Chip Davis is now 77 years old, and I’m quite sure he could not have imagined 50 years worth of producing records, and then concerts that led to the selling of 50 million records. For 40 of those years he has done Mannheim Steamroller Christmas concerts, and though he no longer tours with the band, they are still going great guns, now with two separate groups on tour. We got the benefit of the green tour group on Dec. 29th... Read more
For those, like myself, who were not paying that much attention to folk music in the early 60s, the Bob Dylan I came to know was the Bob who was already electric, rock and roll Bob from 1965 on. I did not have his earliest albums, in fact I began with Blonde on Blonde, but that forced me to go back and pay attention to what he had done before, and what he kept doing afterwards— including country music (Nashville... Read more
Back at the dawn of time. (i.e. B.C. before cellphone, before computer) we had a red tabby cat named Yellowball, who decided one night during the Christmas season to climb the Christmas tree while no one was looking, bringing the whole thing down, and breaking various of the bubble lights which we loved so much. I wish I could have seen his face at the time, before he hid for hours under my bed, knowing he had done something terribly... Read more
President Tennent: ‘Ben you realize retirement is not in the Bible. Rest is in the Bible, so get more rest, and don’t think about retirement’. So I resolved for the first time in my life to take afternoon naps. For as the Bard said “Sleep which knits up the raveled sleeve of care. Sleep, the best medicine.” Read more
Gen. 11 provides us with most scholars see as the end of the pre-history, or archaic more universal history portion of Genesis, after which the focus in Gen. 12-50 is on Abraham and his descendants. Tbe problem with this sort of clear demarcation is that the genealogies clearly link the former to the latter, as do other factors. And as Robert Alter points out the story of the tower of Babel has often been misread as if it were about... Read more
Genesis 8 tells the story of the aftermath of the flood. Here we are told that after 150 days the waters subsided and the ark landed on ‘the mountains of Ararat’. God commands Noah to leave the ark with all those in it, including all the creatures great and small and they are to start reproducing again. Noah builds an altar and made offerings of every clean animal in thanks, and the text adds “And the Lord smelled the fragrant... Read more
The beginning of Gen. 6 includes one of the most controversial passages in the whole book, a passage speculated about throughout Biblical history, including in the NT (see e.g. Jude, and 2 Pet. 2, and my lengthy study on this passage and its ongoing influence in Jesus the Seer). The early Jewish interpretation of this passage is important. The text, in Alter’s translation reads as follows: “as humankind began to multiply. over the earth and daughters were born to them,... Read more
THE SECRET Hidden reality Like life in the womb Hidden reality Like death in the tomb Hidden away For the appropriate day Wrapped in enigma, cloaked in secrecy, Awaiting a wake up call with urgency. But how shall such a song be sung? A tale that’s never told, A trail that’s long gone cold, A mystery unrevealed, A truth that is concealed, Seems useless on first glance. Who said there was a secret, Who told us... Read more
MOTHER LOAD From the very beginning The burden was clear Sometimes bearable Sometimes severe Ate from the apple Shared it with him Disobeyed the order Indulged the whim. What was the outcome? The fruit of the act? She ‘knew’ good and evil? She experienced it in fact? Did the earth creature join her? Did he crumble into dust? Did he die in an instant? Or just tumble into lust? To love and to cherish Becomes ‘desire and dominate’... Read more
INCOGNITO He came in incognito, A thinly veiled disguise The not so subtle son of man, A human with God’s eyes. The messianic secret, Left many unawares A God had walked upon the earth And shared our human cares. We did not see his glory, At least not at first glimpse, It took an Easter wake up call, Before it all made sense. The truth of Incarnation, Of dwelling within flesh, Shows goodness in creation, And... Read more
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