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
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
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
‘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 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
What can Rabbi Kushner and a bawdy church camp song tell us about John the Baptist and the kingdom of God?
Herold's Banquet, Fra Filippo Lippi, Fresco Duomo, Prato (Wikimedia) Mark 6 (NRSV) 22 When his daughter Herodias[e] came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” 23 And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give … Continue reading What can Rabbi Kushner and a bawdy church camp song tell us about John the Baptist and the kingdom of God?
God’s presence in an 11th-century Irish poem and a gust of wind on a nice spring afternoon — for Trinity Sunday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lx-iI-kFDA St. Patrick's Breastplate, Church of the Redeemer, Kenmore, Wash. John 3:1-17 (NRSV). 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being … Continue reading God’s presence in an 11th-century Irish poem and a gust of wind on a nice spring afternoon — for Trinity Sunday
‘Christ was born in Bethlehem’ — an Appalachian ballad that sums up Holy Week and the Easter season
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzmzb1ZyL6c Norm Williams, Amanda Parker and Bob Mallalieu, Maidencreek Festival, Maier's Grove, Blandon, Pa., Aug. 29, 2010 (song begins at 1:29). Our services for Holy Week are all online this year, and it's quite a different experience for someone who always sang in the choir and couldn't quite shake the feeling they were performances. I … Continue reading ‘Christ was born in Bethlehem’ — an Appalachian ballad that sums up Holy Week and the Easter season
A ‘Lutheropalian’ take on confirmation classes and an Anglican hymn based on an old Irish legend of St. Patrick at Tara
https://www.facebook.com/peter.ellertsen/posts/2783699998557695 St. Patrick's Day came this year in a flurry of good news, answered prayers and an affirmation of my childhood faith. It came in the middle of a busy week, and I didn't even remember it was St. Paddy's until evening when I saw the pictures of corned beef, cabbage and full Irish breakfasts … Continue reading A ‘Lutheropalian’ take on confirmation classes and an Anglican hymn based on an old Irish legend of St. Patrick at Tara
Coming to terms with John 3:16 with the help of Johnny Cash, the Carter family and the gospel according to Wikipedia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98jzQ478VNs 'Where the soul of man never dies' - Johnny Cash with June, Helen and Anita Carter John 3 [NRSV] 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.[i]16 “For God so loved the world that he gave … Continue reading Coming to terms with John 3:16 with the help of Johnny Cash, the Carter family and the gospel according to Wikipedia
Ordinary Time 