Debra Dean Murphy
Of sonnets and discipleship
Our assignment last week in my poetry class was to write a sonnet–English or Italian, our choice. But when it comes to sonnets, that, in many ways, is where the freedom seems to end. You can’t write as many lines as you want (has to be 14, of course). You can’t make it rhyme–or not–however you might like (must be abab, cdcd, efef, gg for the English kind). Line length is non-negotiable, too:five “feet” of “iambs” (unstressed syllables followed by stressed ones). Sonnets and the poets who write them take their metrics very, very seriously.
Why discipleship is not like the Olympics
There are lots of ways to talk about the relationship between sports and religion.
The opening scene of Bull Durham comes to mind. As does the cultic quality of America’s obsession with football.
Sport as the center of personal and communal piety has a long history in many cultures, with the U.S. perhaps—to keep the competition motif alive here—winning the prize for the world’s most zealous devotees of the faith.
In life, in death, in life beyond death
It’s the second movement of Leonard Bernstein’s choral work, Chichester Psalms. A boy soprano (or a countertenor), in the “role” of the shepherd boy, David, sings in Hebrew the opening verses of Psalm 23. He is accompanied–sparingly, fittingly–by the harp. The first several measures are tender but not tentative; filled with sentiment, but without sentimentality (this per Bernstein’s instructions). When the women’s voices take over the text at גַּם כִּי־אֵלֵךְ בְּגֵיא צַלְמָוֶת . . . (Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death . . .) there’s an ethereal echo-canon effect. This part of the movement, when executed well, is something sublime.
Maundy Thursday is for April Fools
Is it any wonder that since the beginning of the Jesus movement Christians have been suspected of doing strange things when they gather for their sacred rituals?
...Palms and passion
It is tempting to think of the Upper Room scene in the Gospels’ passion narratives as a dreamy, candle-lit fellowship meal rather than, as ...
Politicizing Gabby Giffords
By all accounts Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is a remarkable
woman: A respected, conciliatory colleague in the contentious House of
...
The Advent we hope for
Whenever I attend Catholic mass during Advent, as I did last weekend, I’m always struck by how it is simply assumed—how it’s a liturgical . . . no, an ontological given—that Christmas is nowhere yet in sight.
Columbus Day, Wall Street and Alabama immigrants
In 1992 political strategist James Carville coined the catchphrase that
won Bill Clinton the presidency: “It’s the economy, stupid.” Clinton
...
The taxing truth
It’s not really about taxes. It’s about our increasing contempt for the poor.
Turning mourning into voyeurism
I’m sure it will end today when the news media go back to
reporting on the most urgent question of our time — which GOP candidate
...
Loving Casey Anthony in a culture of vengeance
I couldn’t bear to watch any of the coverage of the Casey Anthony murder
trial. I heard snippets of information on occasion: intimations of
...
Church choirs: Cultivated excellence or "everybody welcome!"?
Holy Week and Easter are matched only by Advent and Christmas as
prime times of the Christian year for showcasing choral singing. This
...
One world: Of earthquakes and interdependence
As Americans were complaining about all the snow this winter, arguing about the value of NPR and PBS, and learning that we suffer from an “enlargement of self,” the Japanese were dying by the thousands as solid ground gave way and the sea roiled and raged, consuming whole cities.
Borrowed faith
Woven deeply into the fabric of
Protestant Christianity is the idea that faith is something you must own
...
The King’s speech: MLK and Tucson
In his role as prophet to the nation, Martin Luther King, Jr. drew on
the ancient wisdom of both the Greeks and Hebrews. From Aristotle he
...
A review of Living Christianity
What ought to be the relationship between the church and the academy? Does professional theology matter for congregational life, and vice versa?...
Jesus didn't preach tolerance
Outrage is pouring in from all sides — as
it should. Terry Jones is the kind of ”pastor” who gives clergy a bad
...
Ground-zero fear
The first time I taught an introductory
world religions class, one of the students was a quiet Afghan named
...