Sabbath Poem (anon)
April 4, 2007
My personal aphorism lately has been “count your blessings, cut your losses”… which a friend thought was a Bowie original, and I was convinced was pirated. So, I googled it! Of course, both phrases are oft used, although perhaps not always together (sort of like “we’ll jump off that bridge when we come to it”).
But, here’s an anonymous Christian poem that I found online with the same sentiment. It may be cheesy, but it feels like good advice for these last days of Lent… as we complete our fasting and prepare for the feast!
Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself.
Psalm 121 Mash-Up
April 2, 2007
I write a lot of music for Transmission but we haven’t put any audio up on the site yet. I wrote this last week for our Bethesda service and thought you might enjoy hearing it.
Push play to listen:
[audio:asongforascents.mp3]
I frequently write antiphons for psalms when we use them in worship, but I don’t have a strong voice so if the crowd is small the singing can get iffy. Since hiring a cantor was out of the question, I figured that sampling Paul McCartney would make things a little easier (and more fun).
It actually worked really well – I recommend that any of you other small house churches look into sampling pop tunes for worship. If you want to know about the nuts and bolts of how I put this together, read on…
Holy Week Schedule
March 31, 2007
Hey, guys, some of you have asked about what Transmission is doing for Holy Week. Obviously, with Easter around the corner we won’t be able to throw a service every day of the week, but it would be cool if we could spend some time together. Here’s our tentative schedule for any Transmissioners (and/or transcurious) folks who are looking for stuff to do:
Palm Sunday. Sanctuary, 6pm, 74th and York Ave. T.j.Snodgrass, the one and only, will be delivering his first homily. If you know Snodgrass, you know he’s not a man to be trifled with, so this should be worth checking out. I’ll be doing the music (including a tribute to Depeche Mode). One specific reason to come: almost every church does the crucifixion on Palm Sunday, but Sanctuary is actually focusing on the entry into Jerusalem and leaving Good Friday for Good Friday.
Wednesday. We’ll be having our last planning meeting at Avalon, 20th St and 6th Ave. This won’t be a service, but it will be our only chance to lay out the space, check sounds and lights, etc. The more hands, the better.
Maundy Thursday. Transmission will be gathering at Katherine Lee’s place up in Washington Heights. Good food, evocative ritual, and everything you’ve come to love about Transmission… (see post below for more info)
Good Friday. We’ll be back at Sanctuary, this time for an environmental stations of the cross which will be set up from from 6-9pm. No, it’s not a three hour service; that means that you can show up whenever you want and leave whenever you want. Bowie and I are both doing installations, and I’m also making an audio loop of poetry and music. It’ll be a neat experience of traditional church doing a radically decentralized worship.
Holy Saturday. Down to Time Square for St Mary the Virgin‘s Easter Vigil. Affectionately known as “Smokey Mary’s,” this place does high-liturgy like no one else. It’ll be a very different experience from Transmission, but we also recognize “high liturgy” as being both solidly multi-sensory and very traditional. It’s a long service, so eat before you get there.
Easter Sunday. EASTER AT AVALON! What else do you need?
Maundy Thursday
March 29, 2007
Hey, Transmissioners! First of all, a quick reminder that next week we’ll be having our tech/dress rehearsal for the event down at Avalon from 7-9pm. It’ll be hot. Ok, actually, it’ll probably be a little bit boring, but you should come anyway.
But, since that meeting is supplanting our weekly dose of community and ritual, we’ve decided to celebrate Maundy Thursday as a community. Katherine Lee has volunteered to host (apparently she has a massive apartment up in Washington Heights). Since the other Katie also lives up in that hood, they’ll be doing the food and I’ll be planning some sort of service. If you want to come, just shoot me an email and I will reveal Katherine’s address.
Hope to see you there!
isaac
Bethesda Transmission
March 27, 2007
Hey guys! This is your reminder that we’ll be having Transmission tomorrow night, Wednesday the 28th. This week Paul Grenier, our very own Tiresias, will be leading us in a meditation based on the pool of Bethesda. Paul’s treatment of healing stories is always exceptional – this is not one to be missed.
Unfortunately our usual gracious hostess, Bowie, will be out of town this week so we’ll be having services at Union instead (where Paul and I both live). It’s only a few blocks away from Bowie’s so it shouldn’t kill anyone to get here. Union is located at 121st and Broadway – closest stops would be 116th on the 1 train or 125th on the A/B/C/D. If you want to hopstop it, the address is 3041 Broadway, NY, NY, 10027.
There’s some big news you guys should be aware of. First of all, if you haven’t checked out the article about us on the Sojourners website (Jim Wallis’s magazine), go look at www.sojo.net Secondly, Time Out New York will be running a piece on us next week, which is fabulous.
We also have our postcards made up, so if you want some make sure to let me know! I’ve got scads.
hope to see you all tomorrow!
[Grid::Blog::Via Crucis 2007]
March 23, 2007
[Grid::Blog::Via Crucis 2007 ]
Last year, more than 50 bloggers around the globe came together to share their reflections in a grid blog called Via Crucis during the week often called HOLY WEEK and in the week after EASTER. The name for this rag-tag effort comes from the Latin words for the Way of the Cross – Via Crucis. The response was astounding to this experiment in distributed global media, which was designed to draw on the creativity, diversity, and theological understanding of the blogging community to a moment in the story of folks practicing faith.
With the beginning of Holy Week (Palm Sunday ‚Äì April 1) right around the corner, I am hoping you might join the [Grid::Blog::Via Crucis 2007] – if you are interested please go to http://thecorner.typepad.com/via_crucis_2007/ for a calendar of this year’s grid blog and sign up!
Sabbath Poem (H.D. on Mary Magdalene)
March 23, 2007
The Flowering of the Rod
[21]
Anyhow, it is exactly written,
the house was filled with the odour of the ointment;
that was a little later and this was not such a small house
and was maybe already fragrant with boughs and wreaths,
for this was a banquet, a festival;
it was all very gay and there was laughter,
but Judas Iscariot turned down his mouth,
he muttered Extravagant under his breath,
for the nard though not potent,
had that subtle, indefinable essence
that lasts longer and costs more;
Judas whispered to his neighbour
and then they all began talking about the poor;
but Mary, seated on the floor,
like a child at a party, paid no attention;
she was busy; she was deftly un-weaving
the long, carefully-braided tresses
of her extraordinary hair.
LINKS
* The poem above is from Trilogy by H.D.
* It is based on the story of Mary (presumably, of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus, rather than Mary Magdalene) anointing Jesus’ feet and wiping them with her hair from the Gospel of John 12:1
* Which is related to the story of an unnamed woman anointing Jesus’ head in the house of Simon the Leper in Mark 14:3-9 and Matthew 26:6-13
* The many artistic portrayals of Mary Magdalene holding a small jar of ointment come from the long tradition of identifying her with other Mary’s and unnamed women in the New Testament.
Fix the Lectionary!
March 16, 2007
Ok, so it’s no big secret that I’m not a huge fan of the lectionary.¬† I mean, I do like keeping the weekly readings tied to the liturgical seasons, and I do like the way that the lectionary prevents preachers from always recycling their favorite passages.¬† It also has some serious shortcomings, however.¬† I don’t like the way that it makes your theological choices for you.¬† This, for example, we learn that the Israelites leaving the wilderness and crossing into Canaan is just like the prodigal son returning home to dad, a view which I think is theologically shallow.¬† I also don’t like the fact that the lectionary only touches on about 20% of the Bible – when was the last time you heard Joshua actually preached in church?
Apparantly, I have a kindred spirit in Frank Henderson, although he’s one-upped me by actually creating an alternative Lenten lectionary, one which he believes has more respect for women, more respect for Jewish tradition, and which better represents the tradition of Lent being a preparation for Easter.¬† Go and read it, it’s well worth your time.
Sabbath Poem (Akhmatova)
March 16, 2007
Mary Magdalene beat her breast and sobbed,
The beloved disciple turned to stone,
But where the silent Mother stood, there
No one glanced and no one would have dared.
1943
Tashkent
From Requiem
By Anna Akhmatova
Translation by Judith Hemschemeyer
Fourth Anniversary of the start of the Iraq War
March 15, 2007
Isaiah Wall 05, originally uploaded by bowiesnodgrass. © Hal Weiner.
The Reverends Chloe Breyer and Winnie Varghese and Ms. Bowie Snodgrass at the Great Litany, March 18, 2005. Isaiah Wall opposite UN Headquarters, NYC.
Dear sisters and brothers:
Please join us as we mourn at the Fourth Anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.
The Great Litany chanted in Solemn Procession
- The Fourth Friday in Lent, March 16, 2007 12 noon
- The Fifth Friday in Lent, March 23, 2007 12 noon
Ralph Bunche Park (The Isaiah Wall) NW corner of 42nd Street and First Avenue (across from the United Nations)
Vestments: Cassock, surplice, tippet and hood (clergy are asked to vest, and if lay members of Altar parties in parishes care to vest, please come in cassock and surplice)
Sponsored by: St. Mary’s Episcopal Church – Episcopal Peace Fellowship chapter
For more information, please contact Earl Kooperkamp, (212) 864-4013 or revkoooperkamp@aol.com. Please pass this information on to others who may be interested.
Thank you for your kind attention and may you observe a blessed Lent.
Peace, Earl Kooperkamp
The Rev. Earl Kooperkamp serves at St. Mary’s in Manhattanville, blocks from the apartment where we’ve been holding Transmission house church.