Archive for the 'Culture' Category

Robert Webber (1933-2007)

Published May 6, 2007 in Christian, Culture and Writing. 0 Comments

From CB:

I recently learned that a wonderful scholar and churchman died last week, Dr. Robert Webber. I got to know Dr. Webber briefly during my time at Wheaton College. He was known affectionately as “Book of the Month Club Bob” because he seemed to be writing one book a month. He wrote the very popular Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail: Why Evangelicals Are Attracted to the Liturgical Church and our conversations centered upon the struggle between a call to ministry and to academia. His words were always warm, encouraging, and brought me great strength in a difficult time. I never knew him well, but I will always thank God for him.

“May light perpetual shine upon him.”

A more complete obituary is at
Wheaton College:

Memorial services planned for Dr. Robert E. Webber

After an eight month battle with pancreatic cancer, Professor Emeritus Dr. Robert E. Webber (73) went to be with the Lord Friday, April 27, 2007. Dr. Webber, known as Bob, died at his home in Sawyer, Michigan, in the arms of his wife and faithful companion, Joanne.

Dr. Webber spent 32 years as Professor of Theology at Wheaton College, before moving on to Northern Seminary. He authored more than 40 books on worship and the Church, as well as contributing to magazines, journals, newspapers and radio shows.

Bob is being cremated, and his family will inter his ashes in a private ceremony.

Before his death, Bob carefully planned his memorial services, one for each of his earthly homes. The first will be a private memorial for the Webber family, Bob’s caregivers, the Bethany Beach community, and invited friends in Michigan.

The second service will be 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 16 at Christ Church in Oak Brook, Illinois. The Wheaton College family, Northern Seminary family, and friends in the area are invited to attend.

The final service will be at Grace Episcopal Church in Orange Park, Florida, the site of the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies. The memorial begins at 7 p.m., Friday, June 15.

All three services will include the same scriptures, songs and communion if possible, and will follow the ancient-future format Bob made his life’s work.

In lieu of flowers, donations be made to:
The Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies
Endowment Fund
151 Kingsley Highway
Orange Park, Florida 32073

or

The Robert E. Webber Center for Ancient Evangelical Future
Northern Seminary
660 East Butterfield Road
Lombard, Illinois 60148

“Christ is risen, He is risen indeed. Hallelujah.”

Demigodness Bono

Published March 30, 2007 in Culture. 1 Comment

If ever someone deserved this honor he does. And their music is good too.

U2’s Bono awarded British knighthood on Yahoo! News

Irish rock star and global humanitarian Bono became a knight of the British empire Thursday - and joked that his youngest son thought he was about to become a Jedi instead. Bono, 46, was named a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in an informal, laugh-filled ceremony in the Dublin home of British Ambassador David Reddaway.

“You have permission to call me anything you want - except sir, all right? Lord of lords, your demigodness, that’ll do,” he told reporters afterward.

Reading Jane Kenyon

Published January 2, 2007 in Culture. 0 Comments

One of my favorite Christmas gifts this year is “Jane Kenyon’s Collected Poems.” As the ornaments come down I thought I would share this poem from the collection.

Taking Down the Tree

“Give me some light!” cries Hamlet’s
uncle midway through the murder
of Gonzago. “Light! Light!” cry scattering
courtesans. Here, as in Denmark,
it’s dark at four, and even the moon
shines with only half a heart.

The ornaments go down into the box:
the silver spaniel, My Darling
on its collar, from Mother’s childhood
in Illinois; the balsa jumping jack
my brother and I fought over,
pulling limb from limb. Mother
drew it together again with thread
while I watched, feeling depraved
at the age of ten.

With something more than caution
I handle them, and the lights, with their
tin star-shaped reflectors, brought along
from house to house, their pasteboard
toy suitcase increasingly flimsy.
Tick, tick, the desiccated needles drop.

By suppertime all that remains is the scent
of balsam fir. If it’s darkness
we’re having, let it be extravagant.

Merry Christmas New Orleans

Published December 5, 2006 in Culture and New Orleans. 0 Comments

Merry Christmas New Orleans

Once again, Studio 60 delivers a great show. This time Matthew Perry’s character is “a Jew and the only one who cares that its Christmas” (paraphrase) and insists on putting on a Christmas show. The finale is a group of NOLA musicians playing Oh Holy Night while images of the City are on the screen at behind them. Wonderful.

From their site:

The 12/4 episode featured musicians benefitting from The Tipitina’s Foundation. For more on how to help those displaced by Hurricane Katrina, click http://www.tipitinasfoundation.org/.

(Via Targuman.)

We’re all fascinated by Africa

Published November 13, 2006 in Africa, Books I'm Reading, Christian and Culture. 0 Comments

I recently read Tim Bascom’s book “Chameleon Days: An American Boyhood in Ethiopia.” I gobbled it down in one afternoon it was so good, like a mini visit to Ethiopia.

When I was working as Press Officer for World Vision UK I helped lead a group of supporters to visit Ethiopia. I remember practicing complicated Amharic verses before our travels but when we arrived in Ethiopia we were tickled to find that everyone greeted us “Ciao,” a leftover from a brief Italian occupation.

In Addis we stayed in the Hilton before flying north. There was a gift shop and a pizza place but the smell of incense and strong coffee overwhelmed the familiar space and made it feel exotic. The hotel attendants would race ahead of us to push the elevator buttons, and we quickly realized that it was the only space where they could speak privately to us.

Bascom has a recommended reading list in the back of his book which includes other gems of stories about Africa, particulary from the perspective of missionary kids. I am not a missionary kid, I was completely unprepared and unversed in the ways of missionaries when I arrived. My experience is more like “The God’s Must Be Crazy.”

Here are some other recommendations from Bascom:
“The Scent of Eucalyptus,” Daniel Coleman; “Swimming in the Congo,” Margaret Meyers; “God’s of Noonday: A White Girl’s African Life,” Elaine Neil Orr.

Remembering the Saints

Published November 1, 2006 in Books I'm Reading and Culture. 1 Comment

The Dude Abides Is a fun blog by Cathleen Falsani, the author of The God Factor. Check out her interview with Thomas Craughwell, author of Saints Behaving Badly. It’s a good reminder that the saints were not perfect people, but people who received grace.

In honor of All Saints Day next week, I intend to hoist a couple dozen stiff drinks, start a bar brawl, sucker-punch a co-worker, walk around the neighborhood nude and maybe rob a bank. What?

Subscribe via iTunes

Subscribe

Subscribe to my RSS Feeds

Archives

Categories