Advent

Shepherds.  I’ve gained a lot of respect for them in recent years. Sheep were the primary source of food, milk, wool, and hides in Biblical times.  Shepherding as a profession dates back at least to 6000 B.C when people started keeping flocks of sheep and goats apart from the smaller animals around their household. Shepherds [...]

Christ’s entry into the world was not what a parent would choose.  Newborns should be placed in a soft bassinette and wrapped in satin-edged blankets. We sing about the “manager” and it sounds poetic.  But, think seriously for a moment.  For His Son, God ordained a dusty, crusty trough as a bed. Would you put [...]

On what surely is a busy day for all, let’s give ourselves a treat and explore two wonderful numbers from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio: the opening chorus Rejoice! Exalt! (Jauchzet frohloket) and the short aria “Prepare Thyself, Zion” (Bereitet dich Zion). The Christmas Oratorio was written as a six-part work intended for six separate [...]

Not that long ago, poetry was still part of our popular culture.  It appeared regularly in the pages of the popular press, from fashion journals to fishing magazines (my friend remembers his dad reading aloud the poems in Field and Stream magazine). That common enjoyment of poetry meant that there was easy access to a [...]