Saturday, April 14, 2012

Test Blog

I am writing this post from my new phone. Does it work? Can I still manage to include links?
Pictures?


Saturday, April 7, 2012

2012 Lent 19: Good Friday Sermon, in Which I Performed a Hymn Verse I Wrote

No, I don't have video, or audio. Sorry, Mom. I preached something like this at Lutheran Church of the Savior on Good Friday 2012. I sang each of the three verses a capella: the first two in the joyous, dancing, incongruous way I know from recent years, and the third slow and sad, my voice breaking on the final few lines as I choked up and nearly wept on my manuscript. Not that I stuck to the manuscript, but still.


1.    As I have prepared for Good Friday, prayed about it, reflected on the death of our Lord, read theological treatises and counter-arguments (seriously, you should see my Facebook feed today), one song has constantly come back to me. No, it’s not our next hymn tonight [O Sacred Head, Now Wounded], though that's where the smart money would be, on my all-time-favorite Good Friday song, though we’ll sing it, and it’ll be absolutely amazing, like it always is, and I’ll probably cry, like I usually do. 

Friday, April 6, 2012

2012 Lent 18: Good Friday Links, ctd

James MacMillan's Seven Last Words are gorgeous like ice is cold.


 This is just the third part. Of seven. It melts every part of me.

I first heard this live in Battell Chapel at Yale, performed by my colleagues and friends, and wow. What a privilege it is to experience such beauty in such a world.

2012 Lent 17: Good Friday Links

Yes, I know Good Friday is technically not a part of Lent. Or I think that's the case, anyway. Still, I'm behind in my Lenten blogging goals, so it counts and I don't want to hear anymore grumbling (from me, because seriously, no one else cares. I know this) about it.

"Jesus Will Not Be Pimped" is a great post by my school colleague Julia - who sadly doesn't get to watch the Killamazoo Derby Darlins skate tonight, even though they're in her town - about the Good Friday resonances of a political campaign in Alaska.

"Is God Angry at You?" comes from David Lose, who influences more Lutheran (and other) preachers each Sunday than anybody else I can think of kicking around right now.

2012 Lent 16: On Poetry and Faith, ctd

April is National Poetry Month, and some of my old friends (including this blog's Official Poet) have started a website for all the poems they write this month. It's pretty great, and the poem posted for today, aptly titled "Triduum," is not to be missed.

As I said in the comments on that blog, the following excerpt - words, sounds, images - is as Good Friday as it gets -
Now? The two are carrying
his corpse, ruddy flesh
spotted maroon, brown
primordial clay mottled
with drying blood still wet.
The grinding mash
of leathered feet against gravel
mimics memories of the crunch
of kernels between his teeth.