The Christian music scene is full of solid people and fine artists who live in the shadow of, say, the Sandy Pattis and Chris Tomlins of the genre. Kim Tabor and husband Brian are examples.
Kim’s voice is supple and strong. Her performance is heartfelt. Yet she remains a relative unknown at the national level. Go figure. Continue Reading »
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My wife recently introduced me to yet another hidden treasure of our Circle City, the Ensemble Music Society (www.ensemblemusic.org). Established in 1944 (!), this all-volunteer assemblage of chamber music enthusiasts manages to bring world-class talent to Indianapolis year-on-year, providing an intimate complement to our very fine ISO. Continue Reading »
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When the apostle Paul turns to address his much-loved friends in Philippi, the warmth of his rhetoric flows like the melting waters of Springtime. Gone is the parental indignation of Galatians, the costly renegotiation of wounded relationships that is never far away in his correspondence with the Corinthians.
In his letter to the Philippian Christians, Paul writes like a man who has come home. The sweet absence of drama flavors the exchange. Continue Reading »
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Isaiah’s recurring concern with trust shows itself in the metaphor of leaning. Like the stitching on an old pair of Doc Martens, this language weaves its visible path through the multiple layers of this complex book. The image captures the need of an inferior to depend for sustenance and protection upon the powers of a superior. Isaiah is persistent in his warnings that no geopolitical presence has the credentialed trustworthiness that imperiled Judah seeks. Only YHWH is worthy of this nation’s leaning, her trust, her inclination. Continue Reading »
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Paul might be accused of possessing a rather egregious blind spot when it comes to matters of what we blithely label ‘social justice’. In this final chapter of his letter to the Ephesians, he counsels submission and a posture that is easily misconstrued as passivity in the face of the regnant social stratifications of Greco-Roman society.
‘Stay where you are’ is—prima facie—about as radical a statement as his social conscious is able to produce. Continue Reading »
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Paul, who with a purist’s zeal plundered the lives and networks of the earliest Christians, remains in his apostolic career deeply aware of how his actions had stripped him of all credentials based in status or achievement. Something akin to guilt with its barb removed presses him to describe himself with self-deprecating clauses like ‘the greatest of sinners’ or—as here in Ephesians 3—’the very least of all the saints’. Continue Reading »
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Pauline phrases reverberate in literal translation through hearts and minds that have been attuned to the apostle’s vocabulary and cadence. Take, for example, the alliterative spotlight that Paul casts upon divine life with a clause that anchors human destiny to the motor that is divine love: ‘out of the great love with which he loved us’. Continue Reading »
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Chance are when you think ‘tent’ you aren’t thinking of the tents at this fantastic camp in South Africa’s Krüger National Park. Run by CCAfrica (‘Conservation Corporation Africa’), Ngala is typical of the firm’s high-end safari facilities. Continue Reading »
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When you need to tool around South Africa’s larger distances, say, en route to or from one of the country’s stunning national parks, you’re likely to end up on Federal Air. Young, sunburnt pilots also load the bags, provide sack lunches, and give the security talk. They remind one of Israel, where teenagers and those barely above that age seem to run all the essential services, at least on the visible end.
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It’s not Singapore Airlines, but South Africa’s emergence in its democratic period as the muscular economic strongman of Africa has led to improvements in its flag carrier as well. There are plenty of routes to Europe, North America, and of course across Africa.
Although the experience could not be mistaken for five-star, I’ve always received good service from SAA.
South Africa being a beguiling country, one does run into that odd situation where people’s bags are loaded but then they fail to board the plane. I don’t know where such people go. It’s always been something of a mystery to me. When they do show up, they should be roundly boo-ed. Our forefathers would have had them caned.
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Canter Bridge 