Wise Words on Wednesday: Holiness, not happiness
Holiness, not happiness, is the chief end of man
– Oswald Chambers
Hints & Guesses
The album “Hints & Guesses” is the first full-length album from Alanna-Marie Boudreau, a young musician from New York who was recently touring here in San Diego. About a month ago I received a copy of Alanna’s new album in advance of its release this September (iTunes, Website), so after a few weeks of listening to the album in my car, I wanted to share my impression of it.
The title of the album comes from a line in a TS Elliot poem, The Four Quartets, which speaks about the glimpses we get of something beautiful and awe-inspiring, but which hasn’t yet been fully revealed. In an interview on her YouTube channel, Alanna compared it to seeing the early morning sunlight before the sun itself has risen, explaining it as “the sense of home-sickness that you can’t really describe”. These are themes to which a restless pilgrim can certainly relate!
Music Monday: Stay here with me
I can’t believe that in all the time I’ve been doing Music Mondays, I haven’t shared a single Taizé chant. In case you haven’t heard of Taizé before, it is an ecumenical monastery in central France founded by the now deceased Brother Roger. A style of chant grew up around Taizé which has now been adopted throughout the world.
In the video below you will see some of the stained glass from the monastery’s main building, the Church of Reconciliation. The audio comes from the chant, “Stay with me”, a meditation on the Garden of Gethsemane.
Transatlantically Speaking
Nothing about Faith today…I just wanted to share a rather amusing podcast I found from an Englishman living in the United States:
The Most Viral Vogt
Brandon Vogt recently posted a new video of his son Isaiah playing the Mass (see before). Prepare yourself to see the most adorable thing you’ll see today…
Friday Frivolity: Orthodox Coffee
My friend Nelson who is a lover of coffee and Eastern Christianity, sent me this link which describes different kinds of coffee in terms of early heresies…
…I think he secretly realizes that tea is superior.
What’s the earliest depiction of the crucifixion?
The earliest depiction of Jesus’ crucifixion doesn’t, in fact, come from a Christian source. It is known as Alexamenos Graffito and, as the name suggests, it’s a piece of graffiti. It was found near Rome’s Palatine Hill and is dated sometime between 1st and 3rd Century:
The text underneath the picture says in Greek “Alexamenos worships [his] God”. The picture itself shows Jesus on a cross with a donkey’s head, with another person on the left (presumably “Alexamenos”) raising his hand in worship. It’s clear that this was written by someone who knew Alexamenos and wanted to mock him and his Christian faith.