Yes, I’m going to Germany…to buy socks

I just booked the ticket for a few days at the German Christmas Markets between the end of my holiday concert season and the actual holidays and I'm really quite excited...I get to buy new socks. I won't waste your time listing the virtues of German-made socks (a very long list, mind you),  or enter into a discussion about why the people in a country where many are happy to sun bathe nude in public parks make the very finest socks.   Let it suffice to say that, for the past several weeks, it's not Carolina that's on my mind....its Germany. There are a variety of reasons that I am suffering…
Read More

An Audience of One

So, I'll admit it -- I have been procrastinating.  I typed this title and saved an empty page as "Draft" months  ago, after I read the  chapter by the same title in Os Guinness's book Rise to the Call.  Maybe I believed that if I thought about it for a while, the  feeling that my head would simply explode at the concept might subside. It did not.   But I read the chapter again yesterday, and I didn't explode, so now I think that I am ready to write. Guiness's term, "an audience of One", should really be a simple concept relating to call and motivation. But nothing is really simple when it relates to a…
Read More

Learning to say NO

Well, maybe not NO, just no -- but clearly and without hesitation, and not in a panic at the last minute. Lillian Nordica, a famous American opera singer of the Gilded Age, wrote in her "Hints to Singers" (appended posthumously to her biography, Yankee Diva, written by Ira Glackens in 1963), that a career is built more upon the "no's" than the "yes's".  And I have long pondered that dictum, even if I didn't put it into practice. For years, as I worked day and night to build my singing career, if someone asked, I said yes.  [caption id="attachment_53" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Lillian Nordica"][/caption] But several years ago, I started to observe…
Read More

Why I became a Baptist…

As we moved through the worship experience of Palm Sunday last week at Calvary Baptist Church, I couldn't help but think back to the year before.  In 2008, despite my two years of service in the music department there, I had not yet become a full, card-carrying (well, we really don't have cards) member of the congregation.  No one had ever treated me as an outsider, no one had ever pressured me to join -- everyone I encountered had truly lived to their congregational mission of inclusion and acceptance. Yet, I had not yet joined the church. You would have had to know me for a long time to understand…
Read More

Lenten Thoughts…

When I grew up, every morning, next to my school books, I would find a cup with my daily vitamin supplements and, next to that, a copy of Unity School of Religious Science's The Daily Word, turned to the page of that day's devotional.  And there was no leaving the house until I downed the vitamins and read aloud that day's word and prayer. So, imagine my joy when, at my new spiritual home, I was asked to write a devotional entry for our congregation-created Lenten devotional book.  Then, imagine joy turned to panic when I received my assignment -- the 10 Commandments themselves, in 250 words or less. As…
Read More

Reminders…

[caption id="attachment_28" align="alignright" width="281" caption=""I am half-sick of shadows" said the Lady of Shallott; painting by J.W. Waterhouse, Art Gallery of Ontario"][/caption] The problem of being,  perhaps for the first time in your life, clearly aware of that sense of calling that surrounds us all, is that -- well, you may be even more confused than you were before.  Honestly, that is what has happened to me. At first, I thought -- sweeping change is in order.  Give up opera, focus on sacred music, work on musical outreach, maybe even consider switching from my DMA program to a seminary program, dare I say it -- seek ordination?  All of these…
Read More

Yes, I’m going to Germany…to buy socks

I just booked the ticket for a few days at the German Christmas Markets between the end of my holiday concert season and the actual holidays and I'm really quite excited...I get to buy new socks. I won't waste your time listing the virtues of German-made socks (a very long list, mind you),  or enter into a discussion about why the people in a country where many are happy to sun bathe nude in public parks make the very finest socks.   Let it suffice to say that, for the past several weeks, it's not Carolina that's on my mind....its Germany. There are a variety of reasons that I am suffering…
Read More

An Audience of One

So, I'll admit it -- I have been procrastinating.  I typed this title and saved an empty page as "Draft" months  ago, after I read the  chapter by the same title in Os Guinness's book Rise to the Call.  Maybe I believed that if I thought about it for a while, the  feeling that my head would simply explode at the concept might subside. It did not.   But I read the chapter again yesterday, and I didn't explode, so now I think that I am ready to write. Guiness's term, "an audience of One", should really be a simple concept relating to call and motivation. But nothing is really simple when it relates to a…
Read More

Learning to say NO

Well, maybe not NO, just no -- but clearly and without hesitation, and not in a panic at the last minute. Lillian Nordica, a famous American opera singer of the Gilded Age, wrote in her "Hints to Singers" (appended posthumously to her biography, Yankee Diva, written by Ira Glackens in 1963), that a career is built more upon the "no's" than the "yes's".  And I have long pondered that dictum, even if I didn't put it into practice. For years, as I worked day and night to build my singing career, if someone asked, I said yes.  [caption id="attachment_53" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Lillian Nordica"][/caption] But several years ago, I started to observe…
Read More

Why I became a Baptist…

As we moved through the worship experience of Palm Sunday last week at Calvary Baptist Church, I couldn't help but think back to the year before.  In 2008, despite my two years of service in the music department there, I had not yet become a full, card-carrying (well, we really don't have cards) member of the congregation.  No one had ever treated me as an outsider, no one had ever pressured me to join -- everyone I encountered had truly lived to their congregational mission of inclusion and acceptance. Yet, I had not yet joined the church. You would have had to know me for a long time to understand…
Read More

Lenten Thoughts…

When I grew up, every morning, next to my school books, I would find a cup with my daily vitamin supplements and, next to that, a copy of Unity School of Religious Science's The Daily Word, turned to the page of that day's devotional.  And there was no leaving the house until I downed the vitamins and read aloud that day's word and prayer. So, imagine my joy when, at my new spiritual home, I was asked to write a devotional entry for our congregation-created Lenten devotional book.  Then, imagine joy turned to panic when I received my assignment -- the 10 Commandments themselves, in 250 words or less. As…
Read More

Reminders…

[caption id="attachment_28" align="alignright" width="281" caption=""I am half-sick of shadows" said the Lady of Shallott; painting by J.W. Waterhouse, Art Gallery of Ontario"][/caption] The problem of being,  perhaps for the first time in your life, clearly aware of that sense of calling that surrounds us all, is that -- well, you may be even more confused than you were before.  Honestly, that is what has happened to me. At first, I thought -- sweeping change is in order.  Give up opera, focus on sacred music, work on musical outreach, maybe even consider switching from my DMA program to a seminary program, dare I say it -- seek ordination?  All of these…
Read More

Yes, I’m going to Germany…to buy socks

I just booked the ticket for a few days at the German Christmas Markets between the end of my holiday concert season and the actual holidays and I'm really quite excited...I get to buy new socks. I won't waste your time listing the virtues of German-made socks (a very long list, mind you),  or enter into a discussion about why the people in a country where many are happy to sun bathe nude in public parks make the very finest socks.   Let it suffice to say that, for the past several weeks, it's not Carolina that's on my mind....its Germany. There are a variety of reasons that I am suffering…
Read More

An Audience of One

So, I'll admit it -- I have been procrastinating.  I typed this title and saved an empty page as "Draft" months  ago, after I read the  chapter by the same title in Os Guinness's book Rise to the Call.  Maybe I believed that if I thought about it for a while, the  feeling that my head would simply explode at the concept might subside. It did not.   But I read the chapter again yesterday, and I didn't explode, so now I think that I am ready to write. Guiness's term, "an audience of One", should really be a simple concept relating to call and motivation. But nothing is really simple when it relates to a…
Read More

Learning to say NO

Well, maybe not NO, just no -- but clearly and without hesitation, and not in a panic at the last minute. Lillian Nordica, a famous American opera singer of the Gilded Age, wrote in her "Hints to Singers" (appended posthumously to her biography, Yankee Diva, written by Ira Glackens in 1963), that a career is built more upon the "no's" than the "yes's".  And I have long pondered that dictum, even if I didn't put it into practice. For years, as I worked day and night to build my singing career, if someone asked, I said yes.  [caption id="attachment_53" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Lillian Nordica"][/caption] But several years ago, I started to observe…
Read More

Why I became a Baptist…

As we moved through the worship experience of Palm Sunday last week at Calvary Baptist Church, I couldn't help but think back to the year before.  In 2008, despite my two years of service in the music department there, I had not yet become a full, card-carrying (well, we really don't have cards) member of the congregation.  No one had ever treated me as an outsider, no one had ever pressured me to join -- everyone I encountered had truly lived to their congregational mission of inclusion and acceptance. Yet, I had not yet joined the church. You would have had to know me for a long time to understand…
Read More

Lenten Thoughts…

When I grew up, every morning, next to my school books, I would find a cup with my daily vitamin supplements and, next to that, a copy of Unity School of Religious Science's The Daily Word, turned to the page of that day's devotional.  And there was no leaving the house until I downed the vitamins and read aloud that day's word and prayer. So, imagine my joy when, at my new spiritual home, I was asked to write a devotional entry for our congregation-created Lenten devotional book.  Then, imagine joy turned to panic when I received my assignment -- the 10 Commandments themselves, in 250 words or less. As…
Read More

Reminders…

[caption id="attachment_28" align="alignright" width="281" caption=""I am half-sick of shadows" said the Lady of Shallott; painting by J.W. Waterhouse, Art Gallery of Ontario"][/caption] The problem of being,  perhaps for the first time in your life, clearly aware of that sense of calling that surrounds us all, is that -- well, you may be even more confused than you were before.  Honestly, that is what has happened to me. At first, I thought -- sweeping change is in order.  Give up opera, focus on sacred music, work on musical outreach, maybe even consider switching from my DMA program to a seminary program, dare I say it -- seek ordination?  All of these…
Read More

Yes, I’m going to Germany…to buy socks

I just booked the ticket for a few days at the German Christmas Markets between the end of my holiday concert season and the actual holidays and I'm really quite excited...I get to buy new socks. I won't waste your time listing the virtues of German-made socks (a very long list, mind you),  or enter into a discussion about why the people in a country where many are happy to sun bathe nude in public parks make the very finest socks.   Let it suffice to say that, for the past several weeks, it's not Carolina that's on my mind....its Germany. There are a variety of reasons that I am suffering…
Read More

An Audience of One

So, I'll admit it -- I have been procrastinating.  I typed this title and saved an empty page as "Draft" months  ago, after I read the  chapter by the same title in Os Guinness's book Rise to the Call.  Maybe I believed that if I thought about it for a while, the  feeling that my head would simply explode at the concept might subside. It did not.   But I read the chapter again yesterday, and I didn't explode, so now I think that I am ready to write. Guiness's term, "an audience of One", should really be a simple concept relating to call and motivation. But nothing is really simple when it relates to a…
Read More

Learning to say NO

Well, maybe not NO, just no -- but clearly and without hesitation, and not in a panic at the last minute. Lillian Nordica, a famous American opera singer of the Gilded Age, wrote in her "Hints to Singers" (appended posthumously to her biography, Yankee Diva, written by Ira Glackens in 1963), that a career is built more upon the "no's" than the "yes's".  And I have long pondered that dictum, even if I didn't put it into practice. For years, as I worked day and night to build my singing career, if someone asked, I said yes.  [caption id="attachment_53" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Lillian Nordica"][/caption] But several years ago, I started to observe…
Read More

Why I became a Baptist…

As we moved through the worship experience of Palm Sunday last week at Calvary Baptist Church, I couldn't help but think back to the year before.  In 2008, despite my two years of service in the music department there, I had not yet become a full, card-carrying (well, we really don't have cards) member of the congregation.  No one had ever treated me as an outsider, no one had ever pressured me to join -- everyone I encountered had truly lived to their congregational mission of inclusion and acceptance. Yet, I had not yet joined the church. You would have had to know me for a long time to understand…
Read More

Lenten Thoughts…

When I grew up, every morning, next to my school books, I would find a cup with my daily vitamin supplements and, next to that, a copy of Unity School of Religious Science's The Daily Word, turned to the page of that day's devotional.  And there was no leaving the house until I downed the vitamins and read aloud that day's word and prayer. So, imagine my joy when, at my new spiritual home, I was asked to write a devotional entry for our congregation-created Lenten devotional book.  Then, imagine joy turned to panic when I received my assignment -- the 10 Commandments themselves, in 250 words or less. As…
Read More

Reminders…

[caption id="attachment_28" align="alignright" width="281" caption=""I am half-sick of shadows" said the Lady of Shallott; painting by J.W. Waterhouse, Art Gallery of Ontario"][/caption] The problem of being,  perhaps for the first time in your life, clearly aware of that sense of calling that surrounds us all, is that -- well, you may be even more confused than you were before.  Honestly, that is what has happened to me. At first, I thought -- sweeping change is in order.  Give up opera, focus on sacred music, work on musical outreach, maybe even consider switching from my DMA program to a seminary program, dare I say it -- seek ordination?  All of these…
Read More

Yes, I’m going to Germany…to buy socks

I just booked the ticket for a few days at the German Christmas Markets between the end of my holiday concert season and the actual holidays and I'm really quite excited...I get to buy new socks. I won't waste your time listing the virtues of German-made socks (a very long list, mind you),  or enter into a discussion about why the people in a country where many are happy to sun bathe nude in public parks make the very finest socks.   Let it suffice to say that, for the past several weeks, it's not Carolina that's on my mind....its Germany. There are a variety of reasons that I am suffering…
Read More

An Audience of One

So, I'll admit it -- I have been procrastinating.  I typed this title and saved an empty page as "Draft" months  ago, after I read the  chapter by the same title in Os Guinness's book Rise to the Call.  Maybe I believed that if I thought about it for a while, the  feeling that my head would simply explode at the concept might subside. It did not.   But I read the chapter again yesterday, and I didn't explode, so now I think that I am ready to write. Guiness's term, "an audience of One", should really be a simple concept relating to call and motivation. But nothing is really simple when it relates to a…
Read More

Learning to say NO

Well, maybe not NO, just no -- but clearly and without hesitation, and not in a panic at the last minute. Lillian Nordica, a famous American opera singer of the Gilded Age, wrote in her "Hints to Singers" (appended posthumously to her biography, Yankee Diva, written by Ira Glackens in 1963), that a career is built more upon the "no's" than the "yes's".  And I have long pondered that dictum, even if I didn't put it into practice. For years, as I worked day and night to build my singing career, if someone asked, I said yes.  [caption id="attachment_53" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Lillian Nordica"][/caption] But several years ago, I started to observe…
Read More

Why I became a Baptist…

As we moved through the worship experience of Palm Sunday last week at Calvary Baptist Church, I couldn't help but think back to the year before.  In 2008, despite my two years of service in the music department there, I had not yet become a full, card-carrying (well, we really don't have cards) member of the congregation.  No one had ever treated me as an outsider, no one had ever pressured me to join -- everyone I encountered had truly lived to their congregational mission of inclusion and acceptance. Yet, I had not yet joined the church. You would have had to know me for a long time to understand…
Read More

Lenten Thoughts…

When I grew up, every morning, next to my school books, I would find a cup with my daily vitamin supplements and, next to that, a copy of Unity School of Religious Science's The Daily Word, turned to the page of that day's devotional.  And there was no leaving the house until I downed the vitamins and read aloud that day's word and prayer. So, imagine my joy when, at my new spiritual home, I was asked to write a devotional entry for our congregation-created Lenten devotional book.  Then, imagine joy turned to panic when I received my assignment -- the 10 Commandments themselves, in 250 words or less. As…
Read More

Reminders…

[caption id="attachment_28" align="alignright" width="281" caption=""I am half-sick of shadows" said the Lady of Shallott; painting by J.W. Waterhouse, Art Gallery of Ontario"][/caption] The problem of being,  perhaps for the first time in your life, clearly aware of that sense of calling that surrounds us all, is that -- well, you may be even more confused than you were before.  Honestly, that is what has happened to me. At first, I thought -- sweeping change is in order.  Give up opera, focus on sacred music, work on musical outreach, maybe even consider switching from my DMA program to a seminary program, dare I say it -- seek ordination?  All of these…
Read More

Yes, I’m going to Germany…to buy socks

I just booked the ticket for a few days at the German Christmas Markets between the end of my holiday concert season and the actual holidays and I'm really quite excited...I get to buy new socks. I won't waste your time listing the virtues of German-made socks (a very long list, mind you),  or enter into a discussion about why the people in a country where many are happy to sun bathe nude in public parks make the very finest socks.   Let it suffice to say that, for the past several weeks, it's not Carolina that's on my mind....its Germany. There are a variety of reasons that I am suffering…
Read More

An Audience of One

So, I'll admit it -- I have been procrastinating.  I typed this title and saved an empty page as "Draft" months  ago, after I read the  chapter by the same title in Os Guinness's book Rise to the Call.  Maybe I believed that if I thought about it for a while, the  feeling that my head would simply explode at the concept might subside. It did not.   But I read the chapter again yesterday, and I didn't explode, so now I think that I am ready to write. Guiness's term, "an audience of One", should really be a simple concept relating to call and motivation. But nothing is really simple when it relates to a…
Read More

Learning to say NO

Well, maybe not NO, just no -- but clearly and without hesitation, and not in a panic at the last minute. Lillian Nordica, a famous American opera singer of the Gilded Age, wrote in her "Hints to Singers" (appended posthumously to her biography, Yankee Diva, written by Ira Glackens in 1963), that a career is built more upon the "no's" than the "yes's".  And I have long pondered that dictum, even if I didn't put it into practice. For years, as I worked day and night to build my singing career, if someone asked, I said yes.  [caption id="attachment_53" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Lillian Nordica"][/caption] But several years ago, I started to observe…
Read More

Why I became a Baptist…

As we moved through the worship experience of Palm Sunday last week at Calvary Baptist Church, I couldn't help but think back to the year before.  In 2008, despite my two years of service in the music department there, I had not yet become a full, card-carrying (well, we really don't have cards) member of the congregation.  No one had ever treated me as an outsider, no one had ever pressured me to join -- everyone I encountered had truly lived to their congregational mission of inclusion and acceptance. Yet, I had not yet joined the church. You would have had to know me for a long time to understand…
Read More

Lenten Thoughts…

When I grew up, every morning, next to my school books, I would find a cup with my daily vitamin supplements and, next to that, a copy of Unity School of Religious Science's The Daily Word, turned to the page of that day's devotional.  And there was no leaving the house until I downed the vitamins and read aloud that day's word and prayer. So, imagine my joy when, at my new spiritual home, I was asked to write a devotional entry for our congregation-created Lenten devotional book.  Then, imagine joy turned to panic when I received my assignment -- the 10 Commandments themselves, in 250 words or less. As…
Read More

Reminders…

[caption id="attachment_28" align="alignright" width="281" caption=""I am half-sick of shadows" said the Lady of Shallott; painting by J.W. Waterhouse, Art Gallery of Ontario"][/caption] The problem of being,  perhaps for the first time in your life, clearly aware of that sense of calling that surrounds us all, is that -- well, you may be even more confused than you were before.  Honestly, that is what has happened to me. At first, I thought -- sweeping change is in order.  Give up opera, focus on sacred music, work on musical outreach, maybe even consider switching from my DMA program to a seminary program, dare I say it -- seek ordination?  All of these…
Read More