Author: Daniel Rondeau

I am a husband and father and an Episcopal Priest (now retired) in the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego.

Bobby McFerrin: Sharing the gift of music

Bobby McFerrin on Religion & Ethics Newsweekly

Bobby McFerrin is interviewed on the PBS show Religion & Ethics Newsweekly today (5/24/13). He talks about music and faith and spirituality. The video clip lasts just over 8 minutes and I found it inspirational (and hope you will, too). Click the image to go to the video interview.

Some insights from the interview:

[Music] elicits so many emotions. Have you ever listened to a piece of music and for some reason that you don’t, you just can’t understand, you simply burst into tears? Music has a way of communicating in a way that language does not. It can go past language.

I love the Scriptures. I still read the Bible through, you know, over and over and over again. Because you always find things there, you know, that you hadn’t seen before. I could read the same verse 1,000 times, but the 1,001st time I read it I’ll find something in it that I hadn’t seen before.

Kim Lawton, Interviewer, “McFerrin says he believes God speaks through his music. But he says that doesn’t make him unique.”

God doesn’t speak through me and not through you for some reason. He speaks to everyone, and we in turn can open up our mouths, or open up our hands, or our minds or whatever, our professions, and let God speak through us to other people. My father used to say, “The Lord has entrusted me with a talent. It’s not my gift. The Lord has entrusted me with a talent,” and I absolutely feel that way, that He’s given me this gift to share with other people to uplift hearts.

Read the entire interview here

New director of Rome’s Anglican Centre

Changes in Rome continue, this time on the Anglican side of the equation:

Former Archbishop of the New Zealand Dioceses, the Most Revd David Moxon, has become the new Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and the Representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Holy See. He has been honoured with the title “Archbishop Emeritus” by the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia, the first time the church has bestowed such a title. Archbishop Moxon (62) will continue as Co-Chairman of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC).

According to Vatican Radio:

The new director of Rome’s Anglican Centre, former Archbishop of New Zealand David Moxon will be officially welcomed to his new post on Thursday at an ecumenical prayer service in Rome’s Oratory of St Francis Xavier, run by the Caravita international Catholic community.

You can read more about this change (and the hope it brings) here:

Pentecost in 2 minutes

Yesterday (5/19/13) we shared this video in the Sunday Morning Forum. For those of you unable to join us, please enjoy this 2 minute look at Pentecost offered by the folks at Busted Halo.

Have other questions? Please use our Comment section to continue the conversation.

Hail Thee, Festival Day

Spirit of life and of pow’r, // Now flow in us, fount of our being, // Light that enlightens us all, // Life that in all may abide.

In many churches, including Episcopal churches, the Day of Pentecost is a day to sing “Hail Thee, Festival Day” with joy and thanksgiving. The hymn is often used on Easter, the Feast of the Ascension, and Pentecost. Here is a version shared on Pentecost.

Want to know more about the hymn? Check out Hymnary.org for more on this hymn. See also, History of Hymns curated by Discipleship Ministries of the United Methodist Church.

Do you have a favorite “Pentecost Hymn”? Let us know in the Comment section.

Grateful for scholars

Geza Vermes
Geza Vermes was known for his skillful translations of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were first discovered in 1947 and contain the earliest known versions of the Hebrew Bible. (David Levenson / Getty Images / April 22, 1992)

Most of us who study the Bible depend on scholars like Geza Vermes.

All of us who have taken up Bible Study after 1947 (the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls) have benefitted from the scholarship (and advocacy) of Dr. Vermes.

Geza Vermes died on May 15, 2013. You can read more about the man in the LA Times: Geza Vermes.

Throughout his life’s work Vermes advocated for wider access to the Dead Sea Scrolls. And this has come about in the ‘digital age.’

The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls Project allows “users to examine and explore these most ancient manuscripts from Second Temple times at a level of detail never before possible.”

Go to The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls Project

A new* study resource introduced

In the Sunday Forum I introduced folks to a new (to us) study resource: The New English Translation of the Bible (NET Bible or NET in abbreviation) was begun in 1995 and published in 2005.

The NET Bible on bible.org

From the Preface to the NET Bible:

The NET Bible (New English Translation) is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. It is being completed by more than twenty biblical scholars who are working directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic distribution over the Internet and on CD-Rom. Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others.

You can find this resource on bible.org. You can choose to become a registered user or not. The process to become a registered uset is Free and easily done. Registering opens up other ways to use this resource. Even if you don’t become a registered user the NET Bible will be a useful addition for your personal study. I agree with Wikipedia: “The translation is most notable for an immense number of lengthy footnotes (which often explain its textual translation decision), its open translation process, [and] its availability on the Internet ….” Good stuff. ~dan

Check out this resource for yourself:

*That is, new to us in the Sunday Morning Forum (the NET Bible has been online since 2005).

Ascension Day

Today we share a post: ST JOSEPH’S ABBEY, SPENCER MA: Ascension Day.

It is a quick read to make you think on this mysterious and marvelous day.

Art and wonder

An insight into why we post art and music and why art and music are an important part of our Sunday Morning Forum:

The purpose of art is the gradual, lifelong construction
of a state of wonder and serenity.

Glenn Gould, pianist

From the Word for the Day (5/7/13) posted by Gratefulness.org

What do you hear? What do you see? How does the ‘Seer’ speak to you?

In the Sunday Morning Forum (5/5/13) we looked at the Book of Revelation (in a general way) and the appointed reading, Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 (in a specific way).

In general: What we are hearing (reading, if we must) is a book [Revelation] that is (a) prophetic in content, (b) apocalyptic in form, and (c) pastoral in intent.

Prophetic: the function of the prophet is to interpret history as reflecting the action of God. What we see is what is happening on the human scale; what is really going on is the work of God.

Apocalyptic in form: the word apocalypse is the Greek equivalent of revelatio in Latin. It means to unveil or disclose. What is really going on in history is not evident until the prophet draws back the curtain to show what he has seen.

Pastoral in intent: John writes to strengthen and encourage his fellow Christians in a time of peril. Horrors he knows: he has witnessed (or heard about) the execution of Christians in Rome under Nero in 64, the fall of Jerusalem at the end of the Jewish War in 70, the civil war after the death of Nero in 69, a vast destruction resulting from the eruption of Vesuvius in 80.

Revelation by Holt H. Graham on Bible Briefs from VTS

Another Resource for your Bible study

If the pastoral intent long ago was “to strengthen and encourage … fellow Christians in a time of peril” let us assume the intent is the same today. What ‘perils’ do you hear about? What perils do you see? What does the ‘Seer‘ speak to you as you process what you hear and see? The conversation on Sunday was lively. There is much around us to cause fear, dismay, despair. More importantly, as we looked more closely at the text of Revelation (a text we’ve been reading for a while now) we did indeed find encouragement.

Share your thoughts in the Comment section. We want to continue the conversation.

Sarah Josepha Buell Hale

Sarah Josepha Buell Hale as pictured in Godey's Lady BookOn our “Wednesday Morning Spiritual Day Hike” we walked with Sarah Josepha Buell Hale yesterday (5/1/13). Sarah Hale is commemorated in the Episcopal Church’s (trial) Calendar, Holy Women, Holy Men on April 30th.

Sarah, a woman ahead of her time in some ways, was a woman of her time in others. Shining through it all: her love of God and neighbor. She continues to inspire folks she never met living some 200 years later in a part of her country she never visited. The Communion of Saints is an amazing thing.

Watch, Sarah Hale: The Mother of Thanksgiving, an Audio Slide Show posted by BackStory with the American History Guys

The Collect of Day as we commemorate Sarah Hale:

Gracious God, we bless your Name for the vision and witness of Sarah Hale, whose advocacy for the ministry of women helped to support the deaconess movement. Make us grateful for your many blessings, that we may come closer to Christ in our own families; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen..