https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xInuesYrUPA Steve Cooney's arrangement of 'Si Bheag Si Mohr' (Carolan's melody begins at 1:32). It started with a visit to the eye doctor's back in October, when the case positivity rate for Covid-19 was low enough to allow for routine medical appointments. My eye test came back with signs of the very beginnings of something … Continue reading How a trip to the eye doctor’s and the Serenity Prayer renewed my interest in Turlough O’Carolan, the blind Irish harper
‘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
How to make some pretty good soup in a global pandemic (with apologies to Simon Ortiz and Nora Dauenhauer)
It's best made in dry-fish camp on a beach by afish stream on sticks over an open fire, or duringfishing, or during cannery season.In this case, we'll make it in the city baked inan electric oven on a black fry pan. [...]-- Nora Dauenhauer, "How to Make Good Baked Salmon from the River" When I … Continue reading How to make some pretty good soup in a global pandemic (with apologies to Simon Ortiz and Nora Dauenhauer)
Can the free exercise clause be used to establish white Christian religious norms? We may be about to find out
[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 Can the free exercise clause be used to establish white Christian religious norms? We may be about to find out
Connecting the dots for Lent III on covenants, the destruction of the temple and the Church of the Nativity
Editor's (admin's) Note. Third of ___* Lenten meditations based on lectionary readings on the covenants of Noah, Abraham and Moses. This one riffs on the Ten Commandments and the passage in the Gospel of St. John where Jesus speaks of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. 'My father's house' -- Church of the Nativity, … Continue reading Connecting the dots for Lent III on covenants, the destruction of the temple and the Church of the Nativity
A Lenten meditation on covenants, a Christian nationalist lynch mob, green bananas and a book proposal
Editor's (admin's) Note. Second of ___ Lenten meditations based on lectionary readings on the covenants of Noah, Abraham and Moses. This one takes off from the covenant of Abraham, makes a quick stop in Puritan New England and deplanes in today's central Illinois. Clearing skies over Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, November 2012 Mark 8 … Continue reading A Lenten meditation on covenants, a Christian nationalist lynch mob, green bananas and a book proposal
Advent festival at Sewanee: ‘Comfort, comfort ye …,’ but there’s a catch: We’ve got to act on the things that give us comfort
Screen shot from Sewanee's website. Click HERE to watch video of this year's Festival of Lessons and Carols (on YouTube) ... and HERE for bulletin with lyrics. One of the silver linings to sheltering in place during the Covid-19 pandemic has been re-establishing connection with old friends on social media ... and, through them, nostalgia … Continue reading Advent festival at Sewanee: ‘Comfort, comfort ye …,’ but there’s a catch: We’ve got to act on the things that give us comfort
Reflections on prayer in the parking lot of a walk-in clinic during a time of pandemic
It's a perfect late fall afternoon, blustery with tufts of white cloud scudding past in a blue sky. Temperature in the 40s, but enough sunshine coming through the windshield that I don't have the car heater on while I'm waiting in the HSHS PromptCare walk-in clinic's parking lot on MacArthur. This is how we do … Continue reading Reflections on prayer in the parking lot of a walk-in clinic during a time of pandemic
After the tumult, a moment of peace … and a moment for peacemakers
St. John's Episcopal-Lafayette Square in background. Business Insider, Nov. 7, 2020. It's been quite a week for peacemakers! Sunday, Nov. 1, was All Saints' Day, and the assigned gospel reading was the version of the Beatitudes in the Gospel according to St. Matthew. Including this (which isn't in Luke's version): "Blessed are the peacemakers, for … Continue reading After the tumult, a moment of peace … and a moment for peacemakers
Next year in Jersusalem? Keeping the faith in a time of pandemic, absence and exile
Everydayness in Jerusalem -- stray cat surveys his domain in the Old City. A couple of days ago we brought several weeks' worth of magazines in from the garage, where we quarantine our incoming mail. So I've been binge-reading the Christian Century, and an article from the Oct. 7 issue reached out and grabbed me. … Continue reading Next year in Jersusalem? Keeping the faith in a time of pandemic, absence and exile
