It’s been a difficult few months, even by 2020 standards, for many of those around me. Miscarriage, marital conflict, rocky relocations, severe illness, loneliness, and the slow decline or even death of loved ones has weighed heavily on my friends and family. Our bedtime routine a couple days ago brought us to Frank Graeff’s “Does…
Constancy
I originally titled this post “2020: A Year in Review”, but quickly thought better of it. It’s been quite a year, to be sure, but I’m pretty sure I would just delete anything that came my way with such a title; it’s a year that I’d rather not relive in its entirety, and even all…
Messiah, Part 3
This Advent season, I’m running a series of the text (libretto) to Messiah by George Frederic Handel. You’ll find below the biblical text (King James Version, of course) used in Part 3, whose theme is “A Hymn of Thanksgiving for the final overthrow of Death”, broken up by musical section according to the 1959 Novello…
Messiah, Part 2
This Advent season, I’m running a series of the text (libretto) to Messiah by George Frederic Handel. You’ll find below the biblical text (King James Version, of course) used in Part 2, whose theme is “The accomplishment of redemption by the sacrifice of Christ, mankind’s rejection of God’s offer, and mankind’s utter defeat when trying…
Messiah, Part 1
As I mentioned last week, this Advent season I’m running a series of the text (libretto) to Messiah by George Frederic Handel. You’ll find below the biblical text (King James Version, of course) used in Part 1, whose theme is “The prophecy and realization of God’s plan to redeem mankind by the coming of the…
Advent
Advent. It’s basically synonymous with waiting, right? As a kid, it meant candy every day, as well as some other miscellaneous activity; for much of my adult life, it has meant stress, decisions, and crowds. At both times, it meant waiting and preparing, with varying degrees of anticipation and dread, for the “main event”, for…
Give Thanks
Thanksgiving. However far from “normal” your Thanksgiving celebration looks and feels this year, the constant is the extra emphasis on gratitude. It’s a social convention I personally find overblown, but it serves the purpose of reminding us to be thankful at least once a year, and that’s worth mentioning anyway. As we anticipate and prepare…
Walk by Faith
I’ve been thinking about the Israelites in the wilderness recently. A couple aspects of that wandering have come to mind fairly frequently, and I see a relatively high degree of applicability in that. For starters, there’s the manna, and how that highlights their dependence on the Lord. That’s not to say that we receive daily…
The Lord is Good
“For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” (Ps 100:5) This verse has come to mind countless times over the last few weeks, especially the first part. “The Lord is good.” We can always use that reminder, but it seems to be especially timely for a prolonged…
Recent Reads, Volume XI
A brief summary of what I’m currently reading or have recently finished, why I read it, and whether I’d recommend it. Although really, it’d have to be truly terrible for me to bother writing about a book I wouldn’t recommend…… The Hidden Lives of Owls (Leigh Calvez) – I added this to my To Be…