Did you know that Edgar Allen Poe once penned a hymn to Our Lady? Poe, the tortured poet of the American Romantic Movement, is best known for his stories of mystery and the macabre–stories like “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and famous narrative poems like “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee.” His onomatopoeic poem “The Bells,” which was published after his death in 1849, is believed to have been... Read more
When Little Portion Hermitage burned to the ground in 2008, I was working at a treatment center for clergy and religious; and I can still remember the morning when a co-worker popped into my office with a photo of the conflagration. It was shocking–tongues of flame licking the night sky, destroying the serenity of that holy place. I haven’t thought about the fire in years, but I was touched anew when I read the deeply personal account from John Michael... Read more
Thank you to Joe Shannon for sharing Seals & Crofts’ song with me. “Unborn Child” is not one of the songs that I had on my list, but I’m pleased to pass this along to you. Read more
The Didache is the earliest known Christian document outside the New Testament, and is considered to be among the writings of the Apostolic Fathers. Most scholars date the Didache to the end of the first century or beginning of the second century after Christ. In the Didache, there is a clear commandment against abortion: “Thou shalt not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is begotten.” –Didache 2:2 On January 22, 2013, the 40th anniversary of the Roe... Read more
This is sort of a bonus track. Each day this week, as we count down to the 42nd anniversary of the passage of the infamous Roe v. Wade abortion decision which legalized abortion in all fifty states, I’ve been posting a song about abortion. On Sunday, I kicked off the series with Faith Hill‘s “A Baby Changes Everything.” (Well, okay, this one isn’t really about abortion–it’s about the birth of Christ! And yet you can see how relevant it is... Read more
Day Four of our musical celebration of life, and here’s my favorite song so far: John Elefante’s “This Time.” Elefante is best known as the former “Kansas” lead singer. He’s also an adoptive father. In 2013, Elefante released a single accompanied by a music video titled “This Time” that tells the story of his adopted daughter, who was nearly aborted by her birth mother. The video shows a pregnant teenager entering an abortion clinic and then having a dream about a little girl she... Read more
I tried to find things to like about the 2015 State of the Union Address. Despite my frequent disappointment at the words and actions of this President, I would have been happy to find myself joining with other Americans in support of his noble vision for America. This was, after all, to be his “Legacy” speech, as he winds down the final two years of his presidency. Alas, I was disappointed again. While Obama’s demeanor seemed more stately than in some... Read more
Two little boys told about visiting heaven, and saw their stories catapult to #1 on the New York Times best-seller list. One boy, Alex Malarkey, now says that his story was a lie, promulgated by his father for financial gain. The other, Colton Burpo, stands by his story and says, “Jesus really, really loves you.” * * * * * There’s been quite a kerfuffle this week after Alex Malarkey, now 16, went public... Read more
In the summer of 1996, American singer-songwriter Lauryn Hill met Rohan Marley, a son of the late reggae legend Bob Marley. Despite the fact that Hill was in a relationship with multi-instrumentalist Wyclef Jean, she was attracted to Rohan, who had played football for the University of Miami. The two began dating and–guess what happened? Lauryn became pregnant! Lauryn’s career was just taking off, and friends and acquaintances urged her to get an abortion. She resisted the pressure, though; and the pregnancy was actually... Read more
This is the second post this week, in the days leading up to the Roe v. Wade anniversary, featuring music that tells a story of loss. John L. Cooper is lead singer and bassist of the Grammy Award nominated Christian rock group Skillet, which he formed with Ken Steorts in 1996. In “Lucy” he tells the story of a man’s grief and regret over his girlfriend’s abortion. The first video I’m including here is the official music video for “Lucy.” Although... Read more
Seasons of Grace
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