I like your reading choices! This reminds me of a luscious hour at the Cologne cathedral in 1993, perusing the fat Let’s Go Europe book and the Eurail schedule for night trains going south. According to the books, my sister and I had time to catch part of a weekly organ concert at the cathedral before catching our train. It was marvelous - swift notes sailing up to the high, heavenly ceiling, a small crowd of listeners scattered in the cold nave, and a perfect twilight when we ducked out too soon, sorry to go. Thank you for the reminder.
I don't mean to interject but maybe some of your readers would like to listen to Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. I have found them to be very interesting. They take quite a comitment, each episode is 3+ hours long but they captivated me for all of it.
I recently wrote a Lenten devotion titled Be Not Proud for a booklet published by my church which dealt in part with a phone call from a former girlfriend who told me she is dying.
I am also reminded of Voltaire’s famous response to a priest at his deathbed urging him to renounce Satan: "Now is not the time for making new enemies."
Home, a topic I’ve thought about and studied all my life. So far, I have a few ideas, a couple of half answered questions, and far more questions picked up along the way.
Something about the great cathedrals makes me think there is a metaphor or two about home in those glorious structures. I’m most familiar with St. Peter’s in Rome, but have explored the Hagia Sophia (I love that name. The Holy Wisdom), Salisbury Cathedral, St. Paul’s in London and the Cologne, Germany cathedral.
One metaphor is not often subscribed to by us moderns, the idea that a home is built by generations, unlike American tract houses that are put on and taken off like socks. I’ve visited places in Switzerland and German where generation after generation inherited the past work of their forebearers, preserved it, and made it more perfect. Your reference to the original dreamers not living to see the finished cathedrals is an important statement about faith and hope in future generations.
Another metaphor from the cathedrals is how the permanence of our best work can endure and enrich generations. Even something as ephemeral as our writing has the seeds of immortality somewhere within it. There is still a light shining from the Greek immortals and it will never grow dim. The work of Wendell Berry and John Donne will also shine.
Is there another American writer that compares to Mr Berry? He’s a national treasure.
I like your reading choices! This reminds me of a luscious hour at the Cologne cathedral in 1993, perusing the fat Let’s Go Europe book and the Eurail schedule for night trains going south. According to the books, my sister and I had time to catch part of a weekly organ concert at the cathedral before catching our train. It was marvelous - swift notes sailing up to the high, heavenly ceiling, a small crowd of listeners scattered in the cold nave, and a perfect twilight when we ducked out too soon, sorry to go. Thank you for the reminder.
Gorgeous Wendell Berry poem, thank you, Jan! xo
I don't mean to interject but maybe some of your readers would like to listen to Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. I have found them to be very interesting. They take quite a comitment, each episode is 3+ hours long but they captivated me for all of it.
https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/
Aloha Jan!
I recently wrote a Lenten devotion titled Be Not Proud for a booklet published by my church which dealt in part with a phone call from a former girlfriend who told me she is dying.
I am also reminded of Voltaire’s famous response to a priest at his deathbed urging him to renounce Satan: "Now is not the time for making new enemies."
Home, a topic I’ve thought about and studied all my life. So far, I have a few ideas, a couple of half answered questions, and far more questions picked up along the way.
Something about the great cathedrals makes me think there is a metaphor or two about home in those glorious structures. I’m most familiar with St. Peter’s in Rome, but have explored the Hagia Sophia (I love that name. The Holy Wisdom), Salisbury Cathedral, St. Paul’s in London and the Cologne, Germany cathedral.
One metaphor is not often subscribed to by us moderns, the idea that a home is built by generations, unlike American tract houses that are put on and taken off like socks. I’ve visited places in Switzerland and German where generation after generation inherited the past work of their forebearers, preserved it, and made it more perfect. Your reference to the original dreamers not living to see the finished cathedrals is an important statement about faith and hope in future generations.
Another metaphor from the cathedrals is how the permanence of our best work can endure and enrich generations. Even something as ephemeral as our writing has the seeds of immortality somewhere within it. There is still a light shining from the Greek immortals and it will never grow dim. The work of Wendell Berry and John Donne will also shine.
Is there another American writer that compares to Mr Berry? He’s a national treasure.