Christ Church Cambridge
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Before the marvel of this night
Adoring, fold your wings and bow,
Then tear the sky apart with light
And with your news the world endow.
Proclaim the birth of Christ and peace,
That fear and death and sorrow cease:
Sing peace, sing peace, sing gift of peace.
Awake the sleeping world with song,
This is the day the Lord has made.
Assemble here, celestial throng,
In royal splendor come arrayed.
Give earth a glimpse of heav'nly bliss,
A teasing taste of what they miss:
Sing bliss, sing bliss, sing endless bliss.
The love that we have always known,
Our constant joy and endless light,
Now to the loveless world be shown,
Now break upon its deathly night.
Into one song compress the love,
That rules our universe above:
Sing love, sing love, sing God is love.
Adoring, fold your wings and bow,
Then tear the sky apart with light
And with your news the world endow.
Proclaim the birth of Christ and peace,
That fear and death and sorrow cease:
Sing peace, sing peace, sing gift of peace.
Awake the sleeping world with song,
This is the day the Lord has made.
Assemble here, celestial throng,
In royal splendor come arrayed.
Give earth a glimpse of heav'nly bliss,
A teasing taste of what they miss:
Sing bliss, sing bliss, sing endless bliss.
The love that we have always known,
Our constant joy and endless light,
Now to the loveless world be shown,
Now break upon its deathly night.
Into one song compress the love,
That rules our universe above:
Sing love, sing love, sing God is love.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Thanksgiving Video Sequence
Enjoy a little video montage of our yummy day of cooking and eating and game playing and more eating and even more eating...
Bree Cooking
Ashley's arrival - she's explaining how she had a "fire" incidence before she came over...
Dessert at Michelle's
Thanksgiving Night Games
Pudgy Bunny Sequence...
Bree attempting "Pudgy Bunny"
"They're usually so pretty!"
Thanksgiving - The Day After
Enjoy a little video montage of our yummy day of cooking and eating and game playing and more eating and even more eating...
Bree Cooking
Ashley's arrival - she's explaining how she had a "fire" incidence before she came over...
Dessert at Michelle's
Thanksgiving Night Games
Pudgy Bunny Sequence...
Bree attempting "Pudgy Bunny"
"They're usually so pretty!"
Thanksgiving - The Day After
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving!!
I was taking a look at Michael Podesta's website tonight (love his art/works) and came across this "quote" from him. On this day of Thanksgiving not only am I filled with 'thankfulness', but my heart is also filled with joy in the life I have been given. Reading this was also a reminder to me that I often miss joy because of stress, confliction in my heart, and my all too often daily auto-pilot life.
Behind The Art -Joy:
Elizabeth Elliot has a wonderful definition of the word “joy”. She says, “Joy is not the absence of trouble; it is the presence of God.”
I was visiting a friend, a minister in Marietta, Georgia. He was my host while I was at a local Arts and Crafts show. After dismantling and loading up my exhibit on the final day, Sunday, I returned to his home quite late. There was a note saying he had gone to bed, but that we should get together in the morning for breakfast. When I got up he said, “Let’s go out. The phone has been ‘ringing off the hook’. This is supposed to be my day off. It’s got to be more peaceful at a restaurant.”
We talked as we ate. We had each had a hectic Sunday. It’s a pattern. We are both very busy. He has a large congregation. I travel to shows twice a month or more. We both have families. Obligations abound.
Predictably, the conversation turned to observance of the Sabbath and the familiar scriptural instructions for a special day of rest. We spoke – a bit wistfully, I think – of outdoor leisure; how it can lead to delight in the natural world and how that delight so readily turns into worship.
Over a third cup of coffee I decided to share a disturbing, highly speculative, little whimsy of mine. I imagine I have reached the afterlife. I am confronted by my Creator. A retrospective ensues. The atmosphere is friendly. My family, my work, the constant activity, and everything else are on clear display. (Perhaps this history appears on a screen, like a movie?) At some point, God turns from the spectacle. In a gesture that seems patient, but maybe a little weary, He brushes His palm across His brow. He looks at me. He sighs and says, “Hmmm. Well, it is interesting, I suppose. But, you know Michael, there are certain things we’re seeing that are not exactly what I had in mind. We have plenty of time, and there are other matters I would like us to talk about, but before we go any further, there is something I just have to ask you. It’s a little detail, but it really puzzles me. I see where, in your early thirties, you practically stopped … swimming. You used to love to swim. I created oceans and lakes and rivers for a number of reasons, of course. They seemed like an ideal environment for the fish, they help regulate the weather, then there are your regattas and hydroelectric dams, not to mention maritime commerce. But one of the reasons was that I knew swimming in them would give you joy. That was one of my gifts to you. But then, as we have seen, you just quit. Now, “He says this ever so gently, “that’s something I would like you to explain to me.”
This is as far as my fantasy goes, I tell my friend as we leave the restaurant, because I just can’t imagine what to say.
I was reminded of this conversation a couple of weeks later when, at another show, a lady asked me if I had heard of a certain text. She thought it was from the Talmud. She didn’t know it word for word, she said, but in effect, it was that on the Day of Judgment we will be called to account for all of those things we were given to enjoy but would not.
The Psalms tell us, “Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad” and “Delight yourself in the Lord” and “Serve the Lord with gladness”. The Shorter Catechism says “the chief end of man is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever”.
My hopeless defense before God might have been that I had missed joy because of responsibilities; the reality turns out to be that joy is a response God expects of me, that joy – which so readily turns into worship – is a responsibility.
I was taking a look at Michael Podesta's website tonight (love his art/works) and came across this "quote" from him. On this day of Thanksgiving not only am I filled with 'thankfulness', but my heart is also filled with joy in the life I have been given. Reading this was also a reminder to me that I often miss joy because of stress, confliction in my heart, and my all too often daily auto-pilot life.
Behind The Art -Joy:
Elizabeth Elliot has a wonderful definition of the word “joy”. She says, “Joy is not the absence of trouble; it is the presence of God.”
I was visiting a friend, a minister in Marietta, Georgia. He was my host while I was at a local Arts and Crafts show. After dismantling and loading up my exhibit on the final day, Sunday, I returned to his home quite late. There was a note saying he had gone to bed, but that we should get together in the morning for breakfast. When I got up he said, “Let’s go out. The phone has been ‘ringing off the hook’. This is supposed to be my day off. It’s got to be more peaceful at a restaurant.”
We talked as we ate. We had each had a hectic Sunday. It’s a pattern. We are both very busy. He has a large congregation. I travel to shows twice a month or more. We both have families. Obligations abound.
Predictably, the conversation turned to observance of the Sabbath and the familiar scriptural instructions for a special day of rest. We spoke – a bit wistfully, I think – of outdoor leisure; how it can lead to delight in the natural world and how that delight so readily turns into worship.
Over a third cup of coffee I decided to share a disturbing, highly speculative, little whimsy of mine. I imagine I have reached the afterlife. I am confronted by my Creator. A retrospective ensues. The atmosphere is friendly. My family, my work, the constant activity, and everything else are on clear display. (Perhaps this history appears on a screen, like a movie?) At some point, God turns from the spectacle. In a gesture that seems patient, but maybe a little weary, He brushes His palm across His brow. He looks at me. He sighs and says, “Hmmm. Well, it is interesting, I suppose. But, you know Michael, there are certain things we’re seeing that are not exactly what I had in mind. We have plenty of time, and there are other matters I would like us to talk about, but before we go any further, there is something I just have to ask you. It’s a little detail, but it really puzzles me. I see where, in your early thirties, you practically stopped … swimming. You used to love to swim. I created oceans and lakes and rivers for a number of reasons, of course. They seemed like an ideal environment for the fish, they help regulate the weather, then there are your regattas and hydroelectric dams, not to mention maritime commerce. But one of the reasons was that I knew swimming in them would give you joy. That was one of my gifts to you. But then, as we have seen, you just quit. Now, “He says this ever so gently, “that’s something I would like you to explain to me.”
This is as far as my fantasy goes, I tell my friend as we leave the restaurant, because I just can’t imagine what to say.
I was reminded of this conversation a couple of weeks later when, at another show, a lady asked me if I had heard of a certain text. She thought it was from the Talmud. She didn’t know it word for word, she said, but in effect, it was that on the Day of Judgment we will be called to account for all of those things we were given to enjoy but would not.
The Psalms tell us, “Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad” and “Delight yourself in the Lord” and “Serve the Lord with gladness”. The Shorter Catechism says “the chief end of man is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever”.
My hopeless defense before God might have been that I had missed joy because of responsibilities; the reality turns out to be that joy is a response God expects of me, that joy – which so readily turns into worship – is a responsibility.
Monday, November 12, 2007
A Kodaly Reunion in Boston
This weekend Jamie and Gretchen were in Boston for a wedding and we got to spend all of Saturday together. We were all at the Institute together in 2001- Jamie and Gretchen met there and are now married - and it's been about 5 years since I last saw them!! It was great to catch up with each other, catch up on all the Institute gossip on fellow classmates, and drink some pints/pitchers together reminiscing about our life in the 'ol monestary of Kodaly.
Jamie has a cupcake fetish - these were THE BEST cupcakes I've ever had. mmmmmmmmm...
This weekend Jamie and Gretchen were in Boston for a wedding and we got to spend all of Saturday together. We were all at the Institute together in 2001- Jamie and Gretchen met there and are now married - and it's been about 5 years since I last saw them!! It was great to catch up with each other, catch up on all the Institute gossip on fellow classmates, and drink some pints/pitchers together reminiscing about our life in the 'ol monestary of Kodaly.
Jamie has a cupcake fetish - these were THE BEST cupcakes I've ever had. mmmmmmmmm...
Monday, October 29, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
A Teeny Tiny Twenty-Nine Forever Party
A fun gathering with friends at Match, a Burger and Martini lounge.
Trio
Brooke, Rob, and Ashley
Rachel and Louis
The following set of pics of the three of us (Stefan, Brian, me) ended up being a comedy of errors as you can see....
Steph wanted me to put this up - it was not my idea. The wind is blowing throughrtdfdvdgeyhyiukioo;luytrsdfwerry7i909'[ythrg through our hair... (and Bree and Steph added the nonsense commentary)
"We're all having a fantastic time!!!"
Ivan, Brooke, and Rob
Brian and his blackened Salmon - blech!!!!
My birthday dessert - pan-seared cookie dough with dulce de leche ice cream. That's me in the left-hand corner.
Old friends - me and Steph
We were trying to have a "serious" conversation, but take note of Stefan in the background.
Brooke, Rob, Ashley, and Louis
Bree, Ashley, and Chris
Louis, Rachel, and Ellyson
A fun gathering with friends at Match, a Burger and Martini lounge.
Trio
Brooke, Rob, and Ashley
Rachel and Louis
The following set of pics of the three of us (Stefan, Brian, me) ended up being a comedy of errors as you can see....
Steph wanted me to put this up - it was not my idea. The wind is blowing throughrtdfdvdgeyhyiukioo;luytrsdfwerry7i909'[ythrg through our hair... (and Bree and Steph added the nonsense commentary)
"We're all having a fantastic time!!!"
Ivan, Brooke, and Rob
Brian and his blackened Salmon - blech!!!!
My birthday dessert - pan-seared cookie dough with dulce de leche ice cream. That's me in the left-hand corner.
Old friends - me and Steph
We were trying to have a "serious" conversation, but take note of Stefan in the background.
Brooke, Rob, Ashley, and Louis
Bree, Ashley, and Chris
Louis, Rachel, and Ellyson
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