About 20 years ago, I was privileged to play harpsichord for a presentation of the Easter portion of Handel’s Messiah at Hales Corners Lutheran Church under the direction of Hib Wiedenkeller. In oratorios of the Baroque Era, the harpsichord’s primary function was to provide a steady rhythm that held all the other instruments together. Playing […]
The Lord called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized the Lord was calling the boy. So he told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say,’Speak, Lord, for you servant is listening.’ “- 1 Samuel […]
A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low, the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.”- Isaiah 40:3-4 Approximately 10 days before recording “Desert […]
Once upon a time, long before global warming was a twinkle in Mother Nature’s eye, snow fell abundantly in Evergreen Park, IL. Utilizing the protection of snow forts constructed approximately 40 feet apart on our neighboring front lawns, my friend Cliff and I engaged in the Great Snowball Wars of the early 1960s. With our […]
When I was 2 or 3 years old, I developed a severe case of wanderlust, fueled by unbridled curiosity. Eager to escape the confining environs of my back yard in Evergreen Park, IL or my parents’ immediate reach, I was a constant escape threat. Although I had the “fever”, my parents had the cure- aka […]
During my senior year at Luther South High School in Chicago, IL, I was the accompanist for the 71-voice A Cappella Choir, South’s concert ensemble. As December approached, we had the opportunity to record a Christmas album for Delta Records. The sessions took place on 2 midweek evenings following a full day of classes. The […]
For years, long after I’d grown too old to play with it, my toy box contained a yellow, plastic fighter-plane with a red star on each wing tip. The airplane was given to me by Grandma Dahlke (my maternal grandmother) when I was 4 or 5 years old. Not too long after receiving the airplane, […]
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. . . “-Hebrews 12:2 […]
Due to my small physical stature as a child, bullying was a frequent menace. Even by the time I was preparing for confirmation as an 8th grader, my growth spurt was a work in progress. Two boys in that class seemed to delight in contributing a decidedly unspiritual component to my Saturday mornings. During one […]
When I was an elementary student at Timothy Lutheran School in Chicago, I distinctly remember being given a small, pewter, nickel-sized pendant with Luther’s coat of arms on one side and the words “I am a Lutheran” on the other. It instilled great pride in my Lutheran heritage and faith. Similarly, growing up in suburban […]
When I was about 4 or 5 years old, I remember being in the car with my parents as they drove the short distance home from our church’s Christmas Eve service. As Dad proceeded down a residential street near our home in Evergreen Park, IL, my ever-observant eyes spotted Santa Claus walking into someone’s house. […]
The moment I spotted the new 8th grader walking into his classroom at Timothy Lutheran School in Chicago, I understood the social predicament he would soon face. When I had entered Timothy as a 4th grader, I encountered a ‘select’ group of students whose criteria for acceptance was quite simplistic and biased- if you weren’t […]