Category Archives: music

Begin: Advent Word 14

Mark 1:1, the scripture from which today’s Advent Word was taken, is a mere preface: “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.” In the verses that follow, Mark pinpoints that beginning in a passage from Isaiah about the … Continue reading

Posted in #Advent Word, Advent, Advent Word, begin, music | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Awake: Advent Word 7

Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” was first performed  on November 25, 1731, the 27th Sunday after Trinity. Based on the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25: 1-13), this message of this stunning cantata … Continue reading

Posted in Advent, Advent Word, Bach, music | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Evening and the Morning

And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second … Continue reading

Posted in friendship, love, memories, music | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Ineffable Mystery: To Know God and Make Him Known

In medias res . . . If I wish to tell this story at all, I will have to begin in the midst of things. Is there really any other way to begin, I wonder? Who knows when anything started? I … Continue reading

Posted in church, faith, God, Jesus, music, religion | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Even at the grave we make our song . . .

. . . but not during the Paschal celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ–at least in the Episcopal Church.

Posted in church, COVID-19, Easter, faith, music, politics, religion, totalitarianism | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Fruition: 2018

As I began to ponder the year soon coming to a close, it seemed necessary and fitting that I end the longest hiatus of my blog-writing career with a brief narration of the project–now complete–that has consumed my life for … Continue reading

Posted in art, books, education, history, literature, movies, music, poetry, World War I | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Mother of Beauty: World War I in Word, Image, and Song

Published below is the text of a talk I will give tomorrow to commemorate the Armistice centenary as part of a series of events entitled “FTCC Remembers World War I: 1914-1918.” “Death is the mother of beauty,” wrote Wallace Stevens, … Continue reading

Posted in art, history, literature, music, poetry, World War I | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Mother of Beauty: War in Words and Music

For the past two years, I have immersed myself in a personal and professional commemoration of the centenary of World War I. For a freshman composition class I designed in writing across the curriculum, I have read extensively in the … Continue reading

Posted in history, literature, music, peace, World War I | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Miracles Do Happen–If We Listen

Saturday, March 4, in Columbia, South Carolina, I witnessed what I can describe only as a miracle, the University of South Carolina’s performance of Leonard Bernstein’s MASS. By Monday, when I could not stop pondering–seeing, hearing, singing–those 110 minutes of capital-T … Continue reading

Posted in healing, hope, Lent, love, music, peace, religion | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Embrace: Advent Word 18

I love a Gershwin tune, and I must confess that I seldom use the word embrace unless I’m belting out, “Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you.” Hug, hold, cuddle–almost never embrace. So today my task is to write about a word that … Continue reading

Posted in Advent, music | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment