VIEW FROM THE PEW Familiar words about fostering peace, justice and human rights spoken at a recent church service held a crowd enrapt and silent, and later exuberantly noisy when those sentiments were reflected in historical spiritual songs. It was only fitting that we focused on the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. […]
Mary Adamski: These days of December
VIEW FROM THE PEW Oh, happy day, the nativity scene is finally up and we can bask in the glow of tree lights amid the imagery of the birth in Bethlehem. While the music makes our spirits soar, take deep breaths and let the frenzy of shopping lists, mailing deadlines, meeting expectations, maybe sadness or […]
Mary Adamski: Contemplating death and dire things
View from the pew I was looking every which way to avoid the topic of this week. Feeling guilty that I should even talk about giving thanks, I should confess all the times I fail to do that, or mouth thanks but with an insincere or ungrateful heart … and that’s just in the past […]
Mary Adamski: Of bones, memories and the weary pilgrim
VIEW FROM THE PEW Relics have been on my mind lately. I’m in a meditative mood not a morbid one as I think about our human tendency to hold onto a memory, a piece of history by clinging to a thing. It’s not just me reviewing my clutter, our landscape is full of memorials and […]
Mary Adamski: Words of love
VIEW FROM THE PEW The priest at a recent Mass invited us to look away from him during the homily and focus on the oldtime visual aid, a stained glass window depicting the Good Samaritan parable. It’s classic religious art, vibrant colors for the well-dressed good guy and languishing robbery victim on the ground — […]
Mary Adamski: ‘When through the woods and forest glades I wander’
VIEW FROM THE PEW What was that scary movie with those kids running in the forest trying to escape something awful and the trees and bushes seemed ominously reaching out to grab them? I saw it years ago and it replayed as a dream on a recent hot windless night maybe triggered by an overhanging […]
Mary Adamski: Imagine Hawaii without immigrants
VIEW FROM THE PEW There was a piquant hint of exotic cultural flavor adding nuance to heavier undertones of current events that made our feast the successful fusion sought by its creative chefs. Oops, I was trying to mock the pretentious tone of a trendy foodie reviewer but that didn’t work. I should just say […]
Mary Adamski: All are welcome
VIEW FROM THE PEW It’s a favorite gathering hymn, so we really put our hearts, souls and voices into a robust rendition of “All Are Welcome” at a recent interfaith service. Marty Haugen’s lyrics are about the gathering place “where love can dwell and all can safely live … hearts learn to forgive … built […]
Mary Adamski: Consulting groundhogs and stars
VIEW FROM THE PEW “I don’t get this business about the groundhog; is it sacred or what?” I got that somewhat sarcastic comment from an island-born acquaintance who delights in challenging me to answer for all cultural quirks, puzzling rituals and inexplicable superstitions of the entire population of the entire continental USA. “And yet you […]
Mary Adamski: Lead us not into contention
VIEW FROM THE PEW OMG! (Nothing irreverent intended: you know that’s just text-speak for gasp.) He’s done it again. It was Jan. 16 in his weekly public audience at the Vatican that Pope Francis again suggested that we could reword the Lord’s Prayer a bit. The last time the pope opined publicly about the wording […]
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