This is a gathering-place for my writing. I am curious about many things, and you can see the main categories in the menu above. I hope you will find things that interest you too!
Prayer to Jesus
Jhesu, since thou me made and bought, Be Thou my love and all my thought, And help that I may to Thee be brought; Withouten thee I may do nought. Jhesu, since thou must do thy will, And naething is that thee may let;* With thy grace my heart fulfill, My love and my liking […]
A Memorable Concert
I recently had a recording of a 1993 concert digitized, and wanted to share some of the music with you. I felt a bit sheepish for letting it languish for so long (29 years!) – but it was a Digital Audio Tape (DAT) and I put off converting it to a CD. Probably another reason […]
Ascension – an update
Today’s the 26th of May, but I would rather go with the liturgical calendar, which makes it Ascension Day. I decided to update this post, which I wrote two years ago. That was in May 2020, when COVID was relatively new to all of us, and I spent a couple of paragraphs lamenting my own […]
A Journey with Julian
On Saturday, May 14, 2022, I will be presenting one of the “Zoom” series of programs offered through the Spirituality Center at St. Placid Priory in Lacey, Washington. Called “Julian of Norwich: Wisdom for our Time.” This is the third program I have presented on Julian at the Priory, where I am a Benedictine Oblate. […]
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A Hymn of Faith
On January 30, 2022, the Compline Choir at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, sang an anthem composed by Gregory W. Bloch (b. 1977), a member of the choir. The text is taken from the poem “No Coward Soul Is Mine”, written by Emily Brontë (1818-1848) – the last poem before her death. Several stanzas (below in […]
Genealogy Wall Art Using Free Image Editing Tools
In July 2021 I worked on what had been a goal for a long time – producing a family history display on one of the blank walls in our downstairs hallway. I had found out about how to produce files on PowerPoint that could be sent to a company called mixtiles.com which turned the images […]
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Compline Re-Opens to Attendees!
On Sunday, August 22, 2021, the doors of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle opened again to attendees – the first time since March 7, 2020. For 76 weeks (almost a year and a half), the choir sang in an empty cathedral, due to COVID-19. In March 2020, churches were closed to in-person congregations; many started […]
“Faire is the Heaven” at Thirty
In 1925 composer William Henry Harris (1883-1973) set to music some lines from the poem “An Hymne of Heavenly Beautie,” by Edmund Spenser (1552-1599). Scored for unaccompanied double chorus of four voices each (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), Faire is the Heaven is one of the most sublime pieces in the English choral repertoire. I’ve […]
Lincoln’s Inaugural Journey
From February 11-23, 1861, Abraham Lincoln journeyed by train from his home in Springfield, Illinois to Washington, DC, where he would be inaugurated as President of the United States on March 4. The journey was recounted in great detail ten years ago by the National Park Service, in “150th Anniversary of Lincoln’s Inaugural Journey,” and […]
A Song for New Year’s Day
Words by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1822), published in 1850. Music to an anonymous hymn tune from the 18th century. Modified and arranged by Gregory Bloch, a member of the Compline Choir, St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, recorded on New Year’s Day 2017 (see Comments). Maybe even more perfect for today, because 2020 is now history: Ring […]