All the seeding held…except, in a very close, one vote battle, Mariah Carey overcame Kelly Clarkson in the #9 over #8. Get your votes in by Monday night at 9 pm PST!
Read MoreO Holy Night—Round 1
The submissions for O Holy Night have widely varying arrangements. I’m sure you’ll hate my seeding. I’m a bit shocked myself, as my number 1 seed breaks some of my cardinal rules: it’s a medley, there’s speaking in the middle. But the passion! Get your …
Read MoreO Come, O Come, Emmanuel winner is…
Once again, the pure sounds of the Benedictines of Mary emerge as the winners! I’ll work to get the bracket out for “O Holy Night” in the next couple of days.
Read MoreO Come, O Come, Emmanuel (2019)—Finals
I hate to say “I told you so”…actually, wait, I LOVE saying “I told you so”! I was right, I saw things six years ago, I’m a genius! You all (Steve Sherwood) yelled at me for not letting you vote, whined and complained, because the …
Read MoreO Come, O Come, Emmanuel (2019)—Round 3
Sigh. The people never vote like I think is right. The Civil Wars and Punch Brothers out breaks my heart. But here you go! Get your votes in by Sunday at 4 pm PST! And submit your favorite version of “O Holy Night,” as we …
Read MoreO Come, O Come Emmanuel (2019)—Round 2
Amy Grant won her way in, after all of the higher seeds won the other matchups. Time to vote in round 2! Polls close at 9 pm PST on Thursday!
Read MoreSpecial Round of Advent Caroling Madness
So one of my favorite people in the world LOVES Amy Grant at Christmastime. And, she suggested Amy for O Come, O Come Emmanuel. I did not think Amy had a version of it…and I was wrong. So, we have a one day special election! …
Read MoreO Come, O Come Emmanuel 2019—Bracket Released
We’ve come full circle, back to the beginning. Advent Caroling Adventure began when I wondered if Pentatonix had created the best version of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” ever. I created a bracket and then, as a fun (for me) writing exercise, I wrote a …
Read More“Digs deep”
My read of FINDING HILDEGARD kept bringing to mind “journey.” I saw three intertwined pilgrimages: (1) the life of Hildegard of Bingen, (2) the author’s quest for wholeness, and (3) the convergence of Koskela and Hildegard that formed a common path forward. After finishing the …
Read More“Well-written, perceptive memoir”
At first glance, it may not appear that a medieval nun and a 21st-century male pastor have much in common. Learning that they do in this well-written, perceptive memoir not only opened me anew to the relevance of history, but also to the universal truth …
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