Dia de los Muertos folk art by Kevin T.; available at Photobucket.

Samhain is one of the most widely known of the Pagan holidays in (perhaps tied with Yule). It’s certainly the least understood.
I suppose that’s fitting. It is the holiday Pagans themselves celebrate with one foot in the mundane world of candy, costumes and parties, the other at the edge of the Farthest Shore.

The biggest community-wide notice of the holiday is the annual Witches’ Ball. It’s a fund-raiser for June’s Pagan Picnic, and is held at a popular local banquet hall. It’s a great Halloween party for grown-ups. And this year, they’ve added a community ancestor altar. I’ll be there.

I’ll also be at an event Saturday. Maria Guadalupe and her group of local artists are throwing a Day of the Dead party at MoKaBe’s, corner of Arsenal and Grand Blvd., from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. There’s a samba parade…

Awhile back, I wrote here about the Chinese artist He Qi. Near the end I mentioned that “there’s a chance we may be bringing his work to campus for an exhibition in the fall.” Several commented that they hoped it would come to pass.

Well, after a few months of hard work, it has become a reality. “Look Toward the Heavens: The Art of He Qi,” an exhibition of 43 artist proof giclee works, is now open on the Concordia Seminary campus. The exhibition is housed in the gallery of Concordia Historical Institute, the first building on the left on the Seminary Drive entrance into campus from Clayton Road. It is the first (only?) time He Qi’s art has been exhibited in the St. Louis area.

Moreover, He Qi (pronounced huh chee) will be here “in the flesh” on Thursday and Friday. His exhibition is a stunning collection,…

Sitar player Imrat Khan of India will appear at Saturday's Festival of World Sacred Music. Photo courtesy Gitana Productions.

“There is something in music that transcends and unites. This is evident in the sacred music of every community . . . music that expresses the universal yearning that is shared by people all over the globe.” His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Music from many of the world’s faith traditions will be played at Saturday’s St. Louis Festival of World Sacred Music,  Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union Blvd. in the city’s Central West End neighborhood.

The festival begins at noon. The last performer takes the stage at 7 p.m. Artists appearing include both local favorites and musicians with worldwide followings.

“Every culture creates music that is sacred, music that
expresses universal emotions. The Festival of World
Sacred Music reflects our commitment to global healing, by bringing
together international and local musicians who represent diverse
spiritual and religious interests,”…

The American Kantorei, under the direction of Robert Bergt

Recent events notwithstanding, the arts—in particular, classical music—will continue to be alive and well on the Concordia Seminary campus. (In case you don’t know, both KFUO stations broadcast from the Concordia campus, even though they are owned by The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.)

Case in point, the just-announced 18th season of the renowned Bach at the Sem series will premiere on October 25. Bach at the Sem features presentations of J. S. Bach’s music by The American Kantorei, under the direction of Robert Bergt. But as you’ll see below, Bach isn’t the only composer whose music bellows the gracious space of the Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus. In the best cultural tradition of St. Louis-Forest Park, there is no admission charge and no tickets are issued. So, be warned, the seats go fast.

The 2009-2010 Bach at the Sem season is as follows:

Sunday, October 25, 3:00 p.m. Psalm 130:…

The Fates are traveling to St. Louis for two concerts–one in the folkie haven of MoKaBe’s coffee shop,  one at the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Center for Spirituality and Sustainability.

The Traveling Fates is the latest collaboration of S.J. “Sooj” Tucker, Ginger Doss and Bekah Kelso. All three have independent recording careers. The trio last appeared in the St. Louis area in July while on their way to another event. As they so often do to earn extra cash between official gigs, they set up in a friend’s living room for a few sets. It was the first time I’d heard Tucker live. And the first time I knew she’d teamed up with a couple other singers. (That sound you hear is my friends deleting several “cool points” from my tally.)

The Traveling Fates are S.J. Tucker, Ginger Doss, and Bekah Kelso. Photo courtesy Traveling Fates.

As I love three-part harmony, folk music,  alternative bluesy…

Letterman going public on Thursday night's "The Late Show"

I was dumbfounded by today’s Saturday morning TV coverage of the Letterman extortion scandal. First, it was NBC’s “Today” show, where a New York Post gossip columnist categorized it as simply consenting adults doing what consenting adults do. No big whoop. Of course, celebrity scandals are what keep her in business, so I’d expect nothing more nor less.

Nevertheless all I wanted was to enjoy my morning cup of coffee and get the weather report, so I switched to CBS’ “Early Show,” which was airing essentially the exact same segment only with different talking heads. There the Los Angeles-based psychologist the producers dug up sounded more like a sorority girl than a medical professional. “People having sex…where’s the party?!”

All this strikes me as unbelievably naive. Naive because none of these people seem to have any concept of the way power works in interpersonal…

Those of you who attended Dutch 10 year-old Jacob Bodden’s concert heard him live.

But for everyone else, Post-Dispatch/STLtoday.com photographer Stephanie Cordle put together a “Mixed Media” video that includes footage of him playing in the carillon booth.

Very cool.

Luther Tower, home to Concordia's landmark carillon

TOMORROW (Wednesday, Aug 12) at 7:00PM, Jacob Bodden, a 10 year-old boy from Amersfoort, Holland, will give a free carillon concert at Concordia Seminary.

After taking carillon lessons for only a year and a half, Jacob has played concerts at the Belgium Monument in Amersfoort, the Munt Tower in Amsterdam, and the tower in Hilvarenbeek. Last summer, he was interviewed and filmed in Amersfoort for being the youngest carillonneur in the Netherlands.

A carillon is a series of bells housed in a tower and played on a keyboard, like an organ, only more difficult. Concordia Seminary’s carillon (housed in Luther Tower) contains 49 bells, ranging in size from 17 pounds to 2.5 tons. The carillon is played for special events and for a regular concert series every Tuesday evening in June.

Guests are invited to bring lawn chairs, blankets, and picnics to enjoy in the main quad or…

My husband has been known to say that life on a church staff feels like it has all the makings of a great TV reality show.  I usually take that kind of comment as evidence that my husband has a good sense of humor.  Some people, though, have come up with an even zanier idea and turned it into an actual program.

According to an article in the Reuters news service that is winging its way around the blogosphere this week, the Turkish television station Kanal T is preparing “to launch a gameshow where spiritual guides from the four faiths [Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism] will seek to convert a group of non-believers.”  The article mentions that there has been considerable resistance to this idea:

But religious authorities in Muslim but secular Turkey are not amused by the twist on the popular reality game show format and the Religious Affairs Directorate is refusing…

Concordia Seminary will honor faculty members who have recently published books next Tuesday, May 19, 4:00-6:00PM, in the Seminary’s Koburg Hall (map and directions).

The celebration will include the requisite fine wine, hors d’oeuvres, and lively conversation. And the writers will be present to sign books. We’re not elitist at Concordia, so we want to celebrate with anyone who’d like to raise a glass to good writing and/or good theology. Everything is free but the books.

The following writers and their books will be feted:

• Charles Arand and Robert Kolb: The Genius of Luther’s Theology (Baker)

• Charles Arand, Robert Kolb and Robert Rosin: essays in The Pastoral Luther (Eerdmans)

• Kent Burreson: editor for He Was Crucified (Concordia)

• Robert Kolb: Martin Luther: Confessor of the Faith (Oxford)

• Reed Lessing: Concordia Commentary: Amos (Concordia)

• David Maxwell: an essay in In the Shadow of the Incarnation (Notre Dame)

• Francis Rossow: Gospel Patterns in Literature (Kirk House)

• Quentin Wesselschmidt: Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Psalms 51-150 (InterVarsity)

We plan to make this an annual…

Walter Wangerin, Jr.

Last Wednesday, Concordia Seminary hosted the visit of renowned writer and preacher Walter Wangerin, Jr. as part of the Seminary’s annual “Day of Homiletical Reflection.” Among his dozens of books are the National Book Award winner The Book of the Dun Cow, and his bestseller The Book of God. His visit held special meaning for me since I was his writing student as an undergrad at Valparaiso University.

But it was significant for another reason. It was the first viewing of the short film based on Wangerin’s short story/parable, “Ragman,” directed by one of St. Louis’ best indie film-makers, Dale Ward. Since it first gained popularity in the mid-80s, the powerful story of the Ragman has had a “viral” history, even before the Web gave us the term. One can track its circulation in church newsletters, sermons, dramas, discussion groups, and online. But aside from Wangerin’s own book, Ragman and Other…

I know all the local sizzle is on the new Archbishop steak. But I can’t help but pass along this Easter-inspired sprint around the globe by a New York Times guest columnist who goes by the one-word name Bono. Above is one choice quote in a column packed full.

Here’s another…

Christianity, it turns out, has a rhythm - and it crescendos this time of year. The rumba of Carnival gives way to the slow march of Lent, then to the staccato hymnals of the Easter parade. From revelry to reverie. After 40 days in the desert, sort of …

Near the end he begins to describe our global crisis as an overheated economic Carnival that has now left us in the Lent of recession. Which actually gives me hope. Because it’s Lent that makes Easter taste so sweet.

Or as the old preacher’s formula goes: “Friday’s here. But Sunday’s coming…”

…

My hipster brother in Chicago, who always has his inner radar tuned to music to knock your socks off, passed along this YouTube clip. “Good music will always find a way in the dirty soul,” he says.

This is Black Gospel at its finest by one of its finest, Dorothy Love Coates.

If this doesn’t get you up offa that thing, clapping your hands, and shouting “Amen!”, you better check your pulse.

…and I haven’t bought it yet. I only mention it because it ends my longstanding tradition of buying each new album by this generation’s greatest rock ‘n roll band on the day it is released. But I have been preparing myself. I’ve been listening to past albums to gear up for the new. Their landmark work The Joshua Tree (1987) was one of my first independent purchases as a junior-high teen, and I’ve owned every album since.

Why am I telling you all this? Just yesterday, I was listening to 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind when I was awestruck once again by the bridge lyrics to the hit “Beautiful Day”:

See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
See the bird with a leaf in her…

Still from The Reader

Can we ever understand that which we condemn?  Does true understanding require empathy, meaning that once we understand something it ceases to be wholly “other,” and so is in some way recognizably like us?  Does such empathy imply that we acknowledge the ways in which we are potentially capable of that which we condemn?

I was going to recommend the movie The Reader as one that asks its viewers to wrestle with profound questions of individual guilt, collective responsibility, and the limits of forgiveness. But then I hit upon a link that brought me up short. (Note: The rest of this post will be full of pertinent plot points (spoilers), so read no further if you want to see the movie without knowing too much.) The headline in the Telegraph reads: “Kate Winslet’s Holocaust movie The Reader faces renewed Jewish criticism.”  In a now much-repeated quote,

Mark Weitzman, head of the Simon…

On Valentine’s Day, my wife and I saw our first movie in an actual theater since our baby was born. We went with the hype: Slumdog Millionaire. We walked out with the same impression: good, not great. Although it’s always hard to see a movie after 10 Oscar nominations and the praise of virtually every person you know. It’s hard not to walk out a little let down.

But, in keeping with the Oscar season that will finally end on Sunday, one theme from Slumdog continues to leap out at me: the connection between experience and knowledge. Absent formal education, how is it that we come to know anything? As the central character Jamal explains to the authorities how an uneducated, impoverished, very young man could know the answers to a myriad of truly trivial questions that nonetheless make him a millionaire, the film explores the connections we make as human beings between…

“Religion is far more of a choice than homosexuality. And the protections that we have for religion–we protect religion. And talk about a lifestyle choice. That is absolutely a choice. Gay people don’t choose to be gay. At what age did you choose to not be gay?” –Jon Stewart, to guest Mike Huckabee, on The Daily Show

Jon Stewart, courtesy Comedy Central

Last night I watched for a second time the exchange between Jon Stewart and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee on the issue of gay marriage. You can see the full episode online. Stewart and Huckabee are both smart, genial, and telegenic, and they seem to have developed a friendly rapport over the course of Huckabee’s many appearances on the show. That apparent rapport makes the confrontation here more genuine and interesting than most of these staged showdowns on cable news.

It got me to thinking again about the basic issues involved,…

A veiled woman and child illustrate the story of Mary and Jesus in Bible Illuminated.

Just heard this story on NPR’s Morning Edition in the car this morning: “Two New Bibles Present a Hip, Eco-Friendly Gospel.”

The first is Bible Illuminated: The Book, a coffee-table book of the New Testament with stunning contemporary photography. The second is The Green Bible, literally a “green” Bible (made of recycled materials) that highlights  “environmental” passages in (what else?) green.

Of course, these two “new” Bibles aren’t really new translations. More like new ways to present the biblical text in a provocative, engaging way. What I think the story illustrates is how the Bible (1) is perhaps the single most interpreted text in western literature, and (2) continues to inspire countless incarnations of itself in culture and the marketplace. With all these countless variations, it is still the world’s best-seller.

As for me, I believe I’ll add Bible Illuminated to my…

Sometimes I am at a loss as to what to post about. So what inspires me? Chocolate.

courtesy of www.makingtrouble.com

Last night I attended a fundraiser for a Jewish organization called Nishmah. The event, held at the Sam Fox School of Design at Washington University, was a screening of the documentary “Making Trouble” about Jewish female comedians. Think Molly Picon, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner, and Wendy Wasserstein. Very entertaining.

The evening began with cocktails and “movie style snacks”. Kosher hot dogs, popcorn, and candy galore!  So after indulging in a hot dog, which I do maybe once a year, it was time to fill the cellophane bags they provided with goodies for the movie. Licorice, Mike ‘N Ikes, Hot Tamales, etc. I turned to my friend and asked, “Is there any chocolate?”

Nope. You know why? Because there were hot dogs! Kosher hot dogs are beef. And chocolate is made with…

Boston Legal, courtesy of ABC.

Given my crushing pessimism about how the topic of abortion is handled in public discourse, one of the last places I have ever considered looking for ambiguity and complexity turned out to be a surprising source of both: a network TV drama. Boston Legal to be exact. I recently watched an episode that ran two weeks ago (on Nov. 10); it focused on issues surrounding abortion, including parental notification laws and loopholes, how we talk about abortion in public and think about it in private, and even what a turnoff the subject matter was likely to be to viewers. I was impressed.

If you’re not a fan of this very quirky show, I’m not necessarily suggesting you rush to the ABC website and watch it. But if you happened to miss it, and you like your TV dramedy with a certain Hollywood-style social conscience and a dash of…