Elizabeth Moses shared a few of the books that she read this past summer.
Thomas Cahill: Gifts of The Jews and How The Irish Saved Civilization
Jerry L. Sittser: A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows Through Loss
“A small book by a professor and a Christian who lost his wife, mother, and daughter in a car accident. Very insightful for many kinds of loss.”
The anthem for this Sunday (St. Michael and All Angels) is by William Billings (1746-1800), one of the United States’ first “homegrown” composers. He was an itinerant singing school teacher, and the music books published for those schools include many of his hymns and fuguing tunes. Let Mortal Tongues is actually a hymn, arranged for choir by local conductor Jason Anderson. The text is a hearty paraphrase of the reading for the day from Revelation:
Let mortal tongues attempt to sing
The Wars of Heav’n when Michael stood
Chief General of the Eternal King,
And fought the Battle of our God.
Against the Dragon and his Host
The Armies of the Lord prevail:
In vain they rage, in vain they boast,
Their Courage sinks, their Weapons fail.
Down to the Earth was Satan thrown,
Down to the Earth his Legions fell;
Then was the Trump of Triumph blown,
And shook the dreadful Deeps of Hell.
Now is the Hour of Darkness past,
Christ has assumed his reigning Power,
Behold the great Accuser cast
Down from the Skies, to rise no more.
‘Twas by thy Blood, Immortal Lamb,
Thine Armies trod the Tempter down;
‘Twas by thy Word and powerful Name
They gained the Battle and Renown.
Rejoice, ye Heavens, let every Star
Shine with new Glories round the Sky;
Saints, while ye sing the heavenly War,
Raise your Deliverer’s Name on high.
Sharon Grabner send us some picks from her summer reading list:
Towing Jehovah by James Morrow
“A ship’s captain, responsible for an oil spill, is enlisted by an angel to tow the Corpus Dei to a tomb in the Arctic for burial. The journey involves and invites discourse and questions around faith vs. reason, why God died, what happens when we’re really close to God’s body, how we might behave if we think God isn’t looking over our shoulders. . . ”
Blameless in Abaddon by James Morrow
“The Corpus Dei has now been turned into a religious theme park attraction. A cancer ridden judge, also grieving the death of his wife, journeys through the Corpus Dei and ultimately puts God on trial in International court, for His perceived role in human suffering.”
My Sister, My Love: The Intimate Story of Skyler Rampike by Joyce Carol Oates
“If there’s a chance of forgetting the dark side of human behavior a read of Joyce Carol Oates can generally repair this quickly. This newest novel is a fictionalized telling of the JonBenet Ramsay story with portrayal of family dysfunction, psychological motivations for behavior and empathy.”
Ivan Doig’s Montana trilogy:
“I love his one liners that summarize behavior such as ‘Awful the spew we have in us at our worst.’”
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by Gerald Basil Edwards
“Fictionalized autobiography of a life spent entirely on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands with careful observation of daily routines, interactions and the changes of time.”
Books in progress:
Fellowship of Fear by Aaron Elkins
Dirt, Greed and Sex by L William Countryman
A Dance to the Music of Time — 1st Movement by Anthony Powell
Debi Laughlin shares a couple of her favorite books from this past summer, the first of which she picked up from Seattle’s Episcopal Bookstore:
The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach The West…Again by George G. Hunter III
“It talks about the difference between the way the Romans evangelized with logic (apologetics) and a system of rules; and the way Celts (Irish) evangelized by forming relationships and community using analogies and personal stories to relate the gospel.”
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
(Which is also a favorite of ours! - Wade & Angela)
Karl, Melinda and Dan Oles sent us their summer reading lists:
C.S. Lewis, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength (K, M, and D aloud)
Harold Orel, ed., Kipling Interviews and Recollections (K and M, aloud)
Jules Verne, Dick Sands and Measuring a Meridian (K)
A.C. Ewing, Value and Reality, The Philosophical Case for Theism (K)
Hilaire Belloc, Louis XIV (K)
C. Vriezen, The Religion of Ancient Israel (K)
Damon Runyon, Take It Easy (K and M, aloud)
Jacques Pepin, The Apprentice (K and M, aloud)
Charles Williams, Many Dimensions (K, M, and D, aloud)
Catherine Coulter, Talespin (M)
Nora Roberts, Tribute (M)
Robert Jordan, Conan the Barbarian (Dan)
Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files (Dan)
Michael Ende, The Neverending Story (Dan)
Robert Louis Stevenson, Island Nights’ Entertainments (Dan)
Michael Moorcock, Elric of Melnibone (Dan)
Debi Laughlin suggested it might be fun to ask the folks in the parish what they read this summer, and post their book lists on the blog. We agreed!
To kick things off, here’s what one parishioner read this summer:
Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley
“About Iwo Jima and the US media frenzy. Better than the movie!”
When I Was Cool - My Life at the Jack Kerouac School by Sam Kashner
“A memoir about Sam’s experiences enrolling in Allen Ginsberg’s and William Burroughs’s poetry college. When he arrives he quickly realizes he is the only student but decides to stay enrolled in the ‘college’.”
Remembering Slavery - African Americans Talk About Their Personal Experiences of Slavery and Emancipation, edited by Ira Berlin
“The title says it all. I recommend this.”
Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time - The Historical Jesus & The Heart of Contemporary Faith by Marcus Borg
“One of those great books that I want to share with friends but can’t yet bear to give up my copy.”
| September 13, 2008 | ||
| 7:30 pm | to | 8:30 pm |
Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, Kenmore invites you to a Choral Evensong service on Saturday, September 13 at 7:30 PM to celebrate the Feast of Hildegard of Bingen. The music for this evening will consist of music by Hildegard and pieces composed using her texts, to be performed by the women of the Redeemer Choir and violinist Laurie Kempen under the direction of Sheila Bristow.
Listen to Hildegard’s music at Last.fm
About Hildegard of Bingen (from Wikipedia):
Hildegard of Bingen (1098 – 17 September 1179), also known as Blessed Hildegard and Saint Hildegard, was a German abbess, artist, author, counselor, linguist, naturalist, scientist, philosopher, physician, herbalist, poet, activist, visionary, and composer. Elected a magistra in 1136, she founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and Eibingen in 1165.
She is the first composer with an extant biography. One of her works, the Ordo Virtutum, has been called the first form, and possibly the origin, of opera.
She wrote theological, botanical, and medicinal texts, as well as letters, liturgical songs, poems, and the first surviving morality play, while supervising brilliant miniature illuminations.
Attention in recent decades to women of the medieval church has led to a great deal of popular interest in Hildegard, particularly of her music. Approximately eighty compositions have survived, which is one of the largest repertoires among medieval composers.
Hildegard communicated with popes such as Eugene III and Anastasius IV, statesmen such as Abbot Suger, German emperors such as Frederick I Barbarossa, and other notable figures such as Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.
Many abbots and abbesses asked her for prayers and opinions on various matters. She traveled widely during her four preaching tours, the only woman to have done so during the Middle Ages.
"We are trying to live out, as best we can, the religion of the heart. You do that with things that aren't very rational, like music, art, prayer, and liturgy - by giving people an opportunity to learn what really matters, which is living in a relationship with God."
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