The simple but powerful descending line in the opening of Bach’s Cello Suite #3 invites us into a journey of driving, flowing passages. The key of C major provides maximum resonance as the open strings are used freely to ground and harmonize with the constantly moving...
Last week’s Bach Cello Suite #1 took us on a lyrical journey along easy meadow paths, setting a sauntering tempo and a joyful outlook. This week’s Suite #2 has a distinctly different timbre. Suite #2 in D minor keeps us off-kilter throughout its six movements. The #2...
It’s that season again. Like clockwork. You know this chapter of the story. It calls to you. It draws you. The Story echoes into our own stories and shatters our complacency. We are shaken from the rhythms of ordinary time and swept into the tempos of Lent. A slower...
Monks start the day at 3:20 am with Vigils, and they typically sing Psalm 95. 1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. 3 For...
Ubi Caritas is one of the oldest hymns of the early church. Dating from as early as the 4th century, settings of Ubi Caritas are frequently included as part of the Eucharist story, reminding us of Christ’s great love for us. But more than simple remembrance, the first...
When I was a doctoral student, I wrote a series of four articles for Foundations on “The Chicago School of Theology” with one of my ethics professors, Kenneth “Snuffy” Smith. Smith was feted and famous for being the person who taught Martin Luther King, Jr. his ethics...
