herring do? Be wise, compromise?’ But with Trump’s wannabe Russian empire? Nyet! (1 of 2)
Classes in Oslo after Nazis closed the schools, 1943 (Nasjonalarkivet CC BY). Editor's (admin's) note. I began this post a couple of weeks ago when President Trump made it clear he was backing fascist Russia against Ukraine and our (former?) NATO allies. I was reminded of a whimsical line from the Broadway production of Sound … Continue reading ‘Up against a shark, what can a herring do? Be wise, compromise?’ But with Trump’s wannabe Russian empire? Nyet! (1 of 2)
What happens when you read a gospel as poetry? or with a grain of salt? John, ‘the Jews’ and the man who was born blind
Jesus healing man born blind, El Greco, 1567 (Wikimedia Commons). John 9 (NRSVue)): 28 Then they reviled [the man who had been born blind], saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man … Continue reading What happens when you read a gospel as poetry? or with a grain of salt? John, ‘the Jews’ and the man who was born blind
Gov. Pritzker warns GOP dog whistles inevitably lead to Nazi-style racism unless ordinary citizens speak out against it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS66O1C7Gp4&list=RDNShS66O1C7Gp4&index=1 Pritzker's State of the State address (excerpt), Springfield, Feb. 19, 2025 (NBC Chicago). Finally! We're starting to get some pushback from Democrats against the creeping authoritarianism of the Trump regime. Some of it's coming from Illinois, too, and I couldn't be prouder of my adopted state. In fact, I think it's the best thing … Continue reading Gov. Pritzker warns GOP dog whistles inevitably lead to Nazi-style racism unless ordinary citizens speak out against it
‘Blessed are the poor’ in the kingdom of God, in Wittenberg and today: A Lutheran reading in light of the Magnificat
Church of the Beatitudes, Zeller Zalmanson (Pikiwiki Israel website CCby2.5). Luke 6 (NRSVue): 17 He came down [from the mountain] with them and stood on a level place with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear … Continue reading ‘Blessed are the poor’ in the kingdom of God, in Wittenberg and today: A Lutheran reading in light of the Magnificat
Presiding bishop urges Lutherans to stand up for basic Christian ethics in the face of government hostility to churches, migrants
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnho5l8iNoU Presiding Bishop Eaton's statement on ICE raids in churches, Feb. 14, 2025 (ELCA). Welp, I guess I've got my marching orders now. At least that's the way I choose to interpret Friday's pastoral message from the presiding bishop of my Lutheran denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, on the Trump regime's threatened crackdown … Continue reading Presiding bishop urges Lutherans to stand up for basic Christian ethics in the face of government hostility to churches, migrants
Hidey holes for Bryce
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHVrvZSviF0 xxx parked here for easy access
Of Trump’s ‘Gulf of America,’ twilight years, Comrade Gromyko’s rubber donkey and the moral purpose of satire
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GdE4_nbxcw8 Desi Lydic, 'Donald Trump is holding up a mirror to the American people' (The Daily Show). “Satire is a sort of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind reception it meets with in the world, and that so very few are offended … Continue reading Of Trump’s ‘Gulf of America,’ twilight years, Comrade Gromyko’s rubber donkey and the moral purpose of satire
Spiritual journal, Feb. 2025: Uff da! Trump’s ‘efficiency’ experts are going after the Lutherans now; bishops respond
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Liqz0VdZG1E Bishop Eaton: 'Our call to love our neighbors as ourselves remains steadfast.' Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director today in advance of our session for February, archived here so I can go back later and see what I was thinking about when I posted it. Taken together, these … Continue reading Spiritual journal, Feb. 2025: Uff da! Trump’s ‘efficiency’ experts are going after the Lutherans now; bishops respond
Miscellaneous recipes (and ideas)
d r a f t Lemony Hummus Pasta By Christian Reynoso Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards. Total Time30 minutesPrep Time10 minutesCook Time20 minutesRating4(235)NotesRead 33 community notes Hummus, with its nutty and garlicky flavor, makes a fantastic dip, spread or even a salad dressing, but it can also be a great … Continue reading Miscellaneous recipes (and ideas)
How do you react to abuse without becoming a hater yourself? A ‘nasty’ Episcopal bishop gives us a role model
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNfrbAztlcs What these paradoxes of opposites are all about is a phenomenology in which it is part of the very nature of passionate conflict to turn one into his own enemy. “We become what we hate” is an old yoga maxim. And in watching the conflict of the Irish Troubles, the Dublin yogi, George William … Continue reading How do you react to abuse without becoming a hater yourself? A ‘nasty’ Episcopal bishop gives us a role model
Adam Vaclav Michna, ‘Missa S Wenceslai’
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pABfbd6Txho&t=19s Per YouTube: Composer: Adam Vaclav Michna (1600-1676) Work: Missa S Wenceslai (c.1670) Performers: Chorale Franco-Allemande de Paris; Bernard Lallement (conductor) Missa S Wenceslai (c.1670) 1. Kyrie 0:00 2. Gloria 8:11 3. Credo 14:56 4. Sanctus 27:00 5. Benedictus 31:34 6. Agnus Dei 34:00 Painting: Gillis van Coninxloo (1544-1607) - … Continue reading Adam Vaclav Michna, ‘Missa S Wenceslai’
Hospital journal 2: Reading a novel about a Jewish mystic seeking ‘acceptable heresies’ in the shadow of the atomic bomb
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (Wikimedia Commons). “These books are really records of the religious imagination, Arthur. […] They say things in these books that no one dares to say anywhere else. I feel comfortable with these acceptable heresies. God originally as sacred emptiness; ascents to God that are filled with danger, as if you were … Continue reading Hospital journal 2: Reading a novel about a Jewish mystic seeking ‘acceptable heresies’ in the shadow of the atomic bomb
Hospital journal 1: A merry romp through abstract theology, Christology, rabbit holes and a lovely prayer for good courage
Creation of Adam, Michelangelo (Wikimedia Commons). Sunday, Jan. 19. First, the good news: I'm getting lots of reading done. I've even finished three or four chapters of Ilia Delio's "Christ in Evolution" (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2008), and I've had plenty of time to read slowly and think about what I'm reading. Which means I'm beginning to understand … Continue reading Hospital journal 1: A merry romp through abstract theology, Christology, rabbit holes and a lovely prayer for good courage
Hospital journal (1 of 3): Stories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A72MAMTVnQo George Burns, in character, answers John Denver's questions in 'Oh, God!' (1977). Editor's (admin's) note: First of three journals based on spiritual and theological reading while I was in HSHS St. John's Hospital in January. I did a lot of reading, in my usual slapdash manner, and I pulled together some disparate ideas -- connected … Continue reading Hospital journal (1 of 3): Stories
What can a Jewish novelist from the Bronx teach a lapsed mainline Protestant in Tennessee? The things that really matter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqudmZ5H3iw Editor's (admin's) note. I began this post a couple of weeks ago, and I was just about finished with it when I went in the hospital for a week. During that time, I did a lot of reading. (What else can you do when you're strapped to a hospital bed?) So I lost my … Continue reading What can a Jewish novelist from the Bronx teach a lapsed mainline Protestant in Tennessee? The things that really matter
‘We all have to step up’: A Christian scholar’s New Year’s resolve to fight back as Trump 2.0 threatens people of faith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca9zLuXn8ws Kristin DuMez at Dayspring United Methodist Church, Oct. 21, 2014 (Good Faith Media). Normally I'm not very big on New Year's resolutions. I don't know I won't get hit by a bus tomorrow, and I don't have the attention span to follow through on them anyway. But after reading a Substack piece by Kristin … Continue reading ‘We all have to step up’: A Christian scholar’s New Year’s resolve to fight back as Trump 2.0 threatens people of faith
In the beginning was the metaphor, and it was good: Reading John and Genesis together in a Christmas candlelight service
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMafneugQAs&t=4145s Candle lighting ceremony, with reading from Genesis and John, begins at 1:06:24. Sometimes the moment and the liturgy come together so perfectly, I feel like there's nothing I can say that would add to it or subtract from it. The last two or three years, I've had one of those moments during the Christmas … Continue reading In the beginning was the metaphor, and it was good: Reading John and Genesis together in a Christmas candlelight service
Spiritual journal, Dec. 2024 (with a footnote on why I still find Pete Hegseth’s ‘crusader’ tattoos so embarrassing)
Muslim women visit St. Saviour's Church, Jerusalem, 2023 (Custodia Terræ Sanctæ).1 Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director today in advance of our session for December, archived here so I can go back later and see what I was thinking about when I posted it. Plus a bonus footnote in … Continue reading Spiritual journal, Dec. 2024 (with a footnote on why I still find Pete Hegseth’s ‘crusader’ tattoos so embarrassing)
‘We’ve been here before’: A voice of Black lived experience as an openly racist administration prepares to take power
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONN0BkwMF1g Mavis Staples, 'I'll Be Bested" (video by YouTube user biamaku, March 25 2012). Debi and I belong to a group affiliated with the Dominican sisters known as the Associates' Anti-Racism Committee (AARC for short). It's an offshoot of SDART (pronounced "ess-dart," an acronym for the Springfield Dominican Anti-Racism Team), an initiative that's succeeded in … Continue reading ‘We’ve been here before’: A voice of Black lived experience as an openly racist administration prepares to take power
Is the world about to turn? Seeking a ‘sustainable approach to living ethically’ in a dark Advent season
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hPDrkqZGWE Kat Moore, 'Canticle of the Turning' (katherinemoore77 2014). Most of us can't give full-time attention to the brokenness of our national politics, but nor can we tune it out. How do we identify a sustainable approach to living ethically in these difficult times? -- "What Now?" [editorial], Christian Century, Jan. 2025. Advent and Christmas … Continue reading Is the world about to turn? Seeking a ‘sustainable approach to living ethically’ in a dark Advent season
‘Illegitimi non carborundum’: How Dr. Fauci’s Jesuit formation guided him through the fury of the pandemic
Dr. Fauci briefing officials at NIH, Bethesda, Md., 2021 (Wikimedia Commons). One of the saddest commentaries on the incoming Trump 2.0 regime came in a columm by Jonathan Martin , Politico's senior political columnist. In it, he included Dr. Anthony Fauci among several current and former "officials who’ve angered Trump and his loyalists" and, according … Continue reading ‘Illegitimi non carborundum’: How Dr. Fauci’s Jesuit formation guided him through the fury of the pandemic
Remembering an unlikely spiritual mentor (and storyteller) who made Alaska Native, Russian Orthodox and my lukewarm mainline Protestant traditions come alive
Fr. Michael Oleksa (Orthodox Christianity [from YouTube], Nov. 29, 2023). While I was researching another post to Ordinary Time (link HERE), I learned a spiritual mentor and role model whom I never met in person died late last year. He was, to give him his full title, the Very Rev. Archpriest Michael Oleksa, sometimes also … Continue reading Remembering an unlikely spiritual mentor (and storyteller) who made Alaska Native, Russian Orthodox and my lukewarm mainline Protestant traditions come alive
‘Fiddler’: A little schmaltz as a tonic for grief in spite of the tragic tones lurking in the background
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsDP-90j9x8&t=4s Tevye: A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no? But here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck. It isn't easy. You may ask 'Why do we stay up there … Continue reading ‘Fiddler’: A little schmaltz as a tonic for grief in spite of the tragic tones lurking in the background
‘Is the universe friendly?’Depends on who you ask, but not exactly: Einstein on his (and Spinoza’s) God, science and religion
Einstein shortly before he fled to America in 1933 (Wikimedia Commons). In my early days of white-knuckle sobriety, I heard a guy in a 12-step meeting rattle off what he said was a quote from Albert Einstein, "Is the universe friendly?" It didn't sound like Einstein to me, although, to be fair, the only Einstein … Continue reading ‘Is the universe friendly?’Depends on who you ask, but not exactly: Einstein on his (and Spinoza’s) God, science and religion
‘A reality where there is no we’: Social justice and the common good after a bitter election: Spiritual journal, November
Demonstrators in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021 (*Photo: Gregory Starrett, CC BY-ND). Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director today in advance of our session for November. 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 … Continue reading ‘A reality where there is no we’: Social justice and the common good after a bitter election: Spiritual journal, November
Hegseth’s Crusader tattoos: White supremacist dog whistles or ‘spiritual kitsch?’ Or a bit of both?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4ZNi-VEmu4 Jerusalem cross on a Franciscan flag, Christian Media Center, Jerusalem. If Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump's designee for Secretary of Defense, knows what he's talking about, I'm beginning to worry that I might be wearing an alt-right hate group's insignia around my neck. It's an inexpensive little Jerusalem cross I bought at a gift shop … Continue reading Hegseth’s Crusader tattoos: White supremacist dog whistles or ‘spiritual kitsch?’ Or a bit of both?
Is Trump a wannabe theocrat? It’s complicated. How should people of faith react? That’s complicated, too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4HrySysWAo Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Nov. 6, 2024 Standing in front of a tapestry at her office the day after President-elect Trump won the 2024 election, Bishop Elizabeth Eaton videotaped a somber, nuanced message. Presiding bishop of my church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Eaton doesn't always speak for me on all issues. … Continue reading Is Trump a wannabe theocrat? It’s complicated. How should people of faith react? That’s complicated, too
Trump and the prophetic vision of Elijah, an Old Testament scholar, a center-right political pundit and a Chicago ward boss
'Elijah in the Desert,' Agustín Salinas Teruel, 1885 (Wikimedia Commons). 1 Kings 19 (NRSVue): 4 But [Elijah] himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than … Continue reading Trump and the prophetic vision of Elijah, an Old Testament scholar, a center-right political pundit and a Chicago ward boss
Finding hope in an evangelical mission’s party during the dark days of aparthied in South Africa (Sundays@6 journal 7)
Mandela Family Museum, Soweto, Johannesburg (Wikimedia Commons). Coming up Sunday is the seventh and final session in the current series of the online adult faith formation group Debi and I co-facilitate for our parish church. It wraps up our discussion of a book on healing the divisions caused by political discord, and it couldn't come … Continue reading Finding hope in an evangelical mission’s party during the dark days of aparthied in South Africa (Sundays@6 journal 7)
Jesuit spirituality as a antidote to desolation in the aftermath of a lost election in a dying empire
Thomas Cole, 'The Course of Empire: Desolation,' 1836 (Wikimedia Commons). Even before Pennsylvania was called for Trump, I shut off the internet Tuesday night and went to bed with a good book. The news was too much to bear. By coincidence, Thomas Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization had come in the mail that afternoon. … Continue reading Jesuit spirituality as a antidote to desolation in the aftermath of a lost election in a dying empire
Jonah, he’s my man: A reflection on politics, polarization and Ninevah, that great city whose people don’t know their right hand from their left (Sundays@6 journal 6)
Jona onder de wonderboom, Amsterdam, 1643 (Wikimedia Commons). Welp, it looks like this is my lucky week. I've struggled at times with a book we've been reading for Sundays@6, the adult faith formation that that Debi and I facilitate for our Lutheran parish church. But this week we're reading a chapter that invokes my favorite … Continue reading Jonah, he’s my man: A reflection on politics, polarization and Ninevah, that great city whose people don’t know their right hand from their left (Sundays@6 journal 6)
Of politics, algorithms, Krazy Kat, social media brickbats and the hope of redemption (Sundays@6 journal 5)
Krazy Kat1 (CC-BY-SA. Public Domain Super Heroes). As we get deeper into The After Party by Gordon Chang and Nancy French2 for Sundays@6, our autumn parish book study, I'm beginning to see how some of the main concepts fit together. Either their curriculum -- for evangelical Protestant congregations split by political hot-button issues -- is … Continue reading Of politics, algorithms, Krazy Kat, social media brickbats and the hope of redemption (Sundays@6 journal 5)
Can remembering a hasty, angry, partisan vote help me find concord in pre-election snitstorms? (Sundays@6 journal 4)
Illinois Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka (R) and President Bush, 2006 (Wikimedia Commons). Among the reflection questions in The After Party: Toward Better Christian Politics by Curtis Chang and Nancy French is this: "Identify a story in your life when you finally discovered you were wrong about something important. The story doesn't have to be about something … Continue reading Can remembering a hasty, angry, partisan vote help me find concord in pre-election snitstorms? (Sundays@6 journal 4)
An exhasted, cynical wannabe ‘disciple’ finds hope (and marching orders?) in Jesus, Micah and Rabbi Tarfon of 1st-century Yavneh (Sundays@6, journal 3)
Headlines in Times of Israel, Oct. 2, 2024, 6:16am (CDT). The morning headlines couldn't have been much worse. The Middle East is sliding into all-out war, and it looks the US is about to be dragged into it by a president too old and stubborn to realize his policy toward Israel has failed. In the … Continue reading An exhasted, cynical wannabe ‘disciple’ finds hope (and marching orders?) in Jesus, Micah and Rabbi Tarfon of 1st-century Yavneh (Sundays@6, journal 3)
Building community at an imaginary dinner party: Jesus’ disciples, partisan politics and the kingdom of God (Sundays@6 ‘After Party’ journal 2)
Jacopo Bassano, Last Supper, 1542, Galleria Borghese, Rome (Wikimedia Commons). Next week's session of Sundays@6, an online parish book study group Debi and I facilitate, will take up the first chapter of The After Party: Toward Better Christian Politics, by Curtis Chang and Nancy French; it's an interactive group study curriculum for mostly evangelical Protestant … Continue reading Building community at an imaginary dinner party: Jesus’ disciples, partisan politics and the kingdom of God (Sundays@6 ‘After Party’ journal 2)
‘The After Party’: Can hope and humility bridge the gaps created in a toxic election year? (journaling exercise for Sundays@6)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T00t5aGe4FA Overview of 'After Party.' Curtis Chang pictured. (Redeeming Babel). Correction (Oct. 2). In the process of getting ready for our third session, on Oct. 6, I reviewed the Hope/Humility Conversation Starter mentioned below. I was right when I suspected I'd added up my scores incorrectly and I didn't really belong in the "Disciples" category. … Continue reading ‘The After Party’: Can hope and humility bridge the gaps created in a toxic election year? (journaling exercise for Sundays@6)
‘A little help from my friends’: A Jesuit spiritual exercise meets a song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C58ttB2-Qg Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends / Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends / Oh, gonna try with a little help from my friends -- John Lennon and Paul McCartney (1967). Full disclosure: This started out as an Ignatian contemplation, in which I intended … Continue reading ‘A little help from my friends’: A Jesuit spiritual exercise meets a song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
How is the Holy Spirit like the wind? the breath of God? a wild goose? Notes for spiritual direction, September 2024
Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director today in advance of our session for September. 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, we start discussing something … Continue reading How is the Holy Spirit like the wind? the breath of God? a wild goose? Notes for spiritual direction, September 2024
Let’s see if a bland headline on a story about Christians in Gaza will be anodyne enough for social media
Screen shot, Jordan Times, Aug 12, 2024 (Photo Agence France-Presse). Well, well, well, it looks like I'm on Facebook's naughty list. Here's how I got there. I tried to copy an article in The Jordan Times, an English-language newspaper published in Amman, the capital of Jordan, on the plight of Christians in Gaza. Written by … Continue reading Let’s see if a bland headline on a story about Christians in Gaza will be anodyne enough for social media
Warnock’s inclusive, almost pastoral convention speech calls Democrats to work for peace and justice, to ‘heal the land’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JznC5vZnGOQ&t=597s Sen. Warnock's 'altar call' begins at 12:00 (PBS NewsHour), Aug. 19, 2024. For a long time I've been saying the only thing that can lift us up out of our spiritual crisis in America is the transformative witness of the Black church. We had a vivid foretaste of what that might look like Monday … Continue reading Warnock’s inclusive, almost pastoral convention speech calls Democrats to work for peace and justice, to ‘heal the land’
The spirit blows where it will, and this time the spirit blew me from my parish church in Springfield to a synagogue in Galilee and Luther’s Marienkirche in Wittenberg
Restored ruins of 4th-century synagogue at Capernaum (Wikimedia Commons). John 6 (NRSVUE). 59 He said these things while he was teaching in a synagogue at Capernaum. 60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” 61 But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, … Continue reading The spirit blows where it will, and this time the spirit blew me from my parish church in Springfield to a synagogue in Galilee and Luther’s Marienkirche in Wittenberg
‘Nones and nuns’: Walking (the talk) with the Dominican sisters on racism and social justice (discernment journal 4 of 4)
Dominican associates, Sacred Heart Convent, Springfield, May 1, 2022. Background mosaic shows Sts. Dominic Guzman, Catherine of Siena, Thomas Aquinas and other Dominicans. Lasr of four journals based on my answers raised by "discernment questions" sent to Dominican Associates in advance of an Aug. 24 retreat at the motherhouse in Springfield, Today's concern Associate Life, … Continue reading ‘Nones and nuns’: Walking (the talk) with the Dominican sisters on racism and social justice (discernment journal 4 of 4)
How does a spiritual mutt go back to the church in spite of the culture wars? Dominican discernment journal (3 of 4)
Lord's Prayer in 100+ languages, Pater Noster Church, Jerusalem (Wikimedia Commons). Third of four journals based on my answers raised by questions sent to Dominican Associates in advance of an Aug. 24 retreat at the motherhouse in Springfield. See HERE for more info in the first journal. Today's questions, on My Relationship with Church/ Community, … Continue reading How does a spiritual mutt go back to the church in spite of the culture wars? Dominican discernment journal (3 of 4)
‘Minnesota Lutheran’ candidate Walz does unspeakable things with green beans and Tater Tots in church basement casseroles
Screen shot, Gov. Walz' Facebook feed, Aug. 9, 2024. One thing you can say about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats' new vice presidential candidate: He didn't fall out of a coconut tree. You have to be quintessentially Midwestern to share a recipe for hotdish, a church basement potluck staple the rest of the country … Continue reading ‘Minnesota Lutheran’ candidate Walz does unspeakable things with green beans and Tater Tots in church basement casseroles
Praying to Einstein’s God (or Spinoza’s)? Dominican discernment journal (2 of _)
Raphael, 'Ezekiel's Vision,' 1518 (Wikimedia Commons). Second of (__) journals based on my answers raised by questions sent to Dominican Associates in advance f an Aug. 24 retreat at the motherhouse in Springfield. See HERE for more info in the first journal. Today's questions, on our Relationship with God, ask: “Who is God for you … Continue reading Praying to Einstein’s God (or Spinoza’s)? Dominican discernment journal (2 of _)
Revisiting a spiritual mutt’s surprising faith journey — Dominican discernment journal (1 of ?)
Daniel van den Dyck, St. Dominic and Cathars, ca. 1650 (Wikimedia Commons). I have to write to discover what I am doing. [...] I don’t know so well what I think until I see what I say; then I have to say it over again. -- Flannery O'Connor (Quote Investigator). This month I'll be taking another … Continue reading Revisiting a spiritual mutt’s surprising faith journey — Dominican discernment journal (1 of ?)
Coming to terms with the antisemitism and speechifying, and taking another look at John’s Jesus
Jacob Jordaens, 'Christ Among the Pharisees,' ca. 1665 (Wikimedia Commons). John 6 (NRSVUE). 41 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, … Continue reading Coming to terms with the antisemitism and speechifying, and taking another look at John’s Jesus
Ignatian (Jesuit) exercises in a time of political apocalypse — spiritual direction notes for July
Editor's (admin's) note. Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director last night in advance of our session for June. My mood has lifted considerably since President Biden announced his is withdrawing from the presidential race, for reasons that will become apparent below, but I think the long-term fundamentals haven't changed; the … Continue reading Ignatian (Jesuit) exercises in a time of political apocalypse — spiritual direction notes for July
Sumud, accompaniment and Palestinian resistance — definitions and background for Sundays@6
Wall art, Sumud Story House, Bethlehem (Wikimedia Commons). Editor's (admin's) note. Copy of a handout I put together for Sundays@6, the adult faith formation book study group Debi and I co-facilitate at Peace Lutheran Church in Springfield. I composed it in WordPress so I could easily create hypertext links as I drafted it. In October … Continue reading Sumud, accompaniment and Palestinian resistance — definitions and background for Sundays@6
How a Jesuit spiritual exercise and a dream are helping me struggle with an apocalyptic election year
Domenichino, St. Ignatius' vision at La Storta, 1622 (Wikimedia Commons). I'm not going to call what happened last night anything other than what it was: A dream. No heavenly light on the road to Damascus (not even New Berlin or Jacksonville). No visions of God the Father and God the Son bearing the Cross by … Continue reading How a Jesuit spiritual exercise and a dream are helping me struggle with an apocalyptic election year
‘From the river to the sea / we all need therapy’: Notes for a parish book study and spiritual direction, June 2024
Screen shot of newsletter blurb previewing our class. Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director today in advance of our session for June. 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 … Continue reading ‘From the river to the sea / we all need therapy’: Notes for a parish book study and spiritual direction, June 2024
‘After the final no comes a yes’: On new beginnings, Elaine Pagels and the empty tomb in the gospel of Mark (2 of 2)
2nd of 2 posts -- click HERE to see first post Pierre Jean Van der Ouderaa, “The Holy Women,” 1893 (Wikimedia Commons). Mark 16 (NRSVUE): When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first … Continue reading ‘After the final no comes a yes’: On new beginnings, Elaine Pagels and the empty tomb in the gospel of Mark (2 of 2)
Sumud — draft outline and links
d r a f t ! Sumud [steadfastness] header on ELCA website at https://www.elca.org/sumud. Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-_CBFUiWeQ&t=2s -- What is Sumud? (English) | Following the Way of Jesus: A Lenten Holy Land Journey Week 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn1c18BvUHA&t=1s -- Sumud the Way of Jesus (English) Church of the Annunciation (Nazareth) Ranan Issa Abu Shanab is the Gender Justice Program Manager … Continue reading Sumud — draft outline and links
Finding a sliver of hope in Trump’s porn star hush money verdict, Magna Carta and a 13th-century Latin pun: ‘Where there is no law (lex) there is no king (rex)’
Quotation from my PhD dissertation, UT-Knoxville, March 1975. A moment I've been anticipating for nearly a decade arrived today. Not only that, it also reaffirmed a faith I've had for 50 years. The moment came about 3:30 p.m. (CDT) when a criminal court jury in New York City convicted ex-President Donald Trump on 34 counts of … Continue reading Finding a sliver of hope in Trump’s porn star hush money verdict, Magna Carta and a 13th-century Latin pun: ‘Where there is no law (lex) there is no king (rex)’
Notes & quotes — Israeli peace movement (D R A F T)
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZNPwTNHlew&t=400s Noam Shuster Eliassi, performing at the JW3, London, December 2018. xxx Eric Alterman, "What on Earth Has Happened to the Israeli Peace Movement?" New Republic, May 22 https://newrepublic.com/article/181775/what-happened-israeli-peace-movement. Eric Alterman Verbatim Excerpts (money quote): One cannot but admire both the bravery and tenacity of these people, whom so many … Continue reading Notes & quotes — Israeli peace movement (D R A F T)
Harmonica — misc. rhythm, improv, etc., YouTube lessons
d r a f t harmonica barge -- YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@TheHarmonicaBarge Rhythm and Groove Harp Lessons https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZtPXd2xMOGKG23n_fxJEf9KjdBpKz-Yq xxx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc3x5_GYTMM xxx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ErKBYsEdVY&list=PLZtPXd2xMOGJKe64_qiJrjtuBpo2aJJw_&index=3 xxx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRCHWqlyJX8&list=PLZtPXd2xMOGJKe64_qiJrjtuBpo2aJJw_&index=1 xx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic2Qm8mpZ5w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFjgdEfrtlc xxx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbjFlShDjQs&list=PLZtPXd2xMOGJKe64_qiJrjtuBpo2aJJw_&index=3 xxx chords -- xxx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qVSuayeV_I
Notes & quotes — ELCA’s Sumud (Arabic for ‘steadfastness’) initiative
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy9cjJcpNiA&t=250s Intro posted April 8 to YouTube. See ELCA website at https://www.elca.org/sumud. Have you heard of Sumud (formerly Peace Not Walls)? Share about this new initiative from the ELCA for justice in Palestine and Israel. Stay connected by LIKING and FOLLOWING us on Facebook (ELCA Sumud) and Instagram (@ELCASumud). xxx … Continue reading Notes & quotes — ELCA’s Sumud (Arabic for ‘steadfastness’) initiative
Spiritual direction notes for May: ‘After the final no, comes a yes’; Swedish thelogian on Christan — and Lutheran — responsibility to fight antisemitism
'Krister Stendahl död,' Sydsvenskan, Malmö, April 16, 2008. Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director today in advance of our session for May. 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 … Continue reading Spiritual direction notes for May: ‘After the final no, comes a yes’; Swedish thelogian on Christan — and Lutheran — responsibility to fight antisemitism
How a Swedish Lutheran theologian’s response to the Holocaust guides my attitude to performative ‘anti-antisemitism’ in an election year
'[...] 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 everything 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 everything 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)
1st of 2 posts -- click HERE to see second post 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 … 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
‘They offered us as an atonement sacrifice for their own antisemitism’: Easter vigil homily from a Palestinian Lutheran church
https://www.facebook.com/christmaslutheranchurch/videos/383323301295151 https://www.facebook.com/christmaslutheranchurch Easter Sunday was a different -- and unexpectedly rewarding -- experience this year. The livestream from our parish church in Springfield wasn't working, so Debi and I wound up watching the livestreamed video from the Easter communion service at Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. We've worshiped with them before, so it was … Continue reading ‘They offered us as an atonement sacrifice for their own antisemitism’: Easter vigil homily from a Palestinian Lutheran church
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
How Beyoncé’s crossover country and a Black harmonica player of the 1930s got me back to making music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7xxnaWxmPo DeFord Bailey at Grand Ole Opry reunion (Living the Blues). My taste in music is nothing if not eclectic. It runs toward Anglo-Celtic fiddle tunes, southern Appalachian ballads, trad Irish, Swedish and Norwegian gammaldans, English folk melodies, roots reggae, blues, African American spirituals, Southern gospel and early American shape-note hymns -- practically anything, in … Continue reading How Beyoncé’s crossover country and a Black harmonica player of the 1930s got me back to making music
Harmonica basics — misc. videos
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af3B-JsmLJA xxx xxxxx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-ldAA9nwQ0 xxxx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-ldAA9nwQ0 This Simple Breathing Exercise Will Transform Your Playing - How to Breathe on Harmonica Jonah Fox - Harmonica Revolution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=norMgWCHXr4 xxxx xxxx Harmonica Academy https://www.harmonicaacademy.com/categories/20101027 The Tremolo Harmonica The tremolo harmonica is the most popular instrument of the harmonica family, played throughout Asia and … Continue reading Harmonica basics — misc. videos
A blast email on white supremacy, anti-Semitism and a prize-winning editorial in Atlanta — ‘it’s complicated’ (Sundays@6)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euT1j7FUeHY A blast email Debi and I wrote for Sundays@6, our online adult faith formation group at Peace Lutheran Church, Springfield, for the seventh session of a book study on “The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism” by Jemar Tisby. In it I quoted a 1958 editorial by Ralph McGill, … Continue reading A blast email on white supremacy, anti-Semitism and a prize-winning editorial in Atlanta — ‘it’s complicated’ (Sundays@6)
Notes on 19th-century Swedes in Illinois and an alt-country song from Appalachia (spiritual journal for March)
'Pastor's residence in Andover' Korsbanaret, 1880 (Google Books). 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 … Continue reading Notes on 19th-century Swedes in Illinois and an alt-country song from Appalachia (spiritual journal for March)
Swedes in Roger Williams’ Garden — abstract and presentation script from October 2020
Note: A copy of the abstract and notes I used when I presented my paper "Swedes in Roger Williams’ Garden: Acculturation in Immigrant Churches, 1848-1860" over Zoom at the Conference on Illinois History, Abraham Lincoln Public Library and Museum Springfield, Oct. 7, 2020. As I said in an email at the time, it was "probably … Continue reading Swedes in Roger Williams’ Garden — abstract and presentation script from October 2020
Sundays@6: Lutheran missions in Jim Crow days and on the rez, ‘marked by parsimony and limited to acts of mercy’
Carlisle Indian Industrial School, 1918 (Wikimedia Commons). In chapter 6 of The Color of Color of Compromise, titled "Reconstructing White Supremacy in the Jim Crow Era," Jemar Tisby continues to develop his theme that racism is infinitely adaptable to changing historical trends. Not only did the Southern white planter class cling to the "Lost Cause" … Continue reading Sundays@6: Lutheran missions in Jim Crow days and on the rez, ‘marked by parsimony and limited to acts of mercy’
‘Fit me for the builder’s use’ — a lectio divina meditation on an alt-country song by Tyler Childers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqrxHOKhOBE I hope that people take, it doesn’t matter, race, creed, religion, and all of that, the most important part is to protect your heart, cultivate that, and make that something useful for the world. -- Tyler Childers, Whiskey Riff (2022). Let's try something new here. For several years I've been trying my hand at … Continue reading ‘Fit me for the builder’s use’ — a lectio divina meditation on an alt-country song by Tyler Childers
Sundays@6: Lutherans in the Civil War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzSFgOSeqxs Satirical song about Germans commanded by Union Gen. Franz Sigel of St. Louis. Two things stand out in Jemar Tisby's treatment of the Civil War in The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church's Complicity in Racism. The first, and most obvious: It was always about slavery, and that fact "has not … Continue reading Sundays@6: Lutherans in the Civil War
‘Sumud’: The political gets personal — and spiritual — with a Lutheran social justice program in Palestine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-_CBFUiWeQ Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNDmVwhz-M36yL2radQv-Ol6p_b5ZnA-Y We're halfway through Lent already, but I'm adding another Lenten meditation to my reading list. It's put out by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, in cooperation with its counterpart in Palestine, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. It's called Sumud, an Arabic word that translates as "steadfastness." … Continue reading ‘Sumud’: The political gets personal — and spiritual — with a Lutheran social justice program in Palestine
Sundays@6: How the Lutherans’ first African American pastor in Philly got shafted by the church he loyally served
Link HERE to order Jehu Jones icon by Mary Button. Lightly edited copy of a blast email Debi and I sent out to participants in Sundays@6, our online adult faith formation group at Peace Lutheran Church, Springfield, for the fourth session in a book study on “The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American … Continue reading Sundays@6: How the Lutherans’ first African American pastor in Philly got shafted by the church he loyally served
How white churches (including most Lutherans) split on slavery and self-segregated as the Black church grew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwWqkk4Ha70 Black History in Two Minutes (or so), narrated by Henry Louis Gates Jr. Lightly edited copy of a blast email Debi and I sent out today to participants in Sundays@6, our online adult faith formation group at Peace Lutheran Church, Springfield. Sunday will be the third session in a book study on “The Color … Continue reading How white churches (including most Lutherans) split on slavery and self-segregated as the Black church grew
Sundays@6: How did a 1493 papal bull influence white Americans’ relations with African and indigenous people?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3gF7ULVrl4&t=14s Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) elder explains lasting effects of 1493 papal bull. Lightly edited copy of a blast email Debi and I sent out today to members of our congregation, Peace Lutheran Church of Springfield, for the second meeting of our online adult faith formation book study on “The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the … Continue reading Sundays@6: How did a 1493 papal bull influence white Americans’ relations with African and indigenous people?
‘We’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden’: Stray thoughts on original sin, medieval and Reformation theology
Jan Brueghel the Elder and Pieter Paul Rubens, Fall of Adam and Eve (Wikipedia) God is not a noun, that demands to be defined, God is a verb that invites us to live, to love and to be. -- The Right Rev. John Shelby Spong, Twitter, April 20, 2015 (qtd. Wikipedia) Maybe it's dumb luck, … Continue reading ‘We’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden’: Stray thoughts on original sin, medieval and Reformation theology
Of faith, doubt, ancient creeds, Pope Leo the Great, Attila the Hun and church history (spiritual direction, Jan.-Feb.)
Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director in advance of our session for February. 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, we start discussing something … Continue reading Of faith, doubt, ancient creeds, Pope Leo the Great, Attila the Hun and church history (spiritual direction, Jan.-Feb.)
Sundays@6: New parish book study on American churches’ history of complicity in systemic racism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNmm9cvmxmY&t=21s Trailer for video series on same content (Zondervan) Lightly edited copy of a blast email Debi and I are sending out to members of our congregation, Peace Lutheran Church of Springfield, in advance of the first meeting an adult faith formation book study on “The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church's … Continue reading Sundays@6: New parish book study on American churches’ history of complicity in systemic racism
As Rome fell, a pope fought with Huns, Vandals and Byzantine Christians who had a slightly different version of the creed
Raphael, Leo the Great and Attila, Vatican, 1514 (Wikimedia Commons) At this point, we begin to move from the religion of Jesus (love your neighbor, turn the other cheek, prepare for the End of Days) to the religion about Jesus (he was the Son of God who died to absolve us of our sins). The … Continue reading As Rome fell, a pope fought with Huns, Vandals and Byzantine Christians who had a slightly different version of the creed
What do Constantine and the 4th-century Byzantine church councils tell us about the separation of church and state today?
Constantine Enters Rome, Peter Paul Reubens, 1621 (Wikimedia Commons). Beginning Saturday, I'll be auditing an online Church History Survey course offered by the Central/Southern Illinois Synod, ELCA. In addition to our assigned readings by Justo L. González listed below, we're assigned to write a one-page reflection paper on what we read. The prompt says: "While … Continue reading What do Constantine and the 4th-century Byzantine church councils tell us about the separation of church and state today?
Kielbasa spinach soup
d r a f t On the EatingWell website at https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/7945999/load-go-slow-cooker-soup-with-mushrooms-kielbasa/ 1 pound white mushrooms, halved and sliced 1 medium onion, chopped 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped 4 ounces kielbasa, halved lengthwise and sliced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon dried thyme ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon ground pepper 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth 4 cups coarsely chopped spinach 1 tablespoon butter or extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar There's also a lentil soup … Continue reading Kielbasa spinach soup
‘I believe … I cannot believe’: A mantra from Luther’s Small Catechism to lead me on when the night is dark
Léonard Gaultier, Christ Heals an Epileptic Boy, ca. 1580 (National Gallery). Mark 9 (NRSVUE): 14When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and some scribes arguing with them. 15When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. 16He asked them, “What are … Continue reading ‘I believe … I cannot believe’: A mantra from Luther’s Small Catechism to lead me on when the night is dark
‘I believe; help my unbelief’: Praying with anxiety (spiritual direction, January 2024)
Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director in advance of our session for January. I think it's important to say what it is -- and isn't -- as we start a new year. I've been writing these for several years now, primarily in order to help me focus my mind … Continue reading ‘I believe; help my unbelief’: Praying with anxiety (spiritual direction, January 2024)
Our Christmas letter, 2023
... which Debi wrote, in her voice (with my kibitzing and edits), for both of us. The past year at our house has been … eventful. Pete was diagnosed with bladder cancer in October of 2022 and I had a heart attack just before Christmas of last year. So we’ve spent much of 2023 juggling doctor … Continue reading Our Christmas letter, 2023
Turkish-American scholar: ‘What I find most hurtful in this whole (Gaza) situation is the reduction of complexity’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7BjYNMEcgg&t=326s Analysis by FRANCE 24's international affairs editor [4:40-5:37], Dec. 11, 2023 When I was growing up in small-town East Tennessee, people who weren't familiar with my Norwegian surname would sometimes call me Ellerstein, substituting the common suffix in Jewish names for the -t-s-e-n that doesn't roll trippingly off an English speaker's tongue. I thought … Continue reading Turkish-American scholar: ‘What I find most hurtful in this whole (Gaza) situation is the reduction of complexity’
Fixing the world’s grief, at least feeling a little better about my own, with a little help from a meme on social media
For several years now, an internet meme has been a mantra of mine when the news gets unbearable. Or, maybe, a talisman. More likely some of both. It purports to be a quote from the Talmud, but actually it's a paraphrase or mashup of passages from a prophet in the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, … Continue reading Fixing the world’s grief, at least feeling a little better about my own, with a little help from a meme on social media
Lots of performative anti-antisemitism at House GOP hearing, but little substance on surge in antisemitism, Islamophobia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcczLSlUDAM&t=387s Rep. Foxx says students call for 'infada-, infina-, uh, for genocide' (HCEW). STEFANIK (played by Chloe Troast). So, Penn lady, will you say you are anti-anti-anti-anti-antisemitic? MAGILL (played by Heidi Gardner). Can you tell me how many 'anti's' that was? STEFANIK. I will not. MAGILL. You're asking us questions that seem very unfair. STEFANIK. Oh (giggles), thank … Continue reading Lots of performative anti-antisemitism at House GOP hearing, but little substance on surge in antisemitism, Islamophobia
spokane irish session
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTRXq5Si2Es&t=2663s xxx xxx Si Bheag Si Mhor Banish Misfortune Blarney Pilgrim Swallowtail Dusty Windowsills [skip here, as it would show up later in the FFF set] Lilting Banshee (Some missing titles) Cooley’s Reel This Ships are Sailing Garrett Barry’s Jig I Buried My Wife… Humours of Ballyloughlin Maid Behind the … Continue reading spokane irish session
How a straight white cisgender male learned to stop worrying and wrap his head around intersectionality
"Intersectionality," Milliann Kang et al., (CC-by-4.0 UMass Amherst). Within intersectional frameworks, race, class, gender, sexuality, age, ability, and other aspects of identity are considered mutually constitutive; that is, people experience these multiple aspects of identity simultaneously and the meanings of different aspects of identity are shaped by one another. -- Milliann Kang et al., Introduction … Continue reading How a straight white cisgender male learned to stop worrying and wrap his head around intersectionality
Swapping nativity stories with Jesus over the noon buffet at an Indian restaurant on Christmas day: A quasi-Jesuit exercise
Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem (Wikimedia Commons) What follows is my latest attempt at an Ignatian contemplation, which the Jesuit author James Martin defines as "using your imagination to place yourself in a scene from Scripture, or with Jesus." In this one I imagine myself in an F2F conversation today with Jesus. Certain culinary details … Continue reading Swapping nativity stories with Jesus over the noon buffet at an Indian restaurant on Christmas day: A quasi-Jesuit exercise
picadillo
d r a f t https://www.facebook.com/groups/easymexicanrecipes/posts/647656613968322 2 tbsp evoo (extra virgin olive oil) 1 to 2 lbs ground beef 3 potatoes cubed 1 can green beans or fresh (optional) small onion 2 garlic cloves minced 3 tomatoes diced 2 Serrano Chile’s chopped 1 tsp kosher salt add more if needed 1 tsp garlic salt 1/4 … Continue reading picadillo
Why New Yorkers’ reaction to an Islamophobic rant on the Upper East Side gives me hope for the future
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJBzamR9Ak4 Brooklynite of Egyptian heritage supports halal street vendor (Loudlabs News NYC). I'm a generation and a half removed from New York City -- my father left Brooklyn in 1932 to go off to college and never moved back -- but I couldn't be prouder of the way New Yorkers reacted Thanksgiving week to an … Continue reading Why New Yorkers’ reaction to an Islamophobic rant on the Upper East Side gives me hope for the future
‘Red haired boy’ — tutorial
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j-HBybwGGE Shared here so I can find it again!
Carolan’s Welcome — tutorial for hammered dulcimer
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjUjDnkYauM xxxx The Session (https://thesession.org/tunes/1055) has the dots in E minor, A minor, B minor and G major
Speaker Johnson’s born-again political shtick, Roger Williams and the ‘wall of separation’ between church and state
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjKetVw4a6A&t=173s 'That doesn't pass the smell test,' Buttigeig tells CNN's Erin Burnett [at 3:57]. [Roger Williams] was saying that mixing church and state corrupted the church, that when one mixes religion and politics, one gets politics. -- John M. Barry, "God, Government and Roger Williams’ Big Idea," Smithsonian Magazine, Jan. 2012. In his deceptively pious, … Continue reading Speaker Johnson’s born-again political shtick, Roger Williams and the ‘wall of separation’ between church and state
Fishers of men? — A Jesuit spiritual exercise that turned into a first-century Palestinian fish story (or parable?)
James Tissot, ‘Appearance of Christ,’ 1890. Brooklyn Museum (Wikimedia Commons) He comes as yet unknown into a hamlet of Lower Galilee. He is watched by the cold, hard eyes of peasants living long enough at a subsistence level to know exactly where the line is drawn between poverty and destitution. [...] Jesus, finding his own voice, … Continue reading Fishers of men? — A Jesuit spiritual exercise that turned into a first-century Palestinian fish story (or parable?)
Sundays@6 — Of ‘Caste,’ race, anti-Semitism, a German memorial at Bergen-Belsen and the (white) church’s complicity in American racism (week 7)
Mass grave at Bergen-Belsen camp. Inscription says, "Here rest 1,000 dead, April 1945."Memorial stones are placed on monument in observance of Jewish tradition (note Israeli flag). Lightly edited copy of a blast email Debi and I sent out to members of our congregation, Peace Lutheran Church of Springfield, in advance of the seventh meeting an … Continue reading Sundays@6 — Of ‘Caste,’ race, anti-Semitism, a German memorial at Bergen-Belsen and the (white) church’s complicity in American racism (week 7)
Sundays@6: Isabel Wilkerson’s ‘Caste,’ avoiding fake news and the consequences of our racial pecking orders (week 6)
Lightly edited copy of a blast email Debi and I sent out to members of our congregation, Peace Lutheran Church of Springfield, in advance of the sixth meeting an adult faith formation book study, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson. We call the group Sundays@6, and it meets over Zoom Sunday evenings … Continue reading Sundays@6: Isabel Wilkerson’s ‘Caste,’ avoiding fake news and the consequences of our racial pecking orders (week 6)
Frolicking in Plato’s academy with an AI content generator, a chatty club sandwich and a philosophical cat
AI image by pvproductions It all began when Debi and I were talking about artificial intelligence (AI). WordPress has an AI content generator, called Jetpack AI Assistant, and we both have blogs on WordPress. We started on a high plane, speculating about whether it can replace human intelligence. So we got on WordPress and tried … Continue reading Frolicking in Plato’s academy with an AI content generator, a chatty club sandwich and a philosophical cat
Sundays@6: ‘Caste,’ apartheid, Jim Crow and military occupation, in the US and the Occupied Territories (week 5)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa6igKc1M9s Christmas Lutheran Church, where Debi and I attended services (al-Jazeera). Lightly edited copy of a blast email Debi and I sent out to members of our congregation, Peace Lutheran Church of Springfield, in advance of the fifth meeting an adult faith formation book study, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson. We … Continue reading Sundays@6: ‘Caste,’ apartheid, Jim Crow and military occupation, in the US and the Occupied Territories (week 5)
Sundays@6, week 4: Of ‘Caste,’ alpha wolves, underdogs and intersectionality
Lightly edited copy of a blast email Debi and I sent out to members of our congregation, Peace Lutheran Church of Springfield, in advance of the fourth meeting an adult faith formation discussion of the book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson. We call the group Sundays@6, and it meets over Zoom … Continue reading Sundays@6, week 4: Of ‘Caste,’ alpha wolves, underdogs and intersectionality
Trying Ignatian contemplation with Abraham at the sacred oak of Moreh and the radiology lab at SUI Med school
God Appears to Abraham at Sichem, Paulus Potter, 1625-54 (Wikimedia Commons) Genesis 12 (NRSVE) When they had come to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak[b] of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will … Continue reading Trying Ignatian contemplation with Abraham at the sacred oak of Moreh and the radiology lab at SUI Med school
Sundays@6, week 3: ‘Caste,’ Faulkner’s dictum, Florida’s K-12 learning standards and the lessons of history
Lightly edited copy of a blast email Debi and I sent out last month to members of our congregation, Peace Lutheran Church of Springfield, in advance of the third meeting an adult faith formation discussion of the book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson. We call the group Sundays@6, and it meets … Continue reading Sundays@6, week 3: ‘Caste,’ Faulkner’s dictum, Florida’s K-12 learning standards and the lessons of history
What’s that tune? Heard on the YouTube video of a session in Spokane — can anyone help me ID it?
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd3VB4480J0&t=35s A tune I want to learn -- but I don't know the name. It begins a little after 35:00. Seems to be in D, and I think it may be related to John Ryan's polka. Can anyone help me identify it? xxx John Ryan's (polka)? -- https://thesession.org/tunes/441 -- seems … Continue reading What’s that tune? Heard on the YouTube video of a session in Spokane — can anyone help me ID it?
How do traffic stops in Illinois confirm Isabel Wilkerson’s thesis in ‘Caste’? (2nd week, Sundays@6)
Lightly edited copy of a blast email Debi and I sent out last week to members of our congregation, Peace Lutheran Church of Springfield, promoting the second meeting an adult faith formation discussion of the book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson. We call the group Sundays@6, and it meets over Zoom … Continue reading How do traffic stops in Illinois confirm Isabel Wilkerson’s thesis in ‘Caste’? (2nd week, Sundays@6)
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh — links
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2rvjt-h_8E xxx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Q_OnOL_dg Na Mooneys - Máire Mhór | FleadhTV 2017 | TG4 Trad TG4 blurb: Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (Fiddle & Song), Anna Ní Mhaonaigh (Whistle & Song), Nia Ní Bheirn (Fiddle & Song), Ciarán Ó Maonaigh (Fiddle), Gearóid Ó Maonaigh (Guitar), Caitlín Nic Gabhann (Concertina & Dance) & Mánus … Continue reading Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh — links
A (belated) birthday meditation — trying to be a mensch in a suboptimal year
I did chemo at SIU Medicine1 and I got this lousy magnificent T-shirt! In an unexpected turn of events, I celebrated my 81st birthday with my first immunotherapy infusion for what has turned out to be stage 4 bladder cancer. When a recent biopsy came back showing a trouble spot in one of my lymph … Continue reading A (belated) birthday meditation — trying to be a mensch in a suboptimal year
Sundays@6: Email for discussion of ‘Caste’ (week 1)
Lightly edited copy of a blast email Debi and I sent out last week to members of our congregation, Peace Lutheran Church of Springfield, who expressed an interest -- or who we thought might be interested! -- in an adult faith formation discussion of the book "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents" by Isabel Wilkerson … Continue reading Sundays@6: Email for discussion of ‘Caste’ (week 1)
Back to the 1980s: Getting a biopsy during a hospital cyberattack with a little help from a Jesuit exercise and a Jewish novelist
As soon as I checked in at the registration desk in the main lobby at HSHS St. John's, I knew this hospital visit was going to be different. Normally when I check in at a doctor’s office, I give my name, the receptionist calls up my file and I give my date of birth or … Continue reading Back to the 1980s: Getting a biopsy during a hospital cyberattack with a little help from a Jesuit exercise and a Jewish novelist
‘Caste’: Promo for Sundays@6 faith formation book study group
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR3rEp_KiC4&t=230s Editor's (admin's) note. Lightly edited copy of a blast email I sent to prospective members of the online Sundays@6 adult faith formation group at Peace Lutheran Church in Springfield. (The group meets via Zoom Sundays at -- when else? -- 6 p.m. First meeting is at the end of September, and this message previews … Continue reading ‘Caste’: Promo for Sundays@6 faith formation book study group
‘I believe, help my unbelief’: Of Pascal’s wager, prayer, empirical evidence and a New Testament miracle
Window, Loughrea St. Brendan's Cathedral, Ireland (Wikimedia) Mark 9 (NRSV). Jesus[f] asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, help us! Have compassion on us!” 23 Jesus said to … Continue reading ‘I believe, help my unbelief’: Of Pascal’s wager, prayer, empirical evidence and a New Testament miracle
Back on social media — and hopefully blogging again — after a two-month hiatus
Lightly edited copy of a status update I posted this afternoon to Facebook. Due to a combination of health issues and a computer that died when I was in the hospital and too busy to get a new one. But I've been recuperating at home now for several weeks, and Debi found a way to … Continue reading Back on social media — and hopefully blogging again — after a two-month hiatus
Richard Rohr, birdbath spirituality, praying to a personal God and growing up with St. Francis in a TVA town
St. Francis preaches to the birds, by Antonio Carnicero, ca. 1789 (Wikimedia Commons) While I was in chemotherapy, I didn't do much writing, but I did read a lot of theology. That's one thing you can still do when you feel lousy. In the process, I discovered a Franciscan intellectual tradition I'd only been dimly … Continue reading Richard Rohr, birdbath spirituality, praying to a personal God and growing up with St. Francis in a TVA town
‘Ramadan Mubarak’ — greeting the Muslim holy month on the floor of the Illinois House of Representatives
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmE0lRi43qs So this happened Thursday, and it's one more reason -- call it the 100,000,001st (but who's counting?) -- reason why I love Illinois. At sundown on the floor of the state House of Representatives, two Chicago-area freshman legislators rose to points of personal privilege to welcome the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and invite … Continue reading ‘Ramadan Mubarak’ — greeting the Muslim holy month on the floor of the Illinois House of Representatives
The saga continues — I’m locked out of Facebook again, and I’m taking it as a sign to spend more time growing the blog
So I came home from the hospital today with good news I wanted to share. I was there for a EGD scope, a procedure that looks at the upper GI tract. A post-chemotherapy PET scan had shown the original cancer in my bladder was gone -- yay chemo! -- but there was a suspicious area … Continue reading The saga continues — I’m locked out of Facebook again, and I’m taking it as a sign to spend more time growing the blog
‘Are you there, God? It’s me …’: My prayer life at 80 and the 11-year-old title character in a Judy Blume novel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzRzojHC3iE&t=51s One thing about living with cancer -- and cancer treatment -- for several months now, it's jump-started my prayer life. But not in the way I might have expected. For several years now, I've been meeting with a spiritual director, and I've read up on practices like lectio divina and Ignatian contemplation. Instead, I'm … Continue reading ‘Are you there, God? It’s me …’: My prayer life at 80 and the 11-year-old title character in a Judy Blume novel
Giving up chemo and starting yoga exercises for Lent — an interim progress report as the side effects wear off
Next steps: Jane Adams' gentle yoga for seniors and resting up after chemo. Journaling the last of chemotherapy and its immediate aftermath, then a couple of weeks devoted to gathering strength for what comes next. I started this post three days out from my last infusion, just before the side effects hammered me -- right … Continue reading Giving up chemo and starting yoga exercises for Lent — an interim progress report as the side effects wear off
Citing Luther’s Small Catechism, Missouri Synod president condems white Christian nationalism as ‘evil’
#MAGA Hat Jesus, Jan. 6, 2021 (photo Tyler Merbler, Flickr/Creative Commons) Edited copy of a blast email I sent to participants in "Sundays@6," an online adult faith formation group that Debi and I facilitate for our ELCA Lutheran parish church about the Missouri Synod's official statement on white Christian nationalism as contrary to Christian doctrine … Continue reading Citing Luther’s Small Catechism, Missouri Synod president condems white Christian nationalism as ‘evil’
A chemo-infused reflection on Ash Wednesday, St. Francis and the first few signs of spring outside the window
Giotto, 1297-99, Basilica of St. Francis, Assisi, (WikiArt). Welp, I know what I want to give up for Lent this year: Chemotherapy. That's what. Yesterday I celebrated Shrove Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, by beginning my last cycle of chemotherapy at the Southern Illinois University medical school's Simmons Cancer Institute. No pancakes, but I did eat … Continue reading A chemo-infused reflection on Ash Wednesday, St. Francis and the first few signs of spring outside the window
‘I will arise and go to Jesus’: Seeking a personal God for a dark February twilight of the soul in Ilia Delio’s christology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0vo43hu_HQ Virtual Choir, FAPCinNYC, Sept. 27, 2020 There's an image in Gary Snyder's "How Poetry Comes to Me" that I like very much. He compares poetry, the creative impulse, to a wild animal that comes up to his campfire, but stays just out of range at the edge of the darkness. So, says the poet, … Continue reading ‘I will arise and go to Jesus’: Seeking a personal God for a dark February twilight of the soul in Ilia Delio’s christology
ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton: If there is a hell, ‘I think it’s empty’
Feb. 18, 2024. This post was written a year ago, and for some reason I never got around to uplinking it until today, when I came across it while researching another post on the general subject of hell. Since that time, the link to the summary quoted below of the original podcast on the Sun-Times … Continue reading ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton: If there is a hell, ‘I think it’s empty’
Sundays@6: ‘Holy envy’ and Krister Stendahl’s rules for interfaith dialog
Lightly edited copy of a blast email sent out to participants in an online book discussion group Debi and I facilitate for our parish, Peace Lutheran Church of Springfield, Ill. (It meets Sundays at 6 p.m. — hence the name.) We are discussing “Holy Envy” by Barbara Brown Taylor. Her title comes from Harvard Divinity School dean (and Swedish … Continue reading Sundays@6: ‘Holy envy’ and Krister Stendahl’s rules for interfaith dialog
Sundays@6: Notes for online parish book study session on Buddhism, ‘Holy Envy’ by Barbara Brown Taylor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxq-RiLb-6M Lightly edited copy of a blast email sent out to participants in an online book discussion group Debi and I facilitate for our parish, Peace Lutheran Church of Springfield, Ill. (It meets Sundays at 6 p.m. — hence the name.) We are discussing “Holy Envy” by Barbara Brown Taylor. Her title comes from Harvard Divinity School dean (and … Continue reading Sundays@6: Notes for online parish book study session on Buddhism, ‘Holy Envy’ by Barbara Brown Taylor
12-step wisdom and a terrible, horrible, kinda good, maybe not-so-bad day halfway through chemotherapy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YOQbE692s8&t=266s Fr. Brendan McManus SJ, Gardiner Street Parish Dublin, recorded Oct. 25, 2020 As I reach the halfway point in chemotherapy this week, I'm making a special effort to take things one day at a time. So let me tell you about a terrible, horrible, maybe kinda good, not-so-bad-after-all day I had last week. As … Continue reading 12-step wisdom and a terrible, horrible, kinda good, maybe not-so-bad day halfway through chemotherapy
Sundays@6: Barbara Brown Taylor visits a Hindu temple in Atlanta with her college religious studies students
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EICcU9oN-s Lightly edited copy of a blast email sent out to participants in an online book discussion group Debi and I facilitate for our parish, Peace Lutheran Church of Springfield, Ill. (It meets Sundays at 6 p.m. — hence the name.) We are discussing “Holy Envy” by Barbara Brown Taylor. Her title comes from Swedish bishop Krister Stendahl’s … Continue reading Sundays@6: Barbara Brown Taylor visits a Hindu temple in Atlanta with her college religious studies students
Praying only for the knowledge of God’s will and the strength to carry it out amid the ‘paradoxical tragedy-wonder of life’
Roman arch over the Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem, November 2012 Overheard the other day in the infusion center at Southern Illinois University while I was headed toward the bathroom for the umpteenth time: NURSE 1: “He took his Lasix before he came in.” NURSE 2: “So he’s going to go wee, wee, wee all the way home?” I had a snappy comeback, but … Continue reading Praying only for the knowledge of God’s will and the strength to carry it out amid the ‘paradoxical tragedy-wonder of life’
Sundays@6: ‘Holy Envy’ and Krister Stendahl’s rules for interfaith dialog for a parish book study group
Lightly edited copy of a blast email Debi and I sent out to prospective members of an online book discussion group we facilitate for our parish, Peace Lutheran Church of Springfield, Ill. (It meets Sundays at 6 p.m. — hence the name.) As we begin "Holy Envy" by Barbara Brown Taylor, it explores where her … Continue reading Sundays@6: ‘Holy Envy’ and Krister Stendahl’s rules for interfaith dialog for a parish book study group
Links to chicken soup recipes; with reminiscences of a soup-and-sandwich restaurant that’s long been part of the Springfield culinary (and political) scene
Elected official from Chicago (center left) drops by the Feed Store in 2016 (Facebook). My latest quest for new chicken soup recipes started, like so many other good things in my life, with a Facebook thread. This one ranged over ethnic recipes, starting with an original post about making chicken noodle soup, with kluski noodles … Continue reading Links to chicken soup recipes; with reminiscences of a soup-and-sandwich restaurant that’s long been part of the Springfield culinary (and political) scene
A Jesuit, a Protestant reformer and a spiritual mutt walk into an ER (instead of a bar): How I’m learning to trust God
Pilgrims entering Garden of Gethsemane, Jerusalem, November 2012. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. -- Proverbs 3:5-6 (NRSV): Our prayer doesn’t change God’s mind, it changes us. It helps us change our own minds and hearts. It … Continue reading A Jesuit, a Protestant reformer and a spiritual mutt walk into an ER (instead of a bar): How I’m learning to trust God
Our annual Christmas letter for 2022
Copied from Debi's blog "Seriously Seeking Answers," which has one more picture -- of a bumblebee chowing down on one of the native wildflowers she sets out to attract pollinators. (I couldn't get the formatting to behave.) To see the bee, click HERE. While you're there, take a look around. Her blog promises a "spiritual … Continue reading Our annual Christmas letter for 2022
Well, apparently I’m still on FB but this latest false alarm has me hitting the reset button on how I use social media
Screen grab of official-looking false alarm I received, Dec. 9, 2022 This is embarrassing: After getting repeated warnings, like the one shown above, that if I didn't turn on "Facebook Protect" I would be locked out of my Facebook account Tuesday, Dec. 20, I made copies of the files I wanted to save, said my … Continue reading Well, apparently I’m still on FB but this latest false alarm has me hitting the reset button on how I use social media
Would Trump accept a plea deal? Not likely. But how about a nice dacha on the Moscow River? There’s precedent
Can former President and would-be tsar Donald Trump get around his mounting legal problems with a plea of no contest and a promise to retire to private life? I'd rather see him retire to a nice dacha on the Moscow River -- he's certainly earned that accolade -- and I don't think either outcome is … Continue reading Would Trump accept a plea deal? Not likely. But how about a nice dacha on the Moscow River? There’s precedent
‘A Mild Touch of the Cancer’: In which I learn to use the ‘C-word’ from an ‘ex-comedian’ and blogger in New Zealand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Wv_wwFH1I David Downs, TEDxAuckland, Auckland, New Zealand, April 11, 2019 Like so many people of my generation, I didn't even want to hear about cancer. Too upsetting. If I saw the word in a headline, I'd scroll down to the next story in the directory. But after I got my diagnosis, I went online to … Continue reading ‘A Mild Touch of the Cancer’: In which I learn to use the ‘C-word’ from an ‘ex-comedian’ and blogger in New Zealand
One final upthrust middle-digit salute from Facebook’s (nonexistent) customer service operation
Readers who have followed Ordinary Time and/or seen it linked to my Facebook account are no doubt aware of my ongoing struggle with two-factor authentication. To recap briefly: FB will lock me out of my account unless I activate something called "Facebook Protect," but to do that I have to supply an updated password. And … Continue reading One final upthrust middle-digit salute from Facebook’s (nonexistent) customer service operation
An old workshop poem brings back cherished memories of my father and a writers’ workshop in the Quad-Cities
Here's something I found when I was going through my Facebook photos prior to being locked out of my account (long story, you can read about it HERE if you're so inclined. Or not). It's a JPEG copy of a draft poem I wrote during a creative writing workshop at the Mississippi Valley Writers' Conference … Continue reading An old workshop poem brings back cherished memories of my father and a writers’ workshop in the Quad-Cities
‘Same song, second verse …’: Why I’ve finally had it up to the keister with billionaires, whiz kids and social media
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmSoREiG23M 'Morning Joe' show, MSNBC, Dec. 16, 2022 When the dust settles over Elon Musk's attempt to run a social media company singlehanded, as surely it will, I want Katty Kay of BBC and MSNBC's Morning Joe show to write the obituary. Her comments in the middle of a brilliant segment on the subject (beginning … Continue reading ‘Same song, second verse …’: Why I’ve finally had it up to the keister with billionaires, whiz kids and social media
Of the Holy Trinity, the presence of Christ in faith and the stories we tell
Luther's Small Catechism, 1529 (Wikimedia Commons) God for us, we call you Father. God alongside us, we call you Jesus. God within us, we call you Holy Spirit. —Richard Rohr OFM The Holy Trinity landed in my inbox this morning and told me a story. Well, that makes it sound a little too dramatic and … Continue reading Of the Holy Trinity, the presence of Christ in faith and the stories we tell
Is Elon Musk egging on QAnon, or is he simply naive? Either way, he has no sense of media ethics whatsoever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti7LiO_QnRE David Axelrod: 'He said [political invective] gets the Brooklyn up in him.' Well, that certainly didn't take very long, did it? The Washington Post reports that Elon Musk's tweeted invective about US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband and White House infectious disease adviser Anthony Faucci has "injected new energy into the jumbled set of … Continue reading Is Elon Musk egging on QAnon, or is he simply naive? Either way, he has no sense of media ethics whatsoever
‘Watchman, tell me does the morning …’: A rousing African diaspora version of a shape-note song I like to play for Advent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yxfMq9yh20 Posted to YouTube (two years ago) by Zippie Elijah. Content advisory. Some very nerdy notes about playing this song the mountain dulcimer are tacked on at the bottom, which may be of limited interest. But it's a fine old hymn in the 19th-century "Sunday school" tradition that in later years would give rise to … Continue reading ‘Watchman, tell me does the morning …’: A rousing African diaspora version of a shape-note song I like to play for Advent
Pilgrims: Reading about a pilgrimage on Spain’s Camino de Santiago as I set out on my chemotherapy journey
Pilgrims on the Camino del Norte, Spain (Wikimedia Commons) After my first round of chemotherapy Tuesday at Southern Illinois University's Simmons Cancer Center, I was asked how it went. I think my answer surprised us both (I know it did me), and the conversation went a little bit like this. "I liked it," I blurted … Continue reading Pilgrims: Reading about a pilgrimage on Spain’s Camino de Santiago as I set out on my chemotherapy journey
British tech writer reads Elon Musk’s Twitter dump so you don’t have to — ‘a big, hyped, coordinated’ partisan hit job
Enemy of the People? (Wikimedia Commons) A British tech writer and UK technology editor for the Guardian took time away from covering the FTX cryptocurrency scandals to post an item today to the paper's website with the intriguing headline: "I read Elon Musk’s ‘Twitter Files’ so you don’t have to." That head's a fair summary … Continue reading British tech writer reads Elon Musk’s Twitter dump so you don’t have to — ‘a big, hyped, coordinated’ partisan hit job
Lovely, beautifully filmed airing of Paul McCreesh’s Praetorius Christmas Mass on Mezzo, the French TV channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkfkLxmMm3Y Posted to YouTube channel Felices Cantus Baroque, Aug. 5, 2022 Found, while I was looking for something else (which is the way I find some of my favorite videos), a new performance of Paul McCreesh conducting the Gabrieli Consort and Players in the Praetorius Christmas Mass that McCreesh reconstructed out of 16th- and early … Continue reading Lovely, beautifully filmed airing of Paul McCreesh’s Praetorius Christmas Mass on Mezzo, the French TV channel
Did Justice Thomas violate 28 USC 455 during the Supreme Court’s latest no-good, very-bad week?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGEzX8o4qwE MSNBC, Dec. 8, 2022 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGEzX8o4qwE&t=131s) 28 U.S. Code § 455 - Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge(a) Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.(b)He shall also disqualify himself in the following circumstances:[...](4) He knows that he, … Continue reading Did Justice Thomas violate 28 USC 455 during the Supreme Court’s latest no-good, very-bad week?
Does Senator Warnock’s re-election testify to the transformative power and witness of the Black church? I think it does
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-oS1ycq9RM Segment on the 'Morning Joe' program, Dec. 7, 2022 Growing up down South in civil rights days, I was able to watch the transformative witness of the Black church in action. I watched it from a safe distance -- my home town was middle class and lily-white -- but when the high school in … Continue reading Does Senator Warnock’s re-election testify to the transformative power and witness of the Black church? I think it does
Nerdy, music major-y question about an Anglo-Irish hymn — worth a listen even if you aren’t a music theory nerd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fqzWs6KPoE Rod Lewis and students, Church of the Apostles, Columbia, SC, Trinity Sunday 2020 Since it looks like I'm about to get locked out of Facebook again (I blogged about it HERE, back in May), I'm going to post something about a hymn that's associated with Trinity Sunday and St. Patrick's Day instead of Advent. … Continue reading Nerdy, music major-y question about an Anglo-Irish hymn — worth a listen even if you aren’t a music theory nerd
In dir ist Freude: A German chorale with roots in madrigal tradition that just makes me happy (especially this performance)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMcKrSjmo4s Capella de la Torre (https://www.youtube.com/@capelladelatorre7664) Dec. 8, 2020 Kind of a trifecta here. I've been posting YouTube videos lately of music that just makes me happy when I watch them, and this one hits at least three of my criteria: It's by one of my favorite early music groups, Capella de la Torre. It … Continue reading In dir ist Freude: A German chorale with roots in madrigal tradition that just makes me happy (especially this performance)
Ringing in the new (church) year on St. Andrew’s Day with the daily prayer and meditation on an Irish Jesuit website
Pietro da Cortona, 'Calling of St. Peter and St. Andrew,' ca. 1626-30 (Wikimedia Commons) One of the few things I remember clearly from my confirmation classes 50-plus years ago in an Episcopal church is the date of St. Andrew's Day. Somehow it lodged in my preadolescent brain, when I wasn't wisecracking about the wives of … Continue reading Ringing in the new (church) year on St. Andrew’s Day with the daily prayer and meditation on an Irish Jesuit website
Saints, sinners (an echo of Luther’s simul justus et peccator?), politics and ‘both-and’ dialog in Pope Francis’ interview
Editor's (admin's) note. When I shared this on Facebook, I introduced the link with this headnote: "New post to my spirituality blog. In which I'm reminded: (2) We're complicated; (2) Pope Francis' remark about saints and sinners sounds like Luther; and (3) it's always a good idea to look for 'both-and' dialog and reconcile differences." … Continue reading Saints, sinners (an echo of Luther’s simul justus et peccator?), politics and ‘both-and’ dialog in Pope Francis’ interview
It’s beginning to look a lot like Advent — what better time for Christmas chorales, Praetorius and family heritage?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9a3tBYXFNE TENET Vocal Artists et al. of San Diego, in concert in New York City, Dec. 14, 2013 Last year I mentioned to my cousin John that I had downloaded the mp3 files of Praetorius' Mass For Christmas Morning performed by the Gabrielli Consort and conducted by Paul McCreesh. They came, of course, without liner … Continue reading It’s beginning to look a lot like Advent — what better time for Christmas chorales, Praetorius and family heritage?
Money changers in the temple? Justice Alito’s leaks show dangers of too-cozy relationships between church, state
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN_TcmU1-k4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN_TcmU1-k4 [Roger] Williams described the true church as a magnificent garden, unsullied and pure, resonant of Eden. The world he described as “the Wilderness,” a word with personal resonance for him. Then he used for the first time a phrase he would use again, a phrase that although not commonly attributed to him has … Continue reading Money changers in the temple? Justice Alito’s leaks show dangers of too-cozy relationships between church, state
Hark! A doleful song for the 196th anniversary of Springfield’s first public hanging Nov. 26, 1826
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4FHvJvrElM ''Hark, from the tombs ...' | Filmed by Alan Lomax and crew, 1982 We have an anniversary coming up this week in Springfield. We probably won't observe the occasion, but Saturday will be the 196th anniversary of the first public hanging here, on Nov. 26, 1826. There's a good story behind it, too. A … Continue reading Hark! A doleful song for the 196th anniversary of Springfield’s first public hanging Nov. 26, 1826
‘Money Musk’: A classic New England contradance tune that just makes me happy every time I watch this video
https://vimeo.com/2310136 Parked here until I can figure out how -- or whether -- to revive my old blog Hogfiddle (which may be a while). In the meantime, this video just makes me happy whenever I watch it. I posted it on Aug. 8, 2010, to the original iteration of the blog. Took me a while … Continue reading ‘Money Musk’: A classic New England contradance tune that just makes me happy every time I watch this video
Practical ways on a Jesuit website in Ireland to ‘face into the storm’ of cancer diagnosis and treatment
Peter Paul Rubens, Miracle of St. Ignatius of Loyola (Wikimedia Commons) There's a story I really like in James Martin's Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life. An editor-at-large of America magazine who has written several New York Times best-sellers, Martin sets it up the by saying the Jesuits pride themselves on … Continue reading Practical ways on a Jesuit website in Ireland to ‘face into the storm’ of cancer diagnosis and treatment
Luther and the indwelling ‘Christ present in faith’ — Finnish theologians, Irish Jesuit offer a way of coping with a scary diagnosis
Matthias Stom, St. Peter at Prayer, ca. 1633-40 (Wikimedia Commons) One thing about getting a cancer diagnosis -- it tends to focus your mind, especially if you've been working on your prayer life already. Increasingly since I was diagnosed toward the end of October, I've been falling back on what's sometimes called the Prayer of … Continue reading Luther and the indwelling ‘Christ present in faith’ — Finnish theologians, Irish Jesuit offer a way of coping with a scary diagnosis
Richard Marius: Notes & quotes
d r a f t More information on Martin Luther biographer Richard Marius, whom I knew at UT-Knoxville and mentioned in passing in my Nov. 11 post on Martin Luther's concept of the indwelling of Christ. I'm rereading his 1973 biography Luther and wrote: One of my professors at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Richard … Continue reading Richard Marius: Notes & quotes
Finns re-examine Luther on justification by faith, the indwelling of Christ and other theological headaches
Luther, second from right in back row, and theologians, 1557 woodcut (Wikimedia) A couple of weeks ago, I noticed an item on the Patheos website by Ted Peters, emeritus professor of systematic theology and ethics at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. I like to check him out from time to … Continue reading Finns re-examine Luther on justification by faith, the indwelling of Christ and other theological headaches
Stray thoughts on centering prayer, a JAMA study on mindfulness meditation and a way to stop ‘catastrophizing’
Photo: RelaxingMusic/Creative Commons (Harvard Gazette). This Associated Press story jumped off the Yahoo! directory at me. Uh, let's rephrase that in the interest of accuracy -- it jumped off the computer screen. It's headlined "Mindfulness worked as well for anxiety as drug in study," and it's essentially a rewrite of research published today in the … Continue reading Stray thoughts on centering prayer, a JAMA study on mindfulness meditation and a way to stop ‘catastrophizing’
‘I want Jesus to walk with me’
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL7rLD1H3g0 Sharon Irving and Anders Nordstrom of Pocket Radio (www.fb.com/PocketRadioChicago) xxx The singer According to the About Page on her website, Sharon Irving of Chicago is a singer-songwriter, actress, worship leader and self-described "Spreader of Holy Mischief." The song The Hymnary.org website says it is an African-American spiritual in the … Continue reading ‘I want Jesus to walk with me’
Sundays@6: Methodists ‘of the extreme center’ and a look ahead at Barbara Brown Taylor’s book on holy envy
Editor's note. Lightly edited copy of a blast email I sent out to participants in an online adult faith formation/book study discussion group that Debi and I co-facilitate for members and friends of our Lutheran parish. Our sessions have taken an interfaith turn this year. We started with "Reclaiming the E-Word [evangelism]" and "Reclaiming the … Continue reading Sundays@6: Methodists ‘of the extreme center’ and a look ahead at Barbara Brown Taylor’s book on holy envy
How a young adult novelist and a punk rocker-turned Orthodox rabbi guide my prayer life lately: ‘Are you there God, it’s me … (and help me get out of this foxhole)!’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7iqdBBYl40 Jim Martin, SJ, editor-in-chief, America, explains centering prayer. Editor's note. Short takes on the twists and turns in my spiritual life since I was diagnosed with bladder cancer Oct. 25. I had pretty much expected the diagnosis since the tumor was removed Oct. 17, but it still threw me for a loop. So in … Continue reading How a young adult novelist and a punk rocker-turned Orthodox rabbi guide my prayer life lately: ‘Are you there God, it’s me … (and help me get out of this foxhole)!’
What’s the right way to do centering prayer? ‘Pray as you can’: A stripped-down Trappist spiritual practice for today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IKpFHfNdnE Editor's note (Oct. 17). I started this a couple of days before I had a tumor removed from my bladder. But I ran out of time, and I was in no mood last night to stay up late journaling before a 5:30 a.m. check-in time today. The procedure went off as scheduled; I'm home … Continue reading What’s the right way to do centering prayer? ‘Pray as you can’: A stripped-down Trappist spiritual practice for today
My soul doth magnify my Anglican/ Lutheran heritage: Growing up with the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BNYxujthUA Festival of Lessons and Carols, St. John's Episcopal Church, Ithaca N.Y., Dec. 23, 2018 Maybe it's serendipity. Or maybe it's because God has a wry sense of humor. But I've spent the past week reconnecting with the Anglican tradition in which I grew up. Not because of any discernment or intention on my part, … Continue reading My soul doth magnify my Anglican/ Lutheran heritage: Growing up with the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams
Centering prayer: A ‘Zen Lutheran’ chatterbox meets a Trappist meditation when he needs to be still — and to trust
https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/centering-prayer.html For a little more than a month now, I've been in one of those limbos we fall into when we're waiting for a biopsy. Now the surgery is scheduled -- finally! -- for next week. But it's had quite an effect on my prayer life, and I'm practicing something I call "emergency room spirituality" … Continue reading Centering prayer: A ‘Zen Lutheran’ chatterbox meets a Trappist meditation when he needs to be still — and to trust
Sundays@6: Tiptoeing through the TULIPs as a parish book study group reads up on 16th- and 17th-century Calvinism
Editor’s (admin’s) Note. Copy of a blast email I sent out to members of an online adult faith formation/book study group that Debi and I co-facilitate. (It meets Sundays at 6 p.m. -- hence the name.) Archived here for what it says about interfaith relations, since we're studying a book by a United Methodist minister who … Continue reading Sundays@6: Tiptoeing through the TULIPs as a parish book study group reads up on 16th- and 17th-century Calvinism
An interfaith ‘aha! moment’: Reading John Wesley’s journal on the love of God and Luther’s theology of justification by grace
O wad some Power the giftie gie usTo see oursels as ithers see us!-- Robert Burns ("To a Louse") Some people have spiritual "aha! moments" at retreats or in the presence of God at the seashore or on a mountaintop. And some of us, I guess, are fated to have our moments of clarity while … Continue reading An interfaith ‘aha! moment’: Reading John Wesley’s journal on the love of God and Luther’s theology of justification by grace
Swedes in Chicago: A mise en scène in 1848 and a potential tie-in (?) with Glissant?
d r a f t For the futures file as I rework my paper "Swedes in Roger Williams' Garden" -- More information on John Lewis Peyton, whose description of northern European immigrants I quoted in the original paper, including an important correction on his background. Turns out he was more of a blueblood than I … Continue reading Swedes in Chicago: A mise en scène in 1848 and a potential tie-in (?) with Glissant?
Spiritual journal, September 2022
Lightly edited copy of an email I send monthly to my spiritual director to: (a) give her a heads-up on my where my spiritual journey has taken me since our last meeting, and (b) help me focus for our meeting. Which may or may not go off in unexpected directions. They read like a Reader's … Continue reading Spiritual journal, September 2022
University of Maryland survey data show extent of Christian nationalism, white grievance among Republicans
More data points for my Swedes in Roger Williams' Garden project -- A new survey, summarized today in Politico magazine, shows that white Christian nationalism is strongly linked to age and membership in the Republican Party. A survey conducted in May by the University of Maryland's Critical Issues Poll found that 61 percent of Republicans … Continue reading University of Maryland survey data show extent of Christian nationalism, white grievance among Republicans
Historians, including Ken Burns, cite historical parallels between today, the slavery crisis of the 1850s and the anti-Semitism of the 1930s
d r a f t More quotes for my Swedes in Roger Williams’ Garden project — Two disturbing historical parallels in print this week, both suggesting that America faces a more difficult crisis -- more accurately a series of cascading crises -- now than it did in the runup to the Civil War. It's hard to know … Continue reading Historians, including Ken Burns, cite historical parallels between today, the slavery crisis of the 1850s and the anti-Semitism of the 1930s
Impact of Indiana’s abortion ban on women’s health services in Illinois, religious pluralism post-Roe v. Wade
Clips, links for 'Swedes in Roger Williams' Garden' The evening before Indiana's extreme new anti-abortion law went into effect, protesters gathered at the county courthouse in Bloomington, Ind., for a Jewish Havdalah ceremony marking what they see as a transition from "an era of full rights [...] into a darker time," as Illinois gears up … Continue reading Impact of Indiana’s abortion ban on women’s health services in Illinois, religious pluralism post-Roe v. Wade
‘Sundays@6’: New book on Christian traditions for parish book study, plus a lovely quote on 4th-century heresies
Flier [w/ edits] prepared for parish newsletter. Editor's (admin's) Note. Copy of a blast email I sent out to members of an online adult faith formation/book study group that Debi and I co-facilitate. (It meets Sundays at 6 p.m., as you might guess.) Lightly edited to remove a couple of obvious illiteracies and set off … Continue reading ‘Sundays@6’: New book on Christian traditions for parish book study, plus a lovely quote on 4th-century heresies
Praying for trust, acceptance and other graces in the emergency room, ‘singing softly … like the south wind blows’
Longleaf pines, Weymouth Woods, N.C. (CC 2.0 license, Wikipedia Commons) Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully -- Samuel Johnson (Goodreads). Welp, I don't plan on being hanged in two weeks' time, but a worrisome CT scan and a midnight trip … Continue reading Praying for trust, acceptance and other graces in the emergency room, ‘singing softly … like the south wind blows’
The score when Nixon spoke at a Billy Graham crusade at UT-Knoxville: Lions 0; Christians 1; First Amendment -1
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/President_Richard_Nixon_and_Reverend_Billy_Graham_at_the_Podium_during_the_%22Crusade_for_Christ%22_at_Neyland_Stadium_in_Knoxville%2C_Tennessee.jpg Nixon and Billy Graham, UT-Knoxville, 1970 (Wikimedia Commons) “[Roger Williams] described the true church as a magnificent garden, unsullied and pure, resonant of Eden. The world he described as “the Wilderness,” a word with personal resonance for him. Then he used for the first time a phrase he would use again, a phrase that … Continue reading The score when Nixon spoke at a Billy Graham crusade at UT-Knoxville: Lions 0; Christians 1; First Amendment -1
Is the world ready for ole Doc Ellertsen’s nutso cornbread-and-chicken julekake pie with dried cranberries?
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHn-60lCnbM Linked here for further study as my quest continues for low-fat, low-carb casserole recipes (well, *relatively* low-starch). I've been experimenting with a chicken-and-cornbread dressing concoction that bears pretty much the same relation to a real Southern style dressing that my version of tamale pie does to a real tamale … Continue reading Is the world ready for ole Doc Ellertsen’s nutso cornbread-and-chicken julekake pie with dried cranberries?
Research notes: Cite for Rushdie’s creolization quote; right-wing dog whistle du jour featuring assault on Rushdie
Two very different items popped up last night when I did a Google search on keywords Salman Rushdie and creolization. They are: A 2001 article on "Creolization and the Lessons of a Watergoddess in the Black Atlantic" by Alex van Stipriaan that cites a Rushdie quote: "Mélange, hotchpotch, a bit of this and a bit … Continue reading Research notes: Cite for Rushdie’s creolization quote; right-wing dog whistle du jour featuring assault on Rushdie
Sounding the alarm on CNN in Trump’s America: ‘Two inimical factions’ split along ‘racial and religious lines’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS2trMvo4aM Most of the time, CNN's weekend anchor Jim Acosta makes me break out in hives. I saw enough of his brand of performative journalism to last me a lifetime a long time ago, when the bigfoot TV reporters from Chicago would descend on the Illinois Statehouse at the end of the legislative session. But … Continue reading Sounding the alarm on CNN in Trump’s America: ‘Two inimical factions’ split along ‘racial and religious lines’
‘The word of God … does not sit on coffee tables’: An old English major’s reaction to a New Testament course for lay ministers
Byzantine-era synagogue at Capernaum, 2012 My inner child was an English major, and he's had a run of good luck lately. (I blogged about some of his other recent adventures HERE, reading a French postcolonial author, no less.) Well, my inner English major got lucky again Saturday morning at the first meeting of an adult … Continue reading ‘The word of God … does not sit on coffee tables’: An old English major’s reaction to a New Testament course for lay ministers
Improvisations on Gerhardt’s chorale ‘Now Rest Beneath Night’s Shadow’
d r a f t Christof Fankhauser - Nun ruhen alle Wälder (Instrumental, Piano solo) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DncWJvFgl4 xxx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf_lgk2it1Q&list=RDXf_lgk2it1Q
Archipelagos? Can a French postcolonial novelist’s creole metaphor help us head off a new Civil War?
Battle of Fort Sanders, Knoxville, Nov. 29, 1863. Wikimedia Commons) “The past is never dead. It's not even past.” ― William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun "[...] le monde entier s’archipélise et se créolise." Édouard Glissant Traité du Tout-Monde My inner child was an English major, but before that he majored in history. In fact, he got … Continue reading Archipelagos? Can a French postcolonial novelist’s creole metaphor help us head off a new Civil War?
Spiritual direction, August 2022
Editor’s note. Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director in advance of our monthly meeting for August. I email her every month, mostly to focus my mind before we meet, and I archive them here so I have a record of issues I’ve dealt with over time. Being able to consult them … Continue reading Spiritual direction, August 2022
Creolization: Jingoism v. jambalaya in France (with excerpts from my historical papers on the subject)
France 24, Feb. 15, 2022 Voilà! Turns out an obscure academic term I use in my historical writing got to be a political talking point in this year's French elections. The word is "creolization" (créolisation in French), and it's used by cultural anthropologists to describe the cultural blending in creole societies like those of the … Continue reading Creolization: Jingoism v. jambalaya in France (with excerpts from my historical papers on the subject)
Quotable (!) notes & quotes: Creolization
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELu_Nwblkgc Found when I was following up on an Imani Perry interview on the Washington Post website and Googled into a very quotable reference to créolité -- "The origins of everything American twist and shout their way through history." Shades of Chubby Checker! So I kept on reading. Turned out I had it in a … Continue reading Quotable (!) notes & quotes: Creolization
Imani Perry on history, Faulkner, ‘settler colonialism’ and the (Southern) soul of America
Notes from two interviews with Imani Perry. The first is about her new book South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation. The second, last year in the New York Review of Books, followed her review of a biography of Lorraine Hammond, author of Raisin in the Sun. … Continue reading Imani Perry on history, Faulkner, ‘settler colonialism’ and the (Southern) soul of America
Research notes: Salman Rushdie, post-colonial theory, creolization and me
Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rushdie.JPG A grab bag of short takes ... I also have a chaotic and unedited collection of "Notes and Quotes" -- my term for research notes -- on the postcolonialist author Salman Rushdie, who was recently stabbed by an Iranian-American youth, and some of the themes raised by his fiction -- and … Continue reading Research notes: Salman Rushdie, post-colonial theory, creolization and me
VDOC.PUB copy of ‘Creolization of American Culture’ by Christopher Smith
d r a f t The Creolization Of American Culture: William Sidney Mount And The Roots Of Blackface Minstrelsy [PDF] Authors: Christopher J Smith https://vdoc.pub/documents/the-creolization-of-american-culture-william-sidney-mount-and-the-roots-of-blackface-minstrelsy-49vtd6cookq0 While black-white exchange has long been recognized as a major element in shaping North American vernacular music, the extent, geographic distribution, breadth of time span, diversity, and terminus post quem of … Continue reading VDOC.PUB copy of ‘Creolization of American Culture’ by Christopher Smith
Salman Rushdie on Trump — notes & quotes (Gatsby redux?)
d r a f t pix Wikimedia Commons (horizontal!) Unedited -- separated by "xxx" centered, references list at the end Salman Rushdie, "Reality is an argument," interview by Nahlah Ayed, IDEAS host We are in a very interesting moment in history in which as you write, "We are urged to define ourselves more and more narrowly to … Continue reading Salman Rushdie on Trump — notes & quotes (Gatsby redux?)
Header picture — main basilica, Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
Screen shot of picture I took in the basilica at the Church of the Nativity, 2012 Scholars are not altogether certain that Jesus was born in Bethlehem -- they advance different hypotheses reconciling the birth narratives in Luke and Matthew -- but we can be quite certain that the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, … Continue reading Header picture — main basilica, Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
Futures file (Notes & Quotes): Iowa’s nativist ban on foreign languages during World War I
Some first-rate quotes below, from a post on Patheos by a biographer of Swedish-American aviator Charles Lindbergh, on the anti-German hysteria that spilled over and left some Swedish, Norwegian, Czech and other immigrant churches unable to communicate with their parishioners during World War I and its immediate aftermath. I presented a paper on the hysteria, … Continue reading Futures file (Notes & Quotes): Iowa’s nativist ban on foreign languages during World War I
Kaya Oakes: Portal to resources for aspiring writers by a creative nonfiction pro who teaches at UC Berkeley
d r a f t (altho' a better word might be 'work in progress' as I keep adding resources) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsxjVqYMomc Interview on Writing for Your Life: Resources for Spiritual Writers, Nov. 15, 2021 A writer whom I want to study (for reasons that will become obvious as you look at her bio and the blurbs … Continue reading Kaya Oakes: Portal to resources for aspiring writers by a creative nonfiction pro who teaches at UC Berkeley
Does Justice Alito’s call for ‘special protection’ for traditional religion spell trouble for religious minorities?
Two articles published today to the internet shed light on different aspects of what I believe to be the same worrisome trend ... An op ed piece in the New York Times by longtime Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse. Headlined "Alito’s Call to Arms to Secure Religious Liberty," it suggests Alito's rather narrow brand of … Continue reading Does Justice Alito’s call for ‘special protection’ for traditional religion spell trouble for religious minorities?
New header picture — labyrinth in the rolling prairie at Jubilee Farm
A new background picture for Ordinary Times' header shows the center of a labyrinth at Jubilee Farm, the Dominican Sisters' center for ecology and spirituality. Jubilee Farm, on 147 acres of rolling prairie west of Springfield, bills itself as a "a home to farm animals and wildlife, an educational resource, a demonstration of living in an … Continue reading New header picture — labyrinth in the rolling prairie at Jubilee Farm
Reflecting on Ezekiel’s vision of God (and Cyndi Lauper’s) prompted by an email newsletter from America magazine
... by an author from whom I have a lot more to learn Raphael, 'Ezekiel's Vision,' c. 1518 (Wikimedia Commons) A reflection from America magazine landed in my inbox this morning (Mon, Aug 8, 6:33 AM, to be exact) that was thought-provoking, gave me a couple of new images of God and introduced me to … Continue reading Reflecting on Ezekiel’s vision of God (and Cyndi Lauper’s) prompted by an email newsletter from America magazine
‘Man Overboard’: Sly, subversive, faithful daily cartoons about organized religion
Man Martin, Man Overboard (rpt. Winnipeg Free Press, March 16, 2019) Here's a link to what just might be my all-time favorite cartoon. Here's a link to the cartoonist's daily comic strip. It's by Man Martin, a high school English teacher from the suburbs of Atlanta; it's called Man Overboard; and it's available for free … Continue reading ‘Man Overboard’: Sly, subversive, faithful daily cartoons about organized religion
A trail of breadcrumbs in Roger Williams’ garden — short takes on theological hair-splitting, mix-and-match spirituality and an ongoing research project
Cartoon by Man Martin (rpt. Winnipeg Free Press, March 16, 2019) Short takes on a general theme that didn't start to jell until I'd been thinking about it for the better part of a month. It's still not completely jelled -- can we think of it as a Jell-O fruit salad? -- but I think … Continue reading A trail of breadcrumbs in Roger Williams’ garden — short takes on theological hair-splitting, mix-and-match spirituality and an ongoing research project
‘What am I doing for Christ?’: An Ignatian triple colloquy F2F with Jesus via Zoom
Third in an occasional series of Ignatian colloquies ... Christ Pantocrator, Haiga Sophia, Istanbul, ca. 1080-1100 (Wikimedia Commons) Editor's (admin's) note. One of a series of posts in which I journal my attempts to incorporate Jesuit imaginative prayer exercises into my own prayer life. In today's, I try what is often known as the triple … Continue reading ‘What am I doing for Christ?’: An Ignatian triple colloquy F2F with Jesus via Zoom
Here’s what Krister Stendahl said, in his own words, about ‘holy envy’ in the context of effective interfaith dialog
Krister Stendahl, dean of Harvard Divinity School and bishop of Stockholm in the Lutheran state Church of Sweden, is probably best known now for his "three rules of religious understanding" -- especially the third rule, "Leave room for 'holy envy'," which supplied the title of a best-selling book in 2019. The book is Barbara Brown … Continue reading Here’s what Krister Stendahl said, in his own words, about ‘holy envy’ in the context of effective interfaith dialog
Florida lawsuits argue state’s new anti-abortion law violates free exercise clause, threatens religious pluralism
Notes & quotes for future reference -- posted here so I can find them later with a keyword search Is it time for those of us who qualify as spiritual-but-not-in-your-face-bible-thumping-religious to begin speaking up? Two recent articles by an unusually perceptive religion writer in the Washington Post suggest maybe it is. More clergy members, serving … Continue reading Florida lawsuits argue state’s new anti-abortion law violates free exercise clause, threatens religious pluralism
‘Daniel O’Connell’s Hymn’ performed by Shaun Davey and family, with excerpt from O’Connell’s original speech in 1843
Parked here until I can reactivate my trad music blog Hogfiddle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jqvDp7JnMQ A rather different kind of Irish music, and one I find I'm increasingly drawn to, is by semiclassical Irish composer Shaun Davey. He's known for songs, backed by pipes (mostly uilleann, but with Scottish bagpipes occasionally thrown in) and symphony orchestra, typically featuring … Continue reading ‘Daniel O’Connell’s Hymn’ performed by Shaun Davey and family, with excerpt from O’Connell’s original speech in 1843
Notes & quotes: Alito’s speech on First Amendment rights, free exercise clause at Notre Dame event in Rome
Content advisory: The speaker pictured in the video below is not Justice Samuel Alito but another political figure who shares a similar ideology. The video is embedded to share remarks by Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee, regarding Alito's speech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kht_3z3hrQs Amanda Tyler's remarks begin at 4:20. More than a year ago … Continue reading Notes & quotes: Alito’s speech on First Amendment rights, free exercise clause at Notre Dame event in Rome
‘Conviviality at the Crossroads’: Open-source studies from Malmö on creolization, hybridity, etc.
Link here to open-source copy on Springer Nature Switzerland AG website Woo hoo! I found a new book. It's available online under a Creative Commons license, and finding it was like Christmas in July -- with Easter, St. Paddy's and the annual Jordbruksdagarna (ag days) festival at Bishop Hill, Illinois, all rolled into one. Forgive … Continue reading ‘Conviviality at the Crossroads’: Open-source studies from Malmö on creolization, hybridity, etc.
‘Lord, teach us to pray’: A spiritual mutt reflects on Abraham’s prayer for Sodom and Gomorrah (Pentecost VII)
Sodom and Gomorrah, Jacob Willemz. de Wet II, ca. 1680 (Wikimedia Commons) Genesis 18 (NRSV): 20 Then the Lord said, “How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin! 21 I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me, and if not, I … Continue reading ‘Lord, teach us to pray’: A spiritual mutt reflects on Abraham’s prayer for Sodom and Gomorrah (Pentecost VII)
Historians say Alito’s ‘law office history’ cherry-picks the historical record, creates bad history and worse law
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLMp-1NdzR8 Cold open, Saturday Night Live, May 7, 2022 “It was all Mrs. Bumble. She would do it," urged Mr. Bumble; first looking round, to ascertain that his partner had left the room.That is no excuse," returned Mr. Brownlow. "You were present on the occasion of the destruction of these trinkets, and, indeed, are the more guilty … Continue reading Historians say Alito’s ‘law office history’ cherry-picks the historical record, creates bad history and worse law
A prayerful reaction to the US Supreme Court’s facilitation of white Christian theocracy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWIvkGWmEVA Matthew 5 (NRSV). 5 “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6 But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut … Continue reading A prayerful reaction to the US Supreme Court’s facilitation of white Christian theocracy
Sundays@6: ‘Reclaiming L-Word’ (i.e. ‘Lutheran’) book study; Dwelling in the Word discernment practice
Editor's (admin's) note. Lightly edited copy of a blast email I sent to members of a parish book study group I co-facilitate with Debi. Saved here for future reference, since our current book, Reclaiming the ''L'' Word: Renewing the Church from Its Lutheran Core by Kelly Fryer, takes kind of a Lutheranism 101 approach. The … Continue reading Sundays@6: ‘Reclaiming L-Word’ (i.e. ‘Lutheran’) book study; Dwelling in the Word discernment practice
Notes"es: Southern cornbread dressing recipes with chicken
d r a f t Saved here so a Southern expat can learn this basic down-home recipe and (hopefully) adapt it [...] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHxtqYBPQyQ BEST SOUTHERN CORNBREAD CHICKEN AND DRESSING Recipe! How to make Chicken and Dressing| Soul Food * Camirra's Kitchen Ingredients, instructions in the voiceover -- also listed beneath video on YouTube. "Hey ya'll! … Continue reading Notes"es: Southern cornbread dressing recipes with chicken
Who am I in Christ? Who are the people of God? A surprising answer from Ireland that brings the abstractions down to earth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkLzIeztC3c Shuan Davey, "The Deer's Cry" [St. Patrick's Breastplate]. [...] Christ with me, Christ before me,Christ behind me, Christ in me,Christ beneath me, Christ above me,Christ on my right, Christ on my left,Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,Christ when I arise, Christ to shield meChrist in the heart of everyone who … Continue reading Who am I in Christ? Who are the people of God? A surprising answer from Ireland that brings the abstractions down to earth
‘Overzealous prosecutors’ and judicial chutzpah — threats to freedom of religion in post-Roe America
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHKf-9oPMO0 Posted to B'nai Jeshurun YouTube channel, May 23, 2022 Before Roe v. Wade was overturned, veteran Supreme Court watcher Dahlia Lithwick warned that the "fear of overzealous prosecutors" would set the tone of debate over the rights of women under strict abortion bans in "post-Roe America." Speaking a month before Dobbs v. Jackson Women's … Continue reading ‘Overzealous prosecutors’ and judicial chutzpah — threats to freedom of religion in post-Roe America
Praying St. Ignatius’ colloquy with a story from the Talmud about Hillel the Elder and a corny Latin pun by Martin Luther
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APMu32sC2nM There Is No White Jesus | Famalam | BBC Three | April 12, 2017 Editor's (admin's) note. Second of two posts in which I try to imagine an Ignatian Colloquy, a one-on-one conversation with Jesus, on a series of Zoom calls. It's a prayer technique adapted from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. I’ve … Continue reading Praying St. Ignatius’ colloquy with a story from the Talmud about Hillel the Elder and a corny Latin pun by Martin Luther
Pastoral letters clarify — US Supreme Court’s anti-abortion ruling denies moral agency to people of faith
Linked to my parish newsletter this week was a pastoral message from my bishop -- Bishop John Roth of the Central/Southern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America -- spelling out the church's position on the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the US Supreme Court, "as we strive, as God’s church, to … Continue reading Pastoral letters clarify — US Supreme Court’s anti-abortion ruling denies moral agency to people of faith
Promo for a parish book study — what things matter most in a time of declining mainline church membership?
Editor's (admin's) note. Lightly edited copy of a blast email I sent out promoting a new book study that my wife and I are co-facilitating for an adult faith formation group in our ELCA Lutheran parish. While the book is about "renewing the church from its Lutheran core," and it quotes Martin Luther extensively, its … Continue reading Promo for a parish book study — what things matter most in a time of declining mainline church membership?
Of the Trumpification of the Supreme Court, red-state abortion laws and a Civil War battlefield in Knoxville
Kurtz & Allison lithograph, 1891 (retouched Adam Cuerdon. Wikimedia Commons) For several years as a grad student at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, I lived on the site of a Civil War battlefield. My apartment was in a Victorian mansion that had been cut up into private-sector off-campus student housing (and has now been retrofitted … Continue reading Of the Trumpification of the Supreme Court, red-state abortion laws and a Civil War battlefield in Knoxville
Roger Williams and me — notes on the Supreme Court and church-state relations I never finished and posted to the blog
Alonzo Chappel, "Landing of Roger Williams," 1857 (Wikimedia Commons) [Roger] Williams described the true church as a magnificent garden, unsullied and pure, resonant of Eden. The world he described as “the Wilderness,” a word with personal resonance for him. Then he used for the first time a phrase he would use again, a phrase that … Continue reading Roger Williams and me — notes on the Supreme Court and church-state relations I never finished and posted to the blog
Football coach, 6-3 majority on US Supreme Court fumble, drop the ball on public school prayer case
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-LNBJIk-mY&t=64s KING-5 news report, April 24, 2022. And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Matthew 6:5. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Exodus 20:16. I'll leave it … Continue reading Football coach, 6-3 majority on US Supreme Court fumble, drop the ball on public school prayer case
What can Roger Williams and Swedish Lutherans of the 1850s tell us about the culture wars? A research proposal
Alonzo Chappel, "Landing of Roger Williams," 1857 (Wikimedia Commons) “I have to write to discover what I am doing. Like the old lady, I don't know so well what I think until I see what I say; then I have to say it again.”― Flannery O'Connor, The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor, quoted in Goodreads. … Continue reading What can Roger Williams and Swedish Lutherans of the 1850s tell us about the culture wars? A research proposal
Édouard Glissant and creolization — misc. links (Notes & Quotes)
d r a f t "[...] we are all in relation with each other and we all have a chance of making our voices heard." -- Celia Britton, "Edouard Glissant" [obit], The Guardian. xxx Poetics of Space – Archipelagos and Wanderings special ed. of Karib: Nordic Journal for Caribbean Studies https://www.karib.no/collections/special/poetics-of-space-archipelagos-and-wanderings/ Collection launched: 25 Feb … Continue reading Édouard Glissant and creolization — misc. links (Notes & Quotes)
Cheers from the MAGA crowd for saying the quiet part out loud — US rep says Roe v. Wade repeal a ‘victory for white life’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNAmRRpAemU WGN News, Channel 9, Chicago US Rep. Mary Miller's PR people said it was “a mix-up of words,” but her audience at a fairgrounds near Quincy cheered, and the news went worldwide. In the UK, the Guardian's international edition carried an Associated Press story reporting: Illinois Republican Mary Miller told a crowd at a … Continue reading Cheers from the MAGA crowd for saying the quiet part out loud — US rep says Roe v. Wade repeal a ‘victory for white life’
Spiritual direction, June 2022 ** UPDATED **
Editor’s (admin’s) note. Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director in advance of our monthly meeting for June. I email her every month, mostly to focus my mind before we meet, and I archive them here so I have a record of issues I’ve dealt with over time. Being able to … Continue reading Spiritual direction, June 2022 ** UPDATED **
Dear Christians, one and all rejoice! — we can study Johann Walther’s (and Luther’s) first chorale book online
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpNsuVQ3sUg Selections by Today I stumbled across a YouTube post I expect to spend a lot of time with, even though it features music that's not exactly on the charts today -- and it's a pretty wonky thing to curl up with for light summer reading. It's an audio file … Continue reading Dear Christians, one and all rejoice! — we can study Johann Walther’s (and Luther’s) first chorale book online
Florida synagogue challenges state’s abortion ban on religious grounds for mandating theological doctrine
*** UPDATE (June 24) *** I posted this last night, hours before the Supreme Court handed down its opinion overthrowing Roe v. Wade. But I think the reasoning behind the Florida lawsuit won't be affected, since it challenges a state law in the state courts. Nor should the religious freedom issue be affected, since it … Continue reading Florida synagogue challenges state’s abortion ban on religious grounds for mandating theological doctrine
John C. Mehrling, 1941-June 11, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90GonV40di8 St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, Saint Thomas Choir School, New York City, 2011 My cousin, John Calvin Mehrling of Waynesville, N.C., died unexpectedly Saturday, in a one-car accident on his way home from a live steam train outing across the mountains in Tennessee. Our extended family is scattered over two continents and … Continue reading John C. Mehrling, 1941-June 11, 2022
Proclaiming the ‘E Word’ on the Z App — walking the talk as the SARS-CoV-2 variants shape an uneasy new normal
Debi and I recently finished co-facilitating a six-week book study on evangelism for our parish church -- over Zoom no less -- and it was a pleasant surprise. The book, Reclaiming the 'E' Word: Waking Up to Our Evangelical Identity, is by Kelly Fryer, an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who … Continue reading Proclaiming the ‘E Word’ on the Z App — walking the talk as the SARS-CoV-2 variants shape an uneasy new normal
Can an 11th-century legend of St. Patrick teach a 21st-century skeptic to pray? Echoes of a hymn from my confirmation
An Ignatian colloquy for Trinity 2020 -- 2 of ___ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fqzWs6KPoE St. Patrick's Breastplate, arr. Rod Lewis, Columbia, S.C., Trinity Sunday 2020 Editor's note. As I try to jumpstart my prayer life, I've been experimenting with Jesuit prayer exercises known as Ignatian contemplation and the Triple Colloquy, in which you imagine yourself interacting with Jesus. … Continue reading Can an 11th-century legend of St. Patrick teach a 21st-century skeptic to pray? Echoes of a hymn from my confirmation
A historical quest for the perfect (sugar-free) East Carolina barbecue sauce — and a recipe from the 1850s
Brother Jack's (photo: Tim Glazner's Swank Pad), Knoxville, Tenn., ca. 1975 My quest for the perfect barbecue is turning into something as detailed, historical -- and speculative -- as the quest for the historical Jesus (which I've blogged about, HERE and HERE). But it started out with a simple question -- with charcoal-grilling season coming … Continue reading A historical quest for the perfect (sugar-free) East Carolina barbecue sauce — and a recipe from the 1850s
Learning to pray from George Burns and a young adult novel by Judy Blume
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x0i-FfeA44 I know how hard it is in these times to have faith. But maybe if you could have the faith to start with, maybe the times would change. You could change them. Think about it. Try. And try not to hurt each other. There's been enough of that. It really gets in the way. … Continue reading Learning to pray from George Burns and a young adult novel by Judy Blume
New header picture of a Springfield yard sign conveys hopeful mood and message for a spiritual formation blog
We've got a new background picture today for Ordinary Time's header. It's one of four (so far) that rotate at the top of the home page, and I think it strikes just the right note for a blog devoted to a spiritual journey in nasty, uncertain times. It looks like this: We've been driving by … Continue reading New header picture of a Springfield yard sign conveys hopeful mood and message for a spiritual formation blog
Hey Facebook, your awesome new super-duper whiz-bang ‘security measures’ locked me out, and I can’t get you to help
Every time I try to access Facebook, I get this error message instead. I've been locked out of Facebook for two months now, and I hadn't given much thought to it recently. I miss my FB friends -- at least most of them -- but I don't miss those lengthy threads arguing politics with people … Continue reading Hey Facebook, your awesome new super-duper whiz-bang ‘security measures’ locked me out, and I can’t get you to help
Olof Krans: ‘Wizard with a brush’ at Swedish-American colony in Bishop Hill
Swedish postage stamp features Krans at right (https://czeslawslania.org/sw1986/). Three paintings by Olof Krans have been donated by the Merle and Barbra Glick estate to the Bishop Hill State Historic Site, in Henry County near the Quad-Cities. Merle Glick, who was active in numerous civic and community institutions in the Peoria area including the Peoria Riverfront … Continue reading Olof Krans: ‘Wizard with a brush’ at Swedish-American colony in Bishop Hill
Imagining a F2F colloquy with Jesus in a Zoom call: Talking back to the still, small voice of the triune God
An Ignatian colloquy for Trinity 2020 -- 1 of ___ Images of Jesus by Dutch graphic designer Bas Uterwijk, 20 Minutes, July 2, 2020 So I'm trying to practice a new prayer technique adapted from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, and I'm stuck. It's called the Ignatian Colloquy, and it involves imagining yourself … Continue reading Imagining a F2F colloquy with Jesus in a Zoom call: Talking back to the still, small voice of the triune God
Op ed piece argues worrisome trend in Supreme Court decisions undermining the separation of church and state
A professor of intellectual history at Georgia State has an op ed piece on today's Washington Post website outlining how, and why, the US Supreme Court erected a wall of separation between church and state in the mid- to late 20th century -- and how he fears the extreme right-wing majority on today's court is … Continue reading Op ed piece argues worrisome trend in Supreme Court decisions undermining the separation of church and state
Buffalo massacre shows how widespread and dangerous white Christian nationalist conspiracy theories are becoming
Two articles by scholars published in the wake of the mass murder at the Tops Friendly Markets store in Buffalo struck me like Thomas Jefferson's fire bell in the night. The scholars are Samuel Perry, of the University of Oklahoma, and Philip Gorski, of Yale; they have written extensively about white Christian nationalism -- the … Continue reading Buffalo massacre shows how widespread and dangerous white Christian nationalist conspiracy theories are becoming
Spiritual direction, May 2022
Editor’s (admin’s) note. Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director the night before our monthly meeting for May. I email her every month, mostly to focus my mind before we meet, and I archive them here so I have a record of issues I’ve dealt with over time. Here's my monthly … Continue reading Spiritual direction, May 2022
‘Unraveling of America’: Viral article in Rolling Stone on COVID, individualism and the inevitable decline of empires
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJJTAz5ux-c I just want America to be the America of my dreams, growing up as a boy in Canada. And that was the America of Walt Whitman, Abraham Lincoln and the Grateful Dead. -- Wade Davis, interview, PBS, Aug. 17, 2020 This video of an interview with an Canadian anthropologist popped up, courtesy of a … Continue reading ‘Unraveling of America’: Viral article in Rolling Stone on COVID, individualism and the inevitable decline of empires
Another step in a spiritual mutt’s surprising journey — committing as a Dominican associate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx7-NvOCnv8&t=2631s Commitment Ceremony for Associate Candidates, Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois, Sacred Heart Convent Chapel. Streamed live May 1, 2022. [YouTube at springfieldop.] Debi and I read our commitment statements at 41:15-43:40. About 15 years ago, Debi and I were talking about our lifestyle, and one of us -- I don't remember who, and it … Continue reading Another step in a spiritual mutt’s surprising journey — committing as a Dominican associate
Caring for creation in a time of environmental crisis: Stewardship, sacrament and Laudato Si’
Jubilee Farm, Center for Ecology and Spirituality, Springfield, Illinois, April 2022 In my inbox today, by coincidence when I've been doing keyword searches for ecumenical resources on Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si', a copy of Richard Rohr's summary of this week's daily meditations on the theme "A Sacramental Reality." One of those coincidences we're reminded … Continue reading Caring for creation in a time of environmental crisis: Stewardship, sacrament and Laudato Si’
‘Let’s take care of it’: (Mostly) Lutheran resources on Laudato Si’ and ELCA’s 1993 statement on Caring for Creation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vjxWnFnKFo (YouTube, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Nov. 5, 2021) The power of God is present at all places, even in the tiniest tree leaf. Do you think God is sleeping on a pillow in heaven? ... God is wholly present in all creation, in every corner, behind you and before you. -- Martin Luther … Continue reading ‘Let’s take care of it’: (Mostly) Lutheran resources on Laudato Si’ and ELCA’s 1993 statement on Caring for Creation
Hillbilly Kitchen recipe for tuna fritters
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppCp63SN_pU I like the way she varies these with the ingredients at hand! And sometime I'll have to try it with pickle juice instead of lemon juice. The Hillbilly Kitchen - Down Home Country Cooking Tuna Fritters – Cheap Meal for Hard Times – Eat for $1 per Person – … Continue reading Hillbilly Kitchen recipe for tuna fritters
How ‘holy envy’ enhances religious pluralism and guards against spiritual shoplifting or appropriation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdXAGm5xm9M Palm Sunday, 2016, Saint John's Orthodox Church, Warren, Ohio. I've been thinking lately about the concept of "holy envy" and the Swedish academic who coined the term. That's partly because I worry that the whole idea of pluralism -- both religious and secular -- is under sustained attack now at home and abroad. I … Continue reading How ‘holy envy’ enhances religious pluralism and guards against spiritual shoplifting or appropriation
‘It’s not subtle’: Jamelle Boule links the latest homophobic, racist dog whistles to longstanding assault on the public schools
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsOo0KB80es Sadly, Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times is one of very few pundits to weigh in on a Michigan state legislator who blasted the racist, homophobic slurs in the far right's latest assault on K-12 public education. The lawmaker, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a Democrat of suburban Detroit (Royal Oak), replied In kind … Continue reading ‘It’s not subtle’: Jamelle Boule links the latest homophobic, racist dog whistles to longstanding assault on the public schools
Trump, Putin, toxic nationalism and religion, a match made in heaven
For a little more than a year now, ever since the Jan. 6 insurrection in fact, I've been worried about the rise of xenophobic, far-right authoritarianism and white Christian nationalism in America. I've blogged about HERE, HERE and HERE, for example. Now comes a historian at New York University who puts it in context. The … Continue reading Trump, Putin, toxic nationalism and religion, a match made in heaven
A gallery of 18th-century Scottish and English regency men’s ponytails inspired by the pandemic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDvp_KXB12s I don't know anything about this TV series -- other than what I learned from Wikipedia, which tells me it's about a time traveler who gets plopped down in the 1745 Jacobite rebellion in Scotland. But I know just enough about 18th-century men's hair styles to want to post this video clip to Ordinary … Continue reading A gallery of 18th-century Scottish and English regency men’s ponytails inspired by the pandemic
Four Pillars of Dominican Life — videos from 2019 formation session for associate candidates
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3h7N7VyVBA&t=552s Posted to YouTube by the Springfield Dominican sisters at springfieldop with this explanatory note and links to other video clips: Sister Marilyn Jean Runkel, OP shred what the four pillars of Dominican life are to the 2019 associate candidate class on Sunday, October 13, 2019. The sharing and discussion … Continue reading Four Pillars of Dominican Life — videos from 2019 formation session for associate candidates
Preach, sister! Michigan state senator returns fire after GOP culture warrior’s rhetoric gets nasty and personal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT7DkOzeLaM Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow on Morning Joe, April 20, 2022 (MSNBC). Can I get a witness? Sometimes you see a flickering of light in the darkness, a little sliver of hope you can cling to like a rock in a weary land. And so it came to pass that a Michigan state legislator … Continue reading Preach, sister! Michigan state senator returns fire after GOP culture warrior’s rhetoric gets nasty and personal
Daily COVID-19 Metrics — IDPH
https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19/data/surveillance.html The measures included on this page are daily indicators of how Illinois and its regions and counties are being impacted by COVID-19. The Illinois Department of Public Health continues to monitor these indicators to identify early increases of virus transmission, and stress on hospital resources. SELECT COUNTY (or click on map) for local metrics. [To … Continue reading Daily COVID-19 Metrics — IDPH
Uneasy with St. John’s bias against ‘the Jews’ in an age of religious pluralism? Here are a couple of ways to deal with it
Christ Before Pilate, Hans Holbein the Younger, ca. 1538-40 (Wikimedia Commons) Now comes Jim McDermott SJ, associate editor of the Jesuit magazine America, and suggests -- in the headline, no less -- "The Gospel of John has been used to justify anti-Semitism—so we should stop reading it on Good Friday." To which I say: Amen, … Continue reading Uneasy with St. John’s bias against ‘the Jews’ in an age of religious pluralism? Here are a couple of ways to deal with it
Spiritual direction, April 2022
Editor's (admin's) note. Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director the night before our April meeting. I email her every month, mostly to focus my mind before we meet, and I archive them here so I have a record of issues I've dealt with over time. This will be very … Continue reading Spiritual direction, April 2022
A bittersweet reminder of the time we adopted two truly awesome rescue cats from APL more than 10 years ago
Ten years have passed now since my wife and I wrote this story for a monthly newsletter the Animal Protective League of Springfield puts out with pictures of cats -- dogs, too! -- available for adoption. (Click HERE to learn more about APL's adoption and fostering program.) It's a bittersweet reminder that when you adopt … Continue reading A bittersweet reminder of the time we adopted two truly awesome rescue cats from APL more than 10 years ago
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HF4q1Db09I Óró Sé Do Bheatha Abhaile March 17, 2020 Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh (MOY-ran ni' KAL-ley) posted this video to YouTube in 2020, with this note: Grá mór go mhuintir na hÉireann. Sending our love to the Irish on St. Patrick's Day. #misneach xxx Buíochas le Seán Mac a tSíthigh as … Continue reading Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh
Palm Sunday
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdXAGm5xm9M Palm Sunday, 2016, Saint John's Orthodox Church, Warren, Ohio. xxx It's a setting of the Cherubic Hymn in the Russian Orthodox tradition, sung at the transition in the service from the Service of the Word to the Eucharist: We who mystically represent the Cherubim,and who sing to the Life-Giving … Continue reading Palm Sunday
jon batiste juneteenth
d r a f t\ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHtTE1FyyT8 xxx To celebrate Juneteenth, Jon Baptiste and Matthew Whitaker perform Amazing Grace on the steps of the Brooklyn Public Library in Brooklyn, NY on June 19, 2020. Matthew Whitaker xxx Second is Let God Lead by Jon Batiste & Stay Human from their album Social Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaqPpTY3jyg
Episcopal survey research shows disconnect between gospel message and public perception of Christians
Something to file away for when we do the book study on Reclaiming the ''E'' Word: Waking Up to Our Evangelical Identity after Easter at Peace Lutheran -- A recent Ipsos survey commissioned by the Episcopal Church shows the "popularity of Jesus’ teachings and the ways Christians are often perceived as failing to live up … Continue reading Episcopal survey research shows disconnect between gospel message and public perception of Christians
Early spring visit to Jubilee Farm and friendly rescue cat reawaken thoughts of stewardship and new beginnings
Grass beginning to green up at Jubilee Farm, Old Jacksonville Road. Genesis 2:8-9, 15 (NRSV) And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the … Continue reading Early spring visit to Jubilee Farm and friendly rescue cat reawaken thoughts of stewardship and new beginnings
File under creolization — blending Jewish and (Protestant) American religious and cultural norms in mid-19th century
d r a f t Interview with Jeffrey Gurock of Yeshiva University on creolization in Jewish-American institutions in the years after the Civil War -- although he doesn't use the word -- points up some important (imho) simliarities between the Jewish and and Swedish-American Lutheran experience. At this point, Jews were not hated like Irish … Continue reading File under creolization — blending Jewish and (Protestant) American religious and cultural norms in mid-19th century
Fukuyama on Russia, Trump, ethno-nationalism, religion and other threats to the liberal world order
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwuMMmUCw98 Last month I posted a rather incoherent item saying: (a) I thought some important tectonic plates were shifting with Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Ukrainian resistance to being reabsorbed into a post-Soviet Russian empire; and (b) it might somehow provide a context for writing up some of the historical research I've done in … Continue reading Fukuyama on Russia, Trump, ethno-nationalism, religion and other threats to the liberal world order
Book-burning white evangelical pastor in Middle Tennessee proves: Religion plus extremist politics equals extremist politics
[Roger] Williams described the true church as a magnificent garden, unsullied and pure, resonant of Eden. The world he described as “the Wilderness,” a word with personal resonance for him. Then he used for the first time a phrase he would use again, a phrase that although not commonly attributed to him has echoed through … Continue reading Book-burning white evangelical pastor in Middle Tennessee proves: Religion plus extremist politics equals extremist politics
Putin, Trump, Fox News and white Christian nationalism — a common thread in Ukraine and US ‘culture wars’
Слава Родине https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGXHw7sX4e8 Stephen Colbert's parody of Russian TV (Cyrillic letters spell the English word "Bestie"). When Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin claimed "the west’s 'cancel culture'” victimizes “an entire thousand-year-old country, our people” on March 25, American pundit Robert Reich of Cal-Berkeley noted it "was the third time in recent months Putin has blasted … Continue reading Putin, Trump, Fox News and white Christian nationalism — a common thread in Ukraine and US ‘culture wars’
Salmon chowder recipes bring back memories of Alaska, as I try to come up with a ‘healthy eating plan’
Phyllis's Cafe & Salmon Bake, Anchorage (photo Grace Anderson Minube.co.uk). It may lack the spiritual depth of the quest for the historical Jesus, but here's an interim report on my quest for a recipe for Alaska-style salmon chowder that's easy on the lactose and won't send my cholesterol count skyrocketing. It follows up on a … Continue reading Salmon chowder recipes bring back memories of Alaska, as I try to come up with a ‘healthy eating plan’
‘For Ukraine’: A powerful choral work by Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür that deserves an international audience
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f49Mzm3xqG0 All in the first month after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a choral work asking God to protect Ukraine by a noted Estonian composer was written, set to music, rehearsed and performed for the public within three weeks' time. The war began Feb. 24, and the premiere, in Estonia's capital city of Tallinn, was March … Continue reading ‘For Ukraine’: A powerful choral work by Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür that deserves an international audience
Ow! Again I say to you, ow! False witness and civility in a polarized society
Editor's (admin's) note: Lightly edited text of a blast email I sent to participants in the "Sundays@6" online congregational book discussion group I co-facilitate on the Ten Commandments, ahead of our session on the eighth commandment (by the Lutheran and Catholic system for numbering them and the ninth by the most common Protestant system) forbidding … Continue reading Ow! Again I say to you, ow! False witness and civility in a polarized society
A spiritual mutt discovers a common thread in the 10 Commandments and a Buddhist lovingkindness meditation
God's covenant with Noah, Augustana Synod primer, 1919 (Wikimedia Commons). Since Debi and I are co-facilitating a congregational book study group on the Ten Commandments, a recent article on America magazine's website jumped off the screen at me. By associate editor Jim McDermott, it's headlined "Is it time for an 11th commandment?" His answer is … Continue reading A spiritual mutt discovers a common thread in the 10 Commandments and a Buddhist lovingkindness meditation
CNN newsletter highlights disconnect between ‘culture war,’ real-world problems in a time of real war
In my email on March 23, from CNN Reliable Sources <reliablesources@newsletters.cnn.com>, after this headnote: Oliver Darcy here at 10:47pm ET on Wednesday, March 23. Here's the latest on Reuters, BuzzFeed News, Fox, Meta, "Wheel of Fortune," Spotify, "Real Housewives," and more... [...] this item, which is too good to clean out of my inbox and lose forever. Darcey … Continue reading CNN newsletter highlights disconnect between ‘culture war,’ real-world problems in a time of real war
Lenten reflection in today’s email from America magazine on prayer, music and lived experience
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhGYD1svTM4 In my inbox this morning ... America Media, which publishes America magazine and maintains an online presence, has been sending out Lenten meditations this month. So today we got a "Reflection for the Thursday of the Third Week of Lent" by assistant editor Molly Cahill, who acknowledges: "I am pretty good at thinking and talking … Continue reading Lenten reflection in today’s email from America magazine on prayer, music and lived experience
‘Here am I’: Isaiah’s call to prophesy in the year King Uzziah died; also, nibbling around the edges of today’s apocalypse
The Prophet Isaiah, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, ca. 1725 (Wikimedia Commons). Isaiah 6 (NRSV). In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, … Continue reading ‘Here am I’: Isaiah’s call to prophesy in the year King Uzziah died; also, nibbling around the edges of today’s apocalypse
Chix recipes that might be worth trying
d r a f t xxx https://www.myrecipes.com/ingredients/baked-chicken-breast-recipes xxx https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/salsa-verde-chicken-casserole Salsa Verde Chicken Casserolehttps://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/sheet-pan-greek-chicken-roasted-potatoes Sheet Pan Greek Chicken with Roasted Potatoeshttps://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-tamale-casserole Chicken Tamale Casserolehttps://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-tetrazzini-9 Chicken Tetrazzini (w/ cream cheese)https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/italian-seasoned-roast-chicken Italian-Seasoned Roast Chicken Breasts *** Also a salmon chowder recipe at https://themodernproper.com/salmon-chowder that I also don't want to lose sight of! Not as rich as Phyllis' on … Continue reading Chix recipes that might be worth trying
I sing of Oley, glad and big: A eulogy to a beloved cat in a time of loss and grief
Olaf (Oley) Da Vinci, ca. 2006-March 13, 2022 Dogs [and cats] come into our lives to teach us about love. They depart to teach us about loss. A new dog [or cat] never replaces an old dog [or cat], it merely expands the heart [...] Erica Jong, viral email, quoted on Doobert.com animal rescue website. … Continue reading I sing of Oley, glad and big: A eulogy to a beloved cat in a time of loss and grief
Timothy Snyder on Ukraine, code-switching, national identit(ies)
d r a f t Timothy Snyder, "Timothy Snyder on the Myths That Blinded the West to Putin's Plans," interview by Ezra Klein, The Ezra Klein Show, New York Times, March 15, 2022 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-timothy-snyder.html Verbatim quotes at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/podcasts/transcript-ezra-klein-interviews-timothy-snyder.html: So the way we tell the Second World War is completely inside out, you know, Western Front … Continue reading Timothy Snyder on Ukraine, code-switching, national identit(ies)
For the futures file? Another look at ‘Swedes in Roger Williams’ Garden’ in light of new circumstances
d r a f t In memoriam, Oley the Cat, ca. 2006-March 13, 2022. LTK Seems like the tectonic plates are shifting again, in my life and in the world at large ... In ways that may give a new context for my study of the church-planting stage of Swedish-American immigration and the foundation of … Continue reading For the futures file? Another look at ‘Swedes in Roger Williams’ Garden’ in light of new circumstances
Spiritual direction, March 2022
d r a f t Editor’s (admin’s) note: Lightly edited copy of email I wrote in advance of this month’s appointment with my spiritual director, giving her a heads-up on what I’d been journaling on since our last meeting and, more to the point, helping me focus over time by archiving the emails with my journals … Continue reading Spiritual direction, March 2022
Dominican website in Rome
d r a f t IDI – INTERNATIONAL DOMINICAN INFORMATION Webpage on "Dominican Charism" at https://www.op.org/dominican-charism/# DOMINICAN CHARISMIn every human person there is a hunger for truth and for goodness, which is essentially our fundamental desire for God who is truth and the good. The mission of the Order of Preachers, also called the Dominican Order … Continue reading Dominican website in Rome
Links to a copy of my James Agee article and his Time magazine cover story on the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
d r a f t Editor's (admin's) note: Miscellaneous notes and quotes for possible later use, on James Agee, the staff writer for Time magazine who did the cover story in August 1945 on the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the end of World War II. In his spot news story, he had a prescient … Continue reading Links to a copy of my James Agee article and his Time magazine cover story on the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Thoughts, prayers, wisdom from the Talmud and acting against ‘the enormity of the world’s grief’ in wartime
Screen grab of meme shared to my Facebook news feed, Oct. 29, 2021. For several months I've been wanting to jumpstart my prayer life, but until last week I never would have thought it would involve the heartache of praying for peace in Ukraine in the face of a failed World War II-style blitzkrieg that … Continue reading Thoughts, prayers, wisdom from the Talmud and acting against ‘the enormity of the world’s grief’ in wartime
Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend / ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present Now’
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j219xJKXydg Detleff Korsen Text: Wilhelm II von Sachsen-Weimar (?) 1648, Strophe 4 Gotha 1651, Melodie: Gochsheim / Redwitz 1628, Görlitz 1648, Evangelisches Gesangbuch Nr. 155, aufgenommen in der Kirche St. Cosmae und Damiani in Hassel. Wikipedia has background "Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend" at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herr_Jesu_Christ,_dich_zu_uns_wend Also a digital … Continue reading Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend / ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present Now’
Spiritual direction, February 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOL3T0jM8Jk Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Church New Ulm, Minn., 2012 Editor’s (admin’s) note: Lightly edited copy of email I wrote in advance of this month's appointment with my spiritual director, giving her a heads-up on what I’d been journaling on since our last meeting and, more to the point, helping me focus over time by archiving the … Continue reading Spiritual direction, February 2022
‘Just a little talk with Jesus’: Getting up to speed on a Jesuit prayer exercise — with an assist from the Oak Ridge Boys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH9ta2CaWaM Live performance by Oak Ridge Boys, Gaither Studios, Alexandria, Ind., 2021 Welp, I guess I talked myself into a new assignment ... trying a brand-new Jesuit prayer exercise (new for me at least, as a mainline Protestant who never had much use for organized religion until fairly recently). It's called an Ignatian "Colloquy." It … Continue reading ‘Just a little talk with Jesus’: Getting up to speed on a Jesuit prayer exercise — with an assist from the Oak Ridge Boys
In dir ist Freude / ‘In Thee is Gladness’: Notes and links so I can learn it
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1mog6POXNY Evangelische Kirche St. Sebald, Nürnberg, July 24, 2017 (Calvin Hobbes) I came across this 16th-century German hymn online when I was looking for something else. (Serendipity. Story of my life, at least in its better moments.) Checked it out. Decided to try to learn it. Discovered it transposes well … Continue reading In dir ist Freude / ‘In Thee is Gladness’: Notes and links so I can learn it
How a Zoom class on the 2nd (or 3rd) commandment, Luther’s catechism and a Latin pun suggest a God I can pray to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WppMKwpXsQs Trailer for the Rev. Adam Hamilton's curriculum, "Words of Life" The last couple of weeks, I've been doing something I never thought I would ever do -- I'm teaching a Sunday school class. In more exact terms, Debi and I are co-facilitating an adult faith formation class on the 10 Commandments over Zoom. It's … Continue reading How a Zoom class on the 2nd (or 3rd) commandment, Luther’s catechism and a Latin pun suggest a God I can pray to
Nun jauchzt dem Herren alle Welt
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqa9ga7Hlwo Ev. Wiesenkirche, Soest, Gottesdienst, zum Reformationsjubiläum, 2017 "Nun jauchzt dem Herren, alle Welt" (Now rejoice to the Lord, all the world) is a German Christian hymn, a paraphrase of Psalm 100. The text was written by David Denicke, based on a metered paraphrase of the psalm from the Becker Psalter, and published in … Continue reading Nun jauchzt dem Herren alle Welt
DRAFT ‘Now rest beneath night’s shadow …’ DRAFT
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKyiGWYOQLU St. Thomas Boys' Choir Leipzig, 2016 (CHOR GESANG - Das Musikmagazin). "He who sings prays twice" -- St. Augustine (Catechism of the Catholic Church) Maybe I shouldn't admit this in public, but I've had prayer at the top of my B list for quite a while now. After a … Continue reading DRAFT ‘Now rest beneath night’s shadow …’ DRAFT
A New Yorker profile of Justice Amy Coney Barrett raises difficult questions of church-state relations
For several months now, I've been wondering if the U.S. Supreme Court's First Amendment fundamentalism on the "free exercise" clause is going to lead them to weaken protections under the "establishment" clause. I blogged about it HERE, HERE and HERE, toward the end of the court's spring term when decisions with troubling implications for church-state … Continue reading A New Yorker profile of Justice Amy Coney Barrett raises difficult questions of church-state relations
‘Words of Life’ — blast email for a parish bible study on the 10 Commandments (also numbering and Luther’s catechism)
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Xxhupj_6Q&list=PLFcbGPrXfjC0FA8pvDscNH6dnfNFbvXs3 Week 2 - Do Not Make an Image for Yourself Editor’s (admin’s) note: Lightly edited email sent to participants in a Sunday evening adult faith formation Zoom discussion that Debi and I are co-facilitating at our Lutheran church in Springfield, Illinois. It follows Words of Life: Jesus and the Promise of … Continue reading ‘Words of Life’ — blast email for a parish bible study on the 10 Commandments (also numbering and Luther’s catechism)
‘Words of Life’ — emails for first faith formation class on the 10 Commandments, held online due to the pandemic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WppMKwpXsQs&t=9s Editor's (admin's) note: Excerpts from emails sent to participants in a Sunday evening adult faith formation Zoom discussion that Debi and I are co-facilitating at our Lutheran church in Springfield, Illinois. It follows Words of Life: Jesus and the Promise of the Ten Commandments Today, a book with supplemental material by the Rev. Adam … Continue reading ‘Words of Life’ — emails for first faith formation class on the 10 Commandments, held online due to the pandemic
UConn sociology prof explores a multi-faceted backlash against the religious right in the light of religious pluralism
d r a f t A recent article in The Guardian that makes sense of some of the cross-currents roiling today's culture wars. It might also suggest a conceptual framework -- or, at the very least, 21st-century parallels -- for the kind of religious pluralism I find in my study of immigrant Swedish pastors in … Continue reading UConn sociology prof explores a multi-faceted backlash against the religious right in the light of religious pluralism
Roasted Tomatillo Chicken Enchilada Pie
d r a f t This has casserole possiblities (imho) ... Marzia's Little Spice Jar recipe at https://littlespicejar.com/roasted-tomatillo-chicken-enchilada-pie/ Enchilada Pie: 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (see notes) 1 1/2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese 6-8 (8-inch) corn tortillas garnish: chopped cilantro + cotija cheese + lime wedges Dirty little secret: "I know, it’s tempting to use a … Continue reading Roasted Tomatillo Chicken Enchilada Pie
Laudato Si’, climate change and intersectionality: Not really somebody else’s problem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d51EtDceF38&t=106s An ongoing discussion of Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si' is changing the way I think about intersectionality. It first came up several weeks ago in a Zoom dialog on the Laudato Si' Action Platform. The dialog, conducted by the Springfield Dominican Sisters' action program committee, would have been held at the motherhouse. It was … Continue reading Laudato Si’, climate change and intersectionality: Not really somebody else’s problem
Electronic filing cabinet: Turmeric-roasted cauliflower recipes
d r a f t This recipe by Maria Lichty, a blogger at https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/turmeric-roasted-cauliflower/, looks especially good -- it's posted here because I've always treated my blogs as a place for "organizing and archiving some of this clutter [on my desk] on the World Wide Web in a forum that doesn’t necessarily require the extensive … Continue reading Electronic filing cabinet: Turmeric-roasted cauliflower recipes
Spiritual journal for January, and hopes for spiritual direction in 2022
Editor's (admin's) note: When I was taking spiritual direction before, I emailed my director ahead of our monthly sessions … summing up what I’d been journaling about since our last meeting and, more to the point, focusing on themes I’d been working on and, more to the point, new directions that might (or might not) … Continue reading Spiritual journal for January, and hopes for spiritual direction in 2022
tallis evening hymn
d r a f t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6qUR6vtggM xxx Harmonia Sacra, 333b (26th ed., Goshen, Ind., 2008). Melody in tenor. xxx Lord Jesus Christ, to Thee We Pray (Tallis' Evening Hymn) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_bpz6k0IgA Lord Jesus Christ, to Thee We Pray (Tallis' Evening Hymn) Text by: Martin Luther Translated by: William M Reynolds 1849 Tune: Tallis' Evening Hymn by: … Continue reading tallis evening hymn
Oh, joy! Are the ‘culture wars’ taking us into a new civil war? or sectarian conflict like in Northern Ireland?
Battle of Chickamaugua, lithograph, ca. 1890 (Wikimedia Commons). Here's a cheery note: If civil war comes to America as Barbara Walter of the University of California San Diego and other scholars are now predicting, it won't involve armies marching out to Gettysburg and Chickamauga in blue and gray uniforms -- it'll be more like the … Continue reading Oh, joy! Are the ‘culture wars’ taking us into a new civil war? or sectarian conflict like in Northern Ireland?
Op ed piece connects important dots between Jan. 6, white Christian nationalism and uproar over ‘CRT’
A very useful op ed piece on the New York Times' website today connects the dots between former President Trump's violent assault on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021; white Christian nationalist fears of being replaced and persecuted by non-Christian immigrants and secular society; and the past year's hysteria over "Critical Race Theory" and other … Continue reading Op ed piece connects important dots between Jan. 6, white Christian nationalism and uproar over ‘CRT’
Is there a theological basis for anti-vaxxer militancy in prophecies of end times?
Intriguing article on yesterday's Washington Post website by Michael Gerson, op ed columnist, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush and occasional talking head on CNN. Gerson, who is an evangelical himself, dismisses anti-vaxxer assertions of religious exemptions to vaccine mandates as "heresy compounded by lunacy." This amounts, he says, to a "substitution of libertarianism … Continue reading Is there a theological basis for anti-vaxxer militancy in prophecies of end times?
Link to Biblical Archaeology Society article on the 10 Commandments
Article by Shawna Dolansky, a religious studies professor at Carleton University in Canada who won a faculty award for "translating abstract biblical texts to digestible university-level content," has a very good overview (imho) of the 10 Commandments. In addition to biblicalarchaeology.org, she is a frequent contributor to thetorah.com. This article, in Bible History Today, is a … Continue reading Link to Biblical Archaeology Society article on the 10 Commandments
From the first days of the pandemic! A couple of monkey-see, monkey-do tutorials for Zoom classes I can understand
d r a f t I'm not sure how much of this applies to an adult bible study group, but a self-described "classroom teacher turned curriculum developer" put a primer up on Facebook at the end of March and beginning of April 2020, when teachers everywhere had to adapt to online instruction in a hurry … Continue reading From the first days of the pandemic! A couple of monkey-see, monkey-do tutorials for Zoom classes I can understand
‘A child is born in Bethlehem’: New life in an old carol for postmodern, independent cats and misguided sheep
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRyiOB4as9c DR Pigekor (Danish National Girls' Choir), dir. Philip Faber, 2021 Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. -- Charlie "Bird" Parker (Wikiquote). … Continue reading ‘A child is born in Bethlehem’: New life in an old carol for postmodern, independent cats and misguided sheep
Our Christmas letter, 2021
Copied from Debi's blog Seriously Seeking Answers (while you're there, take a look around -- she explores "religion, personal choices and the meaning of life with fellow travelers," interspersed with recipes, nature photography around Springfield and cat pictures). Picture at the top of the post shows our sunroom decked out for the season with a … Continue reading Our Christmas letter, 2021
19th-century Swedes in Roger Williams’ Garden: Applying a Japanese discernment concept to a historical research project
With an awkward footnote preserving a middle-of-the-night scratch outline on how to further revise my ALPLM paper 'Swedes in Roger Williams' Garden: Acculturation in Immigrant Churches, 1848-1860.' A useful discernment or decision-making technique I learned in a class for Dominican lay associate candidates -- it's called ikigai, and I wish I'd known about it when … Continue reading 19th-century Swedes in Roger Williams’ Garden: Applying a Japanese discernment concept to a historical research project
Notes & quotes: Heather Cox Richardson
Verbatim quotes from interviews with Heather Cox Richardson of Boston College pointing up parallels between the 1850s and the crisis of American democracy today ... also the parallel between Christian nationalism and "illiberal/Christian democracy" in Hungary today Mass Humanities (interview) "What Was at Stake in Our History," interview with Michelle Wilson, Mass Humanities, Aug. 24, … Continue reading Notes & quotes: Heather Cox Richardson
johann walther website
Ellertsen family lore is that we're descended on my grandmother's side from Johann Walther (1496-1570), which would make him my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-uncle (give or take a 'great' or two). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPAPpYnnjDA Johann-Walter-Kantorei (choir) of Torgau, in Stadtkirche St. Margarethen, Kahla Evangelische Kirchenkreis Eisenberg (Evangelical, i.e. Lutheran, parish church in Eisenberg) Here's a link to the page with … Continue reading johann walther website
‘Christ child … singing softly’ like the south wind blows in the treetops — startling image in an African American folk carol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyIfCmGYRi4 Peggy Seeger singing "Child of God," American Folk Songs for Christmas, 1989. For the last few weeks, I've been playing Christmas carols by the fireplace at night. We have the lights up (well, actually, they've been for two years now), and I've got a hunch playing the carols might be a good spiritual exercise. … Continue reading ‘Christ child … singing softly’ like the south wind blows in the treetops — startling image in an African American folk carol
A Franciscan take on the presence of God in all of God’s creation — including brother wolf … and all of us
Second of two posts looking ahead to the new liturgical year and making new (church) year's resolutions. For the earlier post, link HERE. Mural of St. Francis, Creative Commons Prayer. Photo Jim McIntosh (CC BY 2.0) Fr. Richard Rohr's daily meditation for Friday poses a theological question I want to work on in the coming … Continue reading A Franciscan take on the presence of God in all of God’s creation — including brother wolf … and all of us
Praying for good courage in a hospital emergency room … and quiet confidence while sweating out a scary diagnosis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phngTmv7IW4 From "Mountain Vespers" service for Holden Village by Dr. Kent Gustavson Many of us pray best in church, or in the resonant silence of an empty cathedral. Others pray at home, relying on candles, music or other aids to help ease them into a prayerful attitude. Me? It seems like I pray best in … Continue reading Praying for good courage in a hospital emergency room … and quiet confidence while sweating out a scary diagnosis
For future reference — Haaretz article on archaeological dig at basilica in Ashdod
d r a f t Pix and links to a Twitter thread by a scholar at the University of Iowa who specializes on the role of women in the early Christian church, w/ preliminary reaction to the dig's potential significance: Screen shot, Dr. Sarah Bond's Twitter thread on deaconesses. Notes and excerpts from Haaretz article … Continue reading For future reference — Haaretz article on archaeological dig at basilica in Ashdod
A new (church) year’s resolution poses a question — is music ‘an agnostic’s spiritual practice?’ My answer: I don’t know yet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjAuBTLdqPg&t=18s Paula Bär-Giese, soprano; and Hans Meijer, lute, in character as Katie von Bora and Martin Luther, perform 'From heaven above I come' and 'A child is born in Bethlehem' agnostic (n.) 1870, "one who professes that the existence of a First Cause and the essential nature of things are not and cannot be known" … Continue reading A new (church) year’s resolution poses a question — is music ‘an agnostic’s spiritual practice?’ My answer: I don’t know yet
The four core values or pillars of Dominican life, a presentation to 2019 associate candidates’ class
Shared here from YouTube for convenient reference. Begins with a group discussion following the steps of lectio divina. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3h7N7VyVBA&t=191s The blurb on YouTube summarizes it like this: Sister Marilyn Jean Runkel, OP shared what the four pillars of Dominican life are to the 2019 associate candidate class on Sunday, October 13, 2019. The sharing and … Continue reading The four core values or pillars of Dominican life, a presentation to 2019 associate candidates’ class
A ‘Zen Lutheran’ morning prayer
Luther and family, by Gustav Spangenberg, ca. 1875 (Wikimedia Commons). Prayer and meditation have never been my long suit -- I don't have the patience for either. But thanks to a recent bout of pneumonia, I may have found a practice that works for me. It combines two of my interests, Western Buddhist spirituality and … Continue reading A ‘Zen Lutheran’ morning prayer
Paraphrase of Talmudic scholar who fled the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE hits home in another time of apocalypse
Screen grab from my Facebook news feed, Oct. 29, 2021 Here's something that's been on my mind for quite a while now. I started writing something on it when the this meme popped up in my Facebook "memories." It's a paraphrase of a saying in the Talmud by Rabbi Tarfon, a second-century Jewish sage whom … Continue reading Paraphrase of Talmudic scholar who fled the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE hits home in another time of apocalypse
‘How Firm a Foundation’: Calling on a shape-note folk hymn in the hospital … and later by my fireside at home
Cross-posted to my trad music blog Hogfiddle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzUUkWwBZdI Recorded for online worship service on Sept. 6, 2020, Providence Church, Austin, Texas. This is the story of how I came to be singing an old Baptist folk hymn from the Sacred Harp under my breath as the anesthesia was taking hold last week in the cath … Continue reading ‘How Firm a Foundation’: Calling on a shape-note folk hymn in the hospital … and later by my fireside at home
Notes on a scientific study on spirituality — how doing good does you good; also Jewish-Christian relations, book of Hebrews
When I taught mass comms at Benedictine, I used to tell the kids sometimes you can do pretty darn well for yourself by doing good. I thought it fit our mission as a faith-based college, and, besides, I believed it. Now comes Lisa Miller, a psychologist at Columbia Teachers College, with a study offering scientific … Continue reading Notes on a scientific study on spirituality — how doing good does you good; also Jewish-Christian relations, book of Hebrews
Östervåla psalmodikon pix
d r a f t Parked here (and cross-posted to my other blog) till I can figure out what to do with the pix: https://www.facebook.com/peter.ellertsen/posts/2923906727870354 Embedded content from facebook.com can't be previewed in the editor. And here's a link to Marilyn's post: https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.demay.96/posts/873207133331978
A spiritual journal for my birthday — looking back over this ‘festering boil of a year’ in 2020 and 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KkuoMs2MOI&list=PLrR4rlaGn2Ga5fsYl6vnCJsfU5wWeiofq&index=13 English folk singers usher out 'this festering boil of a year' (at 3:30) in December 2020. So look forward with hope to the twelvemonth a-coming, And away with this festering boil of a year; But the fire is still burning, and the world is still turning, And despite all its efforts, we're still bloody … Continue reading A spiritual journal for my birthday — looking back over this ‘festering boil of a year’ in 2020 and 2021
George Will on ‘dyspeptic moments’ in history of 1790s, 1850s and today, ‘status resentments’ and culture wars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vofmvlyww8 A couple of incisive comments by conservative op ed columnist George Will, who's been making himself widely available for interviews on the publication of his new book (actually a collection of his Washington Post columns), titled American Happiness and Discontents: The Unruly Torrent, 2008-2020. Kirkus describes it as an "overstuffed collection of the conservative … Continue reading George Will on ‘dyspeptic moments’ in history of 1790s, 1850s and today, ‘status resentments’ and culture wars
Ordinary Time 
