I don’t have too much to post to round out the year, but I’d like to share this arresting, haunting and deeply moving rendition of “O Holy Night”. I think the minor key is a fitting end to 2020.
Below is a photo I took of the “Great Convergence” on the evening of the winter solstice. I wish I had had a tripod and knew how to use my equipment, but this was the best I could get. You can barely make out several moons of the red gas giant Jupiter. Yellow Saturn appears to be bulging, which I’ll go ahead and assume are the rings.
“For sure, I tell you, unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it will only be a seed. If it dies, it will give much grain.” -John 12:24.
Srs Kathy, Mary Jo and Shirley were the most avid watchers of the Convergence. The evening of the 20th was the clearest for us and it shown bright. I got a photo that night that I’ll share later.
Please do!
Good choice to “round out the year”; two orbiting planets and a deep sound of mourning mixed with hope. Real poetry.
My thoughts turned to the words of Jesus in John 12:24. We fight and fight and fight death and deny it’s role until it’s forced on us. Meanwhile, we miss the opportunity to see it as a node in the cycle of endless rising and dying, evolving and adapting.
Oh, Holy Night is probably my favorite Christmas time tune. This was an unexpected gem. I’ve never heard a version like this. The dark of his voice combined with the light of the message in the song…it was great!
The visuals were so well done as well. It’s a sensory feast, terrifying and welcome.
That picture is awesome Adam. Thanks for sharing.
This version of O Holy Night vibrated through my bones, especially the line, “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.” This has always been my favorite Christmas hymn but we so seldom sing it. It made me think that this would be a great resurrection hymn too (with a few turn of words).
The song’s almost dirge-like tenor reminds me of a quote from recent article in Harper’s magazine.
One of the interviewees: “The only spirituality that’s worth a damn is one that deals with our pain, our trauma,” he said. “The subconscious is where all the action is.”
I think you and many others would like the entire piece, a reflection on the state of American Christian spirituality (with a focus on Rohr and those in his orbit).
https://harpers.org/archive/2021/01/the-gate-of-heaven-is-everywhere-contemplative-christianity