Each year, the church where I am organist takes one Sunday to celebrate music. Yesterday was Celebration of Music Sunday, and in a coincidence. Yesterday was our annual Celebration of Music (and happy mother’s day!), and in a striking coincidence, yesterday I happened on a fascinating article about — singing. Singing has been studied from […]
Continue ReadingCategory: A philosopher loose in church
Thy Kingdom Come
Nearly every Christian will recognize the Lord’s Prayer, but in spite of its familiarity — or maybe because of it — there might be a few surprises lurking in the text. Today, I’m going to talk about one “clause” in the prayer in the light of the Kingdom teaching (with a little Greek lesson as […]
Continue ReadingWhy Church Musicians are So Grumpy
Prelude I have been a church musician for nearly 50 years. How it all started is a story I may tell in due course, but for the moment, my focus is a bit different. As the years have passed, I’ve seen many young musicians begin a career in church music on fire with the inspiration […]
Continue ReadingAnniversary
Those of you who follow my blog know that I took a week off from posting. I’m a philosopher, so it definitely was not because I didn’t have anything to say. 😉 Actually, I was celebrating a significant anniversary of excellencifying: This past Sunday was my 36th anniversary as principal organist at a local Lutheran […]
Continue ReadingIn case you’re wondering
I’ve gotten a few questions from some of my long-time readers about my series, A Philosopher Loose in Church. Most of you know me as a philosopher, and you probably know that I’m perfectly comfortable as a conceptual atheist. But a few of you have reached out to probe (very tactfully) into my motivation for […]
Continue ReadingPractically speaking
The gospel reading for the First Sunday in Lent, from Mark 1, recounts the familiar scene of Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan River. We tend to focus on the dramatic parts of that story: The cleaving of the heavens, the booming voice announcing the Beloved, the Spirit descending like a dove. But right […]
Continue ReadingNathanael’s Attitude
Before we continue, I have a brief assignment: Have another look at yesterday’s gospel reading, John 1:43-51. Pay particular attention to Nathanael. Ready? Let’s dive in. Did Jesus’ comment about Nathanael strike you? “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Surely that’s a compliment when it comes from no less a […]
Continue ReadingExpect the Unexpected
“Expect the unexpected, or you will not find it — it cannot be searched for or found out.” This is one of my favorite quotations from the presocratic philosopher, Herakleitos. It’s a paradox: How do you know what to expect if it’s unexpected? And if you somehow manage to expect the unexpected, it’s no longer […]
Continue ReadingThe Talents
Prefer to listen? Here’s the podcast version of The Talents. Yesterday was the 24th Sunday after Pentecost, and this year the gospel reading was one of my favorite parables: The Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). The author of Matthew uses this parable to portray the End Times, a discussion begun by the disciples’ question “What will be […]
Continue ReadingPledge Your Allegiance
One of the New Testament readings for this past Sunday, October 18, featured the well-known line “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21) Reading that line in the context of the encounter the author of Matthew narrates, it strikes me that this has […]
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