How many of you out there are Downton Abbey Fans — fans of the period piece BBC drama about the Crawley family? A very upstairs|downstairs kind of affair, it ran for six seasons and recently there was a movie! I am not sure I watched it all but I vividly recall a scene in the…
Who of a certain age does not remember the Jefferson Airplane (or was it Starship?) 1967 psychedelic anthem: Go Ask Alice? Inspired by the works of Lewis Carroll. To spark your memory, you can listen to the music. Lyrics quoted here in full. One pill makes you largerAnd one pill makes you smallAnd the ones…
So far, on my sabbatical, I have only missed my second Sunday. Three if you count Covid-Christmas-Day! What possible stories could I have to tell after only 10 days? Well no story in particular really. More so, I want to share with you the serendipitous nature of storytelling itself that has saturated my first week…
Editor’s Note: Many thanks to the author for granting permission to post her beautiful and personal reworking of the beloved Advent hymn: O Come, O Come Emmanuel. O come Beloved Bridegroom stay In love’s embrace until the break of day. Breathe deep the almond blossom perfume And rest among the dew-kissed lily blooms. Rejoice! Rejoice!…
Christmas carols. Old familiar favorites. I remember singing them in grammar school — so well — I got kicked out of Glee Club for my rendition of Joy to the World!:) I used to plunk out the carol notes on the piano from my tattered Easy Carols Piano Book. Even when all grown up it made my heart glad…
Frederick Beuchner in his book Peculiar Treasures tells a story about Jesus’ daddy — the Dreamer. Thank you very much Fred. Let me paraphrase it here. After hearing Mary’s news and confronted with a nightmare of a marriage, Joseph does what any self respecting man would do. He decides to hit the hay and catch some ZZZZ’s. As…
Happy St. Nicholas Day, December 6! Have you heard this Advent carol? It is sung to an 18th century dance tune! Prepare the Way, O Zion, your Christ is drawing near!Let every hill and valley a level way appear.Greet one who comes in glory, foretold in sacred story,Oh, blest is Christ that came in God’s…
This clever word play on “Murder She Wrote” is not mine but the title of an exceptional exhibit at the Morgan Library & Museum on Madison Avenue in New York City. A nerdy bibliophile, who volunteers at the Library of Congress, I have long wanted to visit the Morgan. The novel: The Personal Librarian whet…
If you looked up the word “impatience” in the dictionary, you would see a picture of my dad.😊 When I was growing up, my dad did not like to wait. He would not take us anywhere he anticipated crowds or lines. He would never go to a restaurant without a reservation. When we went to…
Advent 2022 begins Sunday, November 27th. Angels. Every year, when they were little, my children donned cardboard wings in the Christmas pageant. And through the centuries gilded angel wings have graced a bazillion Christmas cards. Angels. Pretty, poetic symbols. Anachronistic theology of the Middle Ages. Superstition in the scientific age. Right? Yet every Sunday we confess that “We…
Emmanuel Voices 
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