Throughout the history of humankind symbols have been employed to lend clarity to abstract concepts. A symbol reaches beyond language and is aRead More »Paraments for the Portable Pulpit-Christian Symbolism
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the
depth and breadth and height my soul can reach
It does not seem too great a stretch to appropriate Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s immortal lines when writing about the Scottish Hebridean Island of Iona. Her expression of love for another person reaches multi-layered dimensions existing beyond description. Some would call this a spiritual state encompassing certain places set apart as well as people set apart. Iona is such a place.Read More »Embracing the Tempest
How can I take it all in–a surfeit of nourishment for anyone, and served in all of nature’s rugged beauty sating the hunger of a famished soul. The splendor of the Scottish Highlands overwhelms at first. They have been witness to a long, often brutal history. How could such magnificence attend this violent history? They stand sentinel and passive witness devoid of any emotion yet at the heart of engendering unbridled emotion as we, the tiniest fleck on an eternal time line fulfill our own life journey.Read More »A Way Away
The Special Music Series is sponsoring A Poppin’ Celebration on July 1st during Worship and at 2 p.m. The worship service includes: My Country ‘Tis… Read More »A Poppin’ Celebration, July 1st
This service is not intended to celebrate Christmas but to help each of us prepare ourselves for, and expect the coming of Christ. The word… Read More »ADVENT LESSONS AND CAROLS: AN EXPLANATION
“She lies like a gem in the ocean,” although her identity remains hidden on most maps. Yet thousands of pilgrims arrive each year to seek her secrets, her soul. Her rocks are as old as the earth itself and tell of a fiery, violent birth from deep beneath her shores. Legend says that the giant warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill, whom the English call Finn McCool, built the “Giant’s Causeway,” a geological phenomenon of basalt columns lining a pathway on the floor of the ocean, so he could walk from Ireland to the west coast of Scotland by way of the island of Staffa. Mr. mac Cumhaill lives in the mythology of both countries, inspired by these strange vertical columns of igneous rock. It can be seen in all its grandeur on the south side of Staffa, an uninhabited island, part of the Inner Hebrides’ archipelago, home to thousands of nesting seabirds, foremost among them, a large colony of puffins. . .surely a bird designed by committee; home also to Fingal’s Cave, made famous by the composer Felix Mendelssohn who in 1830, after a visit, composed the “Hebrides Overture.”Read More »A Place Set Apart
I am fascinated by rhythm. After all, I am a professional musician. However, it might be surprising to know that rhythm is inscribed on the DNA of every living thing; animal, plant and even has a role in the creation of inanimate objects such as rocks, sand, and human-made things.Read More »Rhythm: A Universal Paradigm
