Preachers’ Wives and Daughters Tell it on the Telly
These days, I’m a little confused about whether the main function of television is to give us a break from our regular lives or to reveal aspects of other people’s lives that may in turn shed light on our own. Maybe, even before this whole “reality” genre took off, it’s always been a little bit of both. In any case, when I learn about new shows that come right into my territory, I become a bit like a four-legged creature: … Read More
Cardinals in the Conclave, People in the Pews
My foraging for juxtapositions is often rewarded by coming upon a page in the daily newspaper, something – who knows – we may not have around much longer. This past Sunday, on the first page of its International section, the New York Times ran this banner headline: “Scandals and Intrigue Heat Up at Vatican Ahead of Papal Conclave.” The story on the left, sure enough, was about the sad state of affairs in Catholicism as a whole during these days following … Read More
Our Marriage, His Airness
Leave it to my husband, the new bishop, to have a totally offbeat take on that glorious picture of Michael Jordan’s dunk. This week’s Sports Illustrated (a magazine to which I happily subscribe even with older son off at college) is largely devoted to commemorating the 50th birthday of His Airness, so the Right Reverend – enjoying a rare day off — got a chance to glance at the image and then express an opinion about it while sitting at … Read More
Pass the Roles, Please
My bank account is hardly bulging these days, but I sure can claim wealth in Shakespeare. And just in case reading Hamlet with my students tipped the scales too much towards tragedy (what else can it ever be?) I also got a dose of romance with a production of The Tempest at our son’s school last week. Since it’s an all-boys school, theatrical productions there always offer the hilarity that comes when boys play female roles. They do it with … Read More
A Panorama of Plenty, Just Not on The Page
Let’s face it, sometimes we can really hold up a single contrast, look at it from different angles and enjoy it. Other times, however, so many different things collide at once that we have all we can do just to pay attention to the “Clang! Clang!” going on all around us, like cymbals in an orchestra that we’re not even playing ourselves. This patch of days has been a time like that for me. About to depart for a “New … Read More
We Are What We Say, or Are We?
Good ol’ Hamlet sure has a way with words. The soliloquys are great, of course, but he also knows how to use language just for amusement. His very first lines in the play are sheer fooling around: When the usurper King has the gall to address him as “my son,” Hamlet says, under his breath, “A little more than kin and less than kind.” (I.i.64-65) And then the same calculating Claudius, feigning concern, asks, “How is it that the clouds … Read More
New Year, New Shakespeare
There’s one sure thing about New Year’s Day: those of us who are attached to schools know we’re about to go back. This particular January, I am fortunate to be embarking upon Hamlet with my seniors in a place bearing the motto: “Think, Care, and Act.” In these times, we could all use a little more of that triumvirate. The order of the words is no accident, either. Unless you happen to be suffering from severe melancholy like the Prince … Read More
The Clergy Wife Before Christmas, Once Again
For the first time in many years – almost since we’ve been married – my husband won’t be preaching at Christmas Eve services this evening. He also won’t be a shepherd in any children’s pageant. (In a funny accompaniment, he found that his daily horoscope says: “Celebrate, but make it a point to get to bed early.”) Tomorrow morning he will preside at a service in Concord, this time as a bishop of course, so things will get back to … Read More
If We Lived There, Would We Be Home By Now?
I just heard on the radio that, while the Republicans and Democrats duke it out in these days before the impending fall over the Fiscal Cliff, Corporate America is “clamoring for compromise.” Oh, good ol’ Corporate America! Not being one who feels in a position to help with this particular national problem, I’m nonetheless doing a little clamoring for compromise of my own these days. It’s kind of private, actually, since it involves one part of me debating with another part … Read More
Tennis with a Twist
Have you ever gone to church in a building that also houses tennis courts? Or, to turn the question around, have you ever played tennis in a building created to be a church? I’m doing this now, and it has me a little jumbled up. Ever since becoming a pastor’s wife more than twenty years ago, I’ve grown accustomed to seeing the world of church and the world of sports as separate realms. A big part of my job, I learned, … Read More