One of the truly great soul/freedom songs of the 60s is Sam Cooke's, "A Change Is Gonna Come." It was released posthumously in 1964 and has grown in value over the past 46 years. Cooke - a complicated former gospel singer turned soul man - was knocked out by Bob Dylan's civil rights anthem "Blowin' in the Wind" and wondered how someone who was not black could write so powerfully about racism.
After experiencing discrimination - and arrest - at a whites only Louisiana motel when he and his band tried to get lodging - Cooke made a commitment to write his own song of liberation and hope. Sadly, during his life time "Change" never got the audience it deserved both because Cooke was killed in 1964 while having a motel rendezvous with a married woman (correction: she was not married and was later convicted for prostitution. thanks for the correction, brother.) and because the Beatles hit Ed Sullivan and America in early 1964 knocking everyone off the pop charts.
But "Change" has slowly grown and matured over the years: Bob Dylan covered it in tribute as have countless others and the song became a model for other soul artists like Marvin Gaye who wanted to work social justice themes into their unique dance groove. And Bettye LaVette and Jon Bon Jovi shared it last year at the Obama inauguration.
I love this cover by the "singing for a change band" - so enjoy - and keep the dream alive.
Dr. King preached about change and healing - challenge and hope - and grew increasingly clear that there is always a connection between so-called neutrality and injustice. At the Riverside Church in NYC - one year to the day before he was gunned down - he said:
Now, I’ve chosen to preach about the war in Vietnam because I agree with Dante, that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality. There comes a time when silence becomes betrayal. The truth of these words is beyond doubt, but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one.
Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexing, as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we’re always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty.
But we must move on. Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony. But we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak.
He continues to be so relevant - speaking to the heart and head - of this land and so much of the world.
This morning in Port-Au-Prince 1700 wounded people gathered outside the Roman Catholic cathedral - now in rubble - to hear a message of hope. At Holy Trinity Episcopal Church only the wall showing the baptism of Jesus remained - and people gathered for prayer and Eucharist - and at my small congregation 70 made it to worship.
Afterwards, 10 stayed for new member orientation. We spoke of what it might mean to be a contemporary community of worship, study, compassion and justice. Many of us spoke of the wounds that drew us to worship - tears were a common reality, too - as well as a yearning to be with others who care and share common commitments.
I kept thinking of the story Ann Lamott shares of sitting in the back of a small Bay Area congregation and weeping while the hymns of grace and healing were sung. She always left before she had to interact with the pastor or others because her tears were too strong. Thanks be to God that her small church carved out a place for her just as she was because in time - her's and God's - she started hanging around to talk. Eventually she got sober and deepened her commitment, too. For a while, however, it was all about the hymns and the tears.
I took what was going to be a short nap that ended up lasting over 90 minutes! (An old monk used to say: if you fall asleep while praying then I guess God is answering your prayers: you need to rest!) Then it was out into the woods for some more cross country skiing.
When I was coming inside our phone was ringing... it was a young man telling me about his father's aneurysm this morning. It seems that while on vacation in Florida he wasn't feeling well and now they were taking him off life support. Last week, this young man - and his whole family - were in worship as we baptized his young son. And now we are talking about funerals.
This gift of life is precious and so unpredictable - so hard and simultaneously blessed, too. Rejoice today if you can for who knows what tomorrow will bring: tears, birth, earthquakes or baptisms. I give thanks for this community of faith to share the fullness of life with because I could not keep going without them.
I have always loved the music of Marc Cohn - his "Walking in Memphis" is just about the perfect song in my book - and I have loved playing it with my old Tucson band with Rev. Lee singing his heart out... It is such a smokin' song - George Winstonesque riffs, soul, great references to Al Green and Elvis - filled with humility and humor.
And I have enjoyed many of his other tunes, too - but his "Join the Parade" CD is something entirely different - and totally worth the effort. It is part reflection on New Orleans after Katrina and part reflection on surviving a car-jacking and being shot in the head. It is dark and soulful and deeper than anything he's done in his life.
Take some time to dig him... he is totally worth it.
Hey there... I am starting work on three different articles (which may also become posts, too) and I could use your collective wisdom and help. Here's what I'm working on:
1) The black/white music connections that flow between country music and rock and roll. If you look at 4 key contemporary country musicians - Brad Paisley, Brooks and Dunn, Trace Adkins and Martina McBride - there are overt inter-racial references in their videos and musical styles. I see that going on all the way back to both Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry - morphing in some unique ways with Beatles/Stones/Dylan - continuing in a genre sharing way with Ray Charles and continuing to mature in new ways with Springsteen and others. What is fascinating to me is that the contemporary country folk seem to be working this vein much more intentionally than the rockers. I think of Willie Nelson here and so many more. So here's what I would like to know:
+ Are there other country/gospel/blues/rock connections that are important to you?
+ In many ways the current country artists are ahead of the social curve - and I want to celebrate it - what do you think?
2) I want to explore the ways drugs and alcohol have played a part in the early careers of rock performers - for whatever reason - and then consider what happens as they mature:
+ some burn out and literally die
+ some remain trapped in addiction (what role does that play in their music?)
+ some get clean and fail to be creative (think Eddie Van Halen)
+ and some get clean and go on to greatness (think Clapton and Lou Reed)
Please let me know who is important to you and where you think they fit into this outline, ok? 3) And finally I am working on overview of a "spirituality of rock music" for a Christian arts magazine. The emphasis would be:
+ As a clergy person who has incorporated rock music into worship and prayer, I see how using this popular culture art form can both deepen our encounter with God in everyday life as well as how the rock experience can help believers mature in their acts of prayer, compassion and justice.
+ The article would then touch on the following: 1) A brief understanding of how rock and liturgy are similar and different; 2) the way rock gives us a bold language for naming God's presence and absence in our everyday experience (incarnational theology); and 3) How the use of rock music (and other popular forms of music) can both deepen and broaden the diversity of worship and community.
Anything else grab you? Please let me know: it is my experience and commitment that God is still speaking - and well beyond the institutional settings, too - but all too often the institution is either afraid or tone deaf.
It seems like last week that Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans - and it seemed like an eternity passed before the US government responded in any meaningful way. Two years ago - just three years after Katrina - our church and others from the Berkshire Habitat for Humanity project spent 10 days building houses in a still devastated community. As we worked - and also visited, studied, talked and prayed - it became clear that the loss of human life and dignity continued to be staggering. It was a moving and sweet time for each of us and I give thanks to God that we could be a part of the rebuilding of that broken place. I hope we go back next year...
That is, perhaps, why my heart rejoices that my government is not paralyzed by fear, indifference or even racial neglect given the much uglier disaster in Haiti. President Obama has clearly shown that he is a person of action and compassion - and he is making certain that the US government does its part - in bringing a measure of healing and hope to our wounded sisters and brothers. And the private sector - business, philanthropic and religious - is boldly active, too. And this is also one of those little signs of heaven amidst the hell: our hearts and checkbooks are open. Pat Robertson may spew his ugly and hate-filled theology - and some souls may still be duped - but not the majority.
So many time ideological souls of every stripe miss this essential truth about the American people: to be sure, we have often acquiesced to political and economic violence - and left unquestioned acts that violate our deepest values - but at the same time there is a generosity that once unlocked is also unrivaled. I remember seeing Bono not only shut Bill O'Reilly up but bring him to tears talking about the best values and actions of the American people. And the older I become the more I want to celebrate and strengthen what is good and best within and among us.
With a cruel natural disaster in our back yard - and two wars raging halfway across the world - I give thanks to God for the acts of compassion that are in play tonight. I pray, too, with you for those who have lost so much.It is staggering... and I pray we do our part to bring a whole lot more heaven into this hell.
Reports from Haiti suggest that 75% of Port-au-Prince has been destroyed. There is no effective infrastructure to provide relief. It is up to people of good will to bring hope and healing to our neighbor. There is nothing more to say...
The United Church of Christ has launched an emergency appeal for Haiti after a major earthquake struck the country. Thousands of people are feared dead and countless have been left homeless.
The United Church of Christ has launched an emergency appeal for Haiti after a major earthquake struck the country. Thousands of people are feared dead and countless have been left homeless. The quake, measuring 7.0 on the Richter Scale, struck 10 miles southwest of the capital just before 5pm local time yesterday, January 12.
It is still too early to know the full extent of the damage, but One Great Hour of Sharing is expecting very high loss of life, widespread destruction of homes, schools and other buildings, and major damage to key water, electricity and road systems.
Global Ministries personnel, Kim, Patrick and Solomon Bentrott have reported in that they are safe. One Great Hour of Sharing funds are being rushed to our Haitian partners to support their initial emergency response. As damage assessments are made and plans for relief, recovery and rehabilitation are developed, additional support will be shared. The need is massive.
How You Can Help:
1. Pray for the people of Haiti their leaders and emergency and humanitarian aid workers.
2. Please help the people of Haiti by sending gifts payable to your congregation marked for "OGHS – Haiti Earthquake Relief" with the request they be sent through your Conference office on to Wider Church Ministries.
OR
Send gifts, made out to Wider Church Ministries and marked in the memo portion "OGHS – Haiti Earthquake Relief" to Wider Church Ministries; 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115.
NOTE:once again I'm posting this week's sermon notes for Sunday, January 17, 2010. The following day is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the USA. And curiously the gospel text for this week involves the story of changing water into wine. I have found that Thomas Moore's reflection on this story in his new book,Writing in the Sand: Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels, to be wise and true and I am grateful.
Today I would like to talk with you about something controversial – sacred and holy but simultaneously earthy and human – a minority report about following Jesus to be sure, but one that is also pregnant with possibilities for each of us personally as well as our wounded world.
• You might call it God’s extraordinary wisdom distilled amidst the ordinary events of our lives to paraphrase Joan Chittister.
• Or an awareness that the glory of God, as St. Irenaeus of Lyons wrote in the second century, is man fully alive: Gloria Dei vivens homo.
• Or maybe even what happens when we become “too holy to be happy” as the biblical scholar, Robert Brealy, wondered?
In Eugene Peterson’s reworking of St. Paul’s words to the church in Corinth, he puts it like this: What I want to talk about with you now is the various ways God's Spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often misunderstood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable. Remember how you were when you didn't know God, led from one phony thing to another, never knowing what you were doing, just doing it because everybody else did it? It's different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can… so that we might come to comprehend that every person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it and everyone benefits. (For we have all been given blessings by God for the common good.)
Did you hear that? We have all been given blessings and gifts by God not only to show us who God is but also to build up the common good – and that is what today’s gospel story offers us in spades. For you see when St. John describes the wedding feast at Cana of Galilee he is talking about:
• a way of discovering our holy blessings within the everyday experiences of our humanity
• a means of celebrating and honoring the presence of God in our sorrow as well as our joy
And a way of loving God – a spirituality – that rejects the often “depressive, weighted down… demands for purity” of our tradition for what Thomas Moore calls the intoxication of the Jesus life. “It is not the essence of Jesus to be inhibited, controlled, righteous and fearful,” Moore writes in his latest book, Writing in the Sand.
On the contrary Jesus gives himself to the fullness of life. Wine is his blood, the flowing substance that gives him his vitality. Imagine if wine were flowing through your veins, not just making you plain drunk but sending you into paroxysms of joy and abandon. This is a (bold) call to live – and that is what is significant for Jesus. To be his student, you see, is to risk the explosive joy as well as the annihilating suffering of being a human being who gives himself to life. (Moore, p. 41)
And there are four clues that the gospel shares with us in this wedding story that warrant our deeper consideration for they all cry: the glory of God is humanity full alive. So let’s think about:
• The relationship between Jesus and his mother Mary • The significance of the wedding feast • The water in those massive ritual purification vats • And, of course, the wine
First it is wise to spend some time with what the story tells us about Jesus and his mother. Kate Huey of the United Church of Christ puts it like this reminding us that:
Jesus has not yet begun teaching and working wonders among the people, yet his mother has confidence that he can help when a crisis arises at the wedding of a friend. (Here) is a glimpse of Jesus and his mother as human beings who had friends, who "partied," who fretted when something went wrong and balked at leaving the party to solve another's problem. The exchange between Mary and Jesus feels particularly familiar to any parent who has mentioned a need to her child, from a bicycle left in the driveway to a young relative who needs company at a family function. Not now, Mom, not me. And yet Jesus does indeed respond to the need at hand, with a simple kind of ordinary, earthy compassion for the hosts who are in a terrible predicament, but with anything but an ordinary response. (UCC Sermon Seeds, January 17, 2010)
We’re back to the “Mary factor” that I spent so much time exploring during Advent, yes? How Jesus learns about compassion and hospitality from his momma and how Mary’s sensitive commitment to sharing the needs of others takes shape and form in Christ’s ministry? I can’t emphasize enough the importance of this little story about Jesus and Mary for it grounds us in their humanity. Their commitment not to be too holy to never be happy is essential for those of us who want to embrace Christ’s “spirit of Cana” in our lives. It also suggests how vital it is for the world to raise up children in the way of God’s compassion and justice.
• Earlier this week some of us gathered to begin a study of Greg Mortenson’s book: Three Cups of Tea. And we kicked off the evening with a 12 minute DVD about the children involved in his “Pennies for Peace” program wherein American school children donate their pocket change to build schools for children in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
• We watched as eight year old boys and girls of every race, tribe and religion described what giving up their pennies meant to themselves and the world. We listened as children told us about how something as tiny as sharing a penny can bring hope and healing to those who need it the most.
And when the clip was over and some of us wiped away our tears, I asked our adults what was God saying to us through these children? And overwhelmingly they said: hope. If our tiny ones can become ambassadors for peace and justice at such a young age – and make such a huge difference in ways that governments still fail to grasp – maybe, just maybe there is hope for this old world after all. It brought me back to Jesus learning from Mary that sometimes the heart of the Lord is found in simply sharing a glass of cool water with someone who thirsts.
First there is the Jesus and Mary connection; second is the wedding feast with its emphasis upon abundance rather than scarcity. You might recall that John’s gospel does not begin with Christ’s fasting in the desert nor are there any stories about the Lord’s early life. Rather, first we are told the Jesus is God’s word made flesh; then we hear how John the Baptist recognizes him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world; and before you know it Jesus is calling together disciples who wind up at a party in search of new wine. Interesting, yes?
• What does that suggest to you?
• Why is it important that Jesus get his ministry rolling at a feast?
Scholars have noted that often Jewish wedding feasts lasted for seven days: this was a time of celebrating, coming together as family and community and taking a long, loving break from the harsh realities of first century Palestine and the Roman occupation of the Holy Lands that made a hard life worse. At its core, I think the wedding banquet tells us that the Jesus life – Christian spirituality – is born more of the feast than fasting. It is grounded more in gratitude and joy than wooden obligation – certainly more of God’s grace and abundance than scarcity and fear – right?
Think about how that symbol of the wedding feast is used throughout the Christian tradition for while it gives great honor to marriage, it also goes beyond it, too:
• In Matthew 22 Jesus says: The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son… and in Luke 12 he tells us: to be a disciple you must live like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet…
• The book of Revelation speaks of our unity with God as the marriage supper of the Lamb of God where we are dressed in the finest garments of faith. And St. Paul describes those wedding garments of faith as being clothed in Christ Jesus – disciples who are dressed in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Romans 13: 14/Colossians 3: 12)
Again Thomas Moore is uniquely helpful: The story of Cana… tells us that it is no accident that Jesus began his life work at a wedding… Ordinarily, in spiritual matters, the focus is often on the individual and his or her striving for understanding and moral perfections. But Jesus demonstrates that in the kingdom of God marriage is one of the prime settings in which the transformation from plain living to new vision can take place. It is where the water becomes wine… it is where our raw and untested lives take on new complexity and richness through sharing and struggle… it is where, like grape juice turning to wine, our separateness is broken down as we discover the mystery of a shared life.
Am I making sense for you? The marriage and its feast is the way Jesus describes Christian spirituality: individuals come together as one flesh. Selfishness is broken down by sharing and struggle and a whole new life is constructed in creativity and community. And not in some lofty, heavenly locale, but in the flesh, in the family and in real life: that’s what the connection between Jesus and Mary tells us, that is what is reinforced by the symbol of the wedding banquet and that is what is going on with both the water and the wine.
Now it is wise to recall that anything we say about the symbols of water and the wine first rise to the surface because of a problem – the wedding host has run out of wine – so please remember that this problem is not abstraction. Mary feels in her soul what this problem really means: not only will the loss of wine interrupt the blessings of the party and abbreviate its joy, but it will also bring shame and disrespect to the host. Biblical sociologists Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh write:
The fact that the family hosting the wedding has run out of wine threatens a serious loss of honor. Friends, especially those from the inner group of wedding celebrants, usually sent gifts such as wine ahead of time to be available for the wedding celebration. Lack of wine thus implies lack of friends. If Jesus was among the "members of a wedding association" of this bridegroom, he was among those obligated to provide such gifts. By providing wine for the wedding celebration, Jesus rescues the honor of the bridegroom. Traditional Western theological comment that Jesus here usurps the role of host (thus turning this into a sacramental story) misses a key point in the story. By providing wine for this threatened family, Jesus honors the bridegroom and saves his own prestige. [p. 65/69]
Again, we can’t escape the connections between real life and the way of the Lord as the story tells us about ordinary acts of honor, shame, joy and sorrow. So please notice what happens next: Jesus turns to the 30 gallon water vats that normally hold water for the ritual cleansing of the dirty feet of travelers and guests, asks the wine steward to fill them full – that is to say to fulfill them – and guarantees that the celebration might proceed with new and better wine.
Jesus and Mary respond to suffering with compassion, Christ acts to deepen the celebration and joy and then offers two final insights about how we might live into the spirituality of Cana, too. First, the water/wine connection suggests that our lives, our religious habits and our insights can fall into a rut – or worse. Sometimes they run out of juice and become empty and good for nothing and sometimes they become destructive and wounded.
When that happens, the way of Cana and Christ’s spirituality of the wedding feast invite us to get out of our own way for a bit and go beyond ourselves. Maybe a little joy and pleasure, a little feasting and wine, a little caring for another and sharing laughter and tears would work better than more prayer and fasting and keeping the letter of the law?
• How did Jesus put it in Matthew 11: are you tired, worn out, burned out on life – or religion? Than come away with me and I will teach you the unforced rhythms of grace.
• That is, come away with me to the feast where I will care for others with simple acts of love and generosity – and if you join me you will get over yourself. I guarantee it!
Which is the other truth about the water and the wine: the Jesus life is MUCH more about the wine than the water. He tells us, “I am the vine and you are the branches.” Think about that:
• Wine is about the feast not the empty vats of moralism, guilt or obligation.
• “Wine is intoxicating” writes Thomas Moore, “the beverage of mystery and pleasure, celebration and renewal.”
Wine is the very fruit of a transformed life, you see – a life committed to being torn apart by love, wounded by compassion, filled with sharing rather than selfishness and saturated with flavor beyond the bland and the safe – it is our commitment to searching out the extraordinary within the very ordinary experiences of real life.
Too often religion has lost any sense of the party, the wine or the feast. It is dour and shame-based – it points fingers or sounds holier than thou – so unlike the Lord at Cana. It reminds me of that old, old story of the mother who used to serve stewed prunes to her children from time to time. Her youngest boy hated them and would pitch such a fight that momma often said, “You know God doesn’t like little boys who don’t finish their prunes. It makes God angry.”
Well, as it happened one day she served up those blasted stewed prunes again and her youngest had a fit. He had simply could not tolerate the thought of even one more of those nasty little things again. So after much fussing and fighting, he was sent up to bed with the words: “God doesn’t like little boys who won’t eat their prunes.”
Now not long after being sent to his bedroom, a terrible thunderstorm broke loose – lightning flashed, thunder clapped and wind and rain pounded on his bedroom window – it was terrifying. Thinking her child might be frightened, momma made her way upstairs quietly. And when she got to her son’s door she saw that he was standing with his face to the window looking out and saying, “My, my, Lord, such a fuss to make over two lousy prunes.”
Beloved, we can do better:
• We have been called to the feast not a famine
• We have been invited to the marriage banquet of heaven and earth
• We have been given gifts to build one another up in compassion and love – filled with the new wine of God’s grace – forgiven and blessed
So let’s be about the wine – not just the water or the prunes – ok? For I think that is the good news for those who have ears to hear.
(Here's a tune from Carlos Santana and Everlast - the blending of cultures and genres - in a sensual spirituality that just gets it so right...)
Days like this one don't often happen in ministry: a day when EVERYTHINGis sweet. So I have learned to claim them with gusto - give thanks to God - and keep moving because nothing remains the same as someone once said. What's more, these days are days of consolation for the dry and often hard times, yes?
But how sweet it is!??! The day began with sunshine and almost freezing temperatures - so it felt like a heat wave! Then after a staff meeting - and I have the GREATEST staff - I met with some of the lay leadership of the church to explore new ways to generate resources and THESE GUYS WERE SMOKIN'!!!Creative, faithful, fun and practical all in one meeting - totally blew my mind - and blessed me in spades. And it kept getting better: two church friends have been concerned that I learn to love winter in the Berkshires so that I don't lose my mind - so they took me out cross country skiing this afternoon.
Now, I have NEVER been on skis before - and I was really terrified - but they were so kind and encouraging that before long I was having fun. (I was waaay too hot because I hate the cold and worked up an enormous sweat but... that was ok, too.) We were out for about an hour and it was a total gas: I fell a few times - humility is good for the body and soul - had a few really fun slides and got a feeling for how winter might not only be tolerable but really fun. Then we hung out afterwards and shared stories and tea.
But that is not all: after a LONG hot shower I headed back to lead our first discussion on the book Three Cups of Tea - and 20 people showed up! I couldn't believe it - and when we talked about why we were there the overwhelming consensus is because we want to put forth a way of peace in Afghanistan as an antidote to war. We wept, laughed and began to be a part of the hope we know will bring a measure of healing.
And then on the way home I returned a call to a young woman exploring ministry - she is in her first year at Yale Divinity School - and she had decided that she would like to do her "discernment process" with us. She was baptized and confirmed her and been away for a while but would now like to work with us as she moves into ordained ministry.
I was so happy for her - and for our little church, too - because we will all learn and grow so much during the next three years. So let me just say that I return thanks to God today for a time of total grace and joy. Not only does it strengthen and heal my soul, but is nourishes my spirit, too. I know Mother Theresa spent most of her adult ministry without signs of consolation, but I am damn glad when they come my way. Made me think of my man Brad Paisely's GREAT song... dig it. (This guys is a genius and I love him!)
We just got back from a mini-vacation in Boston that was sweet, cold, fun and renewing. I have always like this town - small, European and filled with history and art - despite some of the goofy songs like this from the 70s...
When I was a child, my father would take us into Boston to explore the historical sites (something he renewed upon retirement by becoming a tour guide in Washington, DC) and I have fond memories of walking the Freedom Trail and prowling around Faneuil Hall before the renovations. Di and I have been there twice since moving back East and it continues to be intriguing to us both.
Now there are six things in this sweet world that bring me the greatest pleasure: music, tea, family, church, books and feasting - well, maybe seven if you add red wine - and we explored them all during our get-away. First thing upon checking into our hotel off Copley Square was to hit some bookstores. Then it was off to Tealuxe for Irish Breakfast tea with cinnamon crumpets and Devonshire cream. OMG! And with that we wandered around Copley Square - into shops up and down Newbury Street - and got ourselves grounded in this fun little area of what was once a fetid swamp!
While sipping tea, I asked our server about local music outlets when a young woman interrupted me and said, "Ok, so like I was eavesdropping... and if you want to go to a GREAT local jazz spot check out Wally's. It is small, very good and fixture of the Boston jazz scene forever." She was right: Wally's has been encouraging local jazz musicians from the Berklee College of Music just down the road since 1947. It is tiny - maybe 40 people would pack the place - and they serve up drinks and hardcore jazz.
So we headed off for in search of Wally's Cafe - but first we needed to walk around a few more shops and find a basement restaurant for Thai food. Along the way we prowled some of the back streets, detoured through the enormous Christian Science complex - with a building designed by I. M. Pei - and found ourselves surrounded by Northeastern University.
Eventually we found our way to Wally's where we met up with the modern day equivalent of Norm Peterson and Cliff Claven from TV's "Cheers." These two guys saw us checking out the jazz club - started talking us up and telling us what a great place it was - and then joined us inside for a drink! As soon as we stepped inside the sounds of Miles Davis on the jukebox greeted us and the inter-racial crowd felt like a friendly, foreign country after almost three years in the predominantly Anglo Berkshires. We stayed for a drink, shook hands all around when we headed out and decided we'd found a new dive to make our own.
We walked home through part of the South Side - stumbled upon the remnants of an old Anarchist bookstore - and a bunch of brownstones that once were sold for a wing and a prayer. An earnest young man waited on us in the Lucy Parson's Center Anarchist Book Shop prompting Dianne to wonder afterwards, "Why is it that earnest young men of the Left have a thing against clean hair and washing?" (Some cultural affectations seem eternal, yes?)
After a great sleep, we started exploring Back Bay in earnest: a noon organ concert at Trinity Church started the day. Ross Wood, a local Boston organist, shared the music of Guilman, Frank and Durufle for 40 minutes in this splendid old Victorian sanctuary. Then it was off to the Public Gardens to wander in the snow as little children played on the "Make Way for Ducklings" sculpture. A gentle snow kept falling all day which gave our exploration a fairy-like quality.
Next came the churches: First Church in Boston - founded in 1630 - is mostly a shell of its former self after a fire in the 1970s. This was once home to all the cultural and political greats in Boston. In the early 1800s it left the Congregational Way - like many other New England churches - to walk in the more progressive Unitarian theology. It was from this congregation that Ralph Waldo Emerson once worked as an associate pastor. Then on to First Baptist Church which was designed by H. H. Richardson (who later designed Trinity Church) which includes a frieze at the top of the tower by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi who designed... the Statue of Liberty. And let's not overlook Emmanuel Church and Church of the Covenant on Newberry Street as well as New Old South Church on Copley Square!
While wandering the streets of Back Bay we came upon the Vendome Memorial - a tribute to the 9 fire fighters who lost their lives in 1972 - a gut wrenching sculpture that chronicles both the events and a discarded fire fighter's coat and hat. Finally it was over to another local bookstore and cafe - and the Boston Public Library. In addition to being a massive ode to learning, there was a display about Edgar Allan Poe and his Boston roots. Not only was Poe born in Boston to an English acting family, but he began his career as a critic commenting on the early works of Hawthorne, Longfellow and Emerson. It was a little bit of heaven for the literary geeks that we are - and we devoured it all!
(Curiously, sometimes I forget - or never knew - the timeline of some of the great writers I have loved thinking that Longfellow (whom I don't really like except for "The Song of Hiawatha" - and that only because of my sentimental connections to childhood) could NEVER be contemporary to both Poe and Hawthorne. OOOPPPS!)
Finally we discovered another basement eatery that specialized in INCREDIBLE Mediterranean food and we feasted and feasted and feasted. Lots of fine food and wonderful people before walking around a snow filled Copley Square that was still lighted for Epiphany. Our trip ended the following day with four hours in the Museum of Fine Arts. The initial attraction was a Toulouse Lautrec exhibit but what we found most fascinating was a contemporary exhibit exploring the connections between visual art and music called: Seeing Songs.
There is much to say about our recent sojourn to Boston - and I want to reflect on it carefully - but this is perhaps the heart of it all: Dianne on the back of one of the "make way for ducklings" in Boston Public Gardens.
The book is not only the "official" children's book of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but also the inspiration to this sculpture by Nancy Schon. And, I just discovered, there is a similar sculpture in Novodevichy Park in Moscow that marks the beginning of the START Treaty between the US and the USSR. Mrs. Barbara Bush made the presentation to Mrs. Raisa Gorbachev as a gift to all Russian children.
And this is all the more interesting to me seeing as I met my sweetheart in Russia as part of a peace initiative. Make way for ducklings, indeed!
When I was a rock and roll kid, one of my FAVORITE garage band tunes was "Dirty Water" by the Standells. They were brash, fun, trashy and just as much over the top as the Seeds or the Barbarians. And they were all about Boston and we're headed there today!
I won't be blogging - or working - or doing much of anything for a few days: just hanging out, walking around, visiting out of the way places and taking in some museums and music venues. I've loved the Boston music world for a long time - early Tom Rush and Joan Baez made it big here first - and you can't forget J. Giles/Peter Wolf or Arrowsmith, right?
But what about Orpheus? The Beacon Street Union? And Ultimate Spinach - one of my psychedelic favorites - all who hail from Boston while under the influence of acid? I still love this one - so rock on - and I'll check back on Sunday.
e past 46 years. Cooke - a complicated former gospel singer turned soul man - was knocked out by Bob Dylan's civil rights anthem "Blowin' in the Wind" and wondered how someone who was not black could write so powerfully about racism.
sed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexing, as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we’re always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty. 
sed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexing, as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we’re always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty. 
