tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20023797223240003802012-01-25T11:14:00.067-05:00An occasional blog where anything can become a topic.Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.comBlogger521100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-89333353251687329392012-01-12T14:20:00.000-05:002012-01-12T14:20:05.067-05:00

I'm just beginning work on a project with The Esperanza Academy in Lawrence, MA, a middle school for girls. Holy synchronicity, Batman! It just so happens that today is the 100th anniversary of the Lawrence, MA textile strike, which you may not remember, but which, coming shortly after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in NYC, was an important catalyst in the history of labor rights, especially for

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-6359170102524824012011-12-31T11:30:00.000-05:002011-12-31T11:40:04.685-05:00

Beannacht For Josie On the day when the weight deadens on your shoulders and you stumble, may the clay dance to balance you. And when your eyes freeze behind the grey window and the ghost of loss gets in to you, may a flock of colours, indigo, red, green, and azure blue come to awaken in you a meadow of delight. When the canvas frays in the currach of thought and a stain of ocean blackens

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-33940502299903491062011-12-23T22:30:00.000-05:002011-12-23T22:30:53.308-05:00

Ten years ago, Beliefnet.com asked to license a recording of mine (Mother Ann's Song) to accompany an audiovisual meditation on The 23rd Psalm. It was their first video, my first licensing deal, and was the most popular meditation on their home page for years. It's been a long time since I thought about it, so when it popped into my head this morning, I went to find it. At first I had a hard time

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0Wappingers Falls, NY 12590, USA41.5964825 -73.9109741.584608 -73.930711 41.608357 -73.89122900000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-28333558591060325032011-12-14T21:26:00.000-05:002011-12-17T20:19:53.753-05:00

Be there if you can. Here are a couple of links to help you get there: http://d17re-occupy.tumblr.com/ https://www.facebook.com/events/306057236094749/ https://www.facebook.com/events/292357677466842/ As I write, OWS is coming to its 3-month anniversary. The Episcopal Cathedral in Boston has offered space for Occupy Boston to converse three nights a week, since they've been kicked out of Dewey

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-3081390587992572002011-12-10T19:27:00.001-05:002011-12-10T23:33:34.965-05:00

Today I found out I have a new nickname: Shruti Box Queen. Since I often play a shruti box in public, and they have a wonderful and entrancing sound, I do get a lot of questions. "How does it work?" (A drone instrument, a shruti box uses metal reeds, like an accordion or a harmonium) "Is it hard to learn?" Nope, simple. "How much do they cost?" About $300 usd. "Where can I get one?" Ah, there's

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-90082788297020458282011-12-02T17:14:00.001-05:002011-12-02T18:07:58.001-05:00

Last month I shared the call for an online art exhibition I was curating for the Episcopal Church and the Visual Arts. Click here to be taken to ECVA's Advent Art Exhibition, where you can see a diversity of art inspired by sound. Thanks to C. Robin Janning and Diane Walker for inviting me into their world and walking me through the process. Dabar, by Chuck Hoffman and Peg Carlson-Hoffman. "

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-68363450395392891262011-11-18T00:53:00.000-05:002011-11-18T01:08:15.077-05:00

I met Walter Wink at Kirkridge Retreat Center around 1979, and I was quite taken with his theology. He spoke of a politics of hope and the myth of redemptive violence. Between 1984 and 1993, Wink wrote a trilogy: Naming the Powers: The Language of Powers in the New Testament ('84), Unmasking the Powers: The Invisible Forces That Determine Human Existence ('86), and Engaging the Powers:

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-31427685594628283942011-11-15T12:26:00.000-05:002011-12-10T23:06:59.785-05:00

I wonder that "evocative" is the first word reviewers said about my Christmas music, both in 1993 and last fall. Evocative of what - some feeling they can't put their finger on? I don't get it. It's always seemed pretty simple and straightforward to me. Nevertheless, I'd love it if you would take a minute out of your busy life and buy my Christmas music. It's unlike any other Christmas music

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-39443967915709659672011-10-23T22:22:00.001-04:002011-12-02T17:12:26.276-05:00

I was asked a few months ago if I would be willing to curate an online art exhibit called Imaging the Sacred Art of Chant. I have never done any such thing, nor had I ever given it a moment's thought before being asked. First thought: 'Hell no". Then I remembered all the beautiful art people have shared with me over the years; art created while listening to chant. I thought of Rachel, Mel,

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-85929046959942167612011-10-21T15:10:00.000-04:002011-10-22T20:16:21.527-04:00

Poetry and I are old friends. When I had to move home for a year in college, poetry was the one thing that kept me sane (except for Robert Lowell). If you're not big on poetry, watch how poetry kept Kim Rosen sane. Trust me, me and Kim aren't the only ones poetry has kept sane. Over the years, bits of poetry have leapt off the page and rescued me from any number of close calls. Some have even

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-51056051636910369662011-10-15T12:01:00.001-04:002011-10-15T12:01:09.748-04:00

Hold My Hope led by Ana Hernandez from All Saints Company on Vimeo. I spent a couple of weeks in San Francisco in August co-leading workshops, playing drums, practicing sitting meditation at the feet of a beautiful Kuan Yin statue, eating home cooked dinners with great people, walking around, riding a bicycle on a roof deck overlooking Alcatraz (as close as I wanna get), seeing old friends,

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-35451231800982966752011-10-07T13:47:00.000-04:002011-11-16T11:39:18.657-05:00

Come Whoever You Are led by Ana Hernandez from All Saints Company on Vimeo. Greetings of the Autumn, dear ones. I've been way too busy to write, but here I am again with too much time on my hands. Click on the arrowhead to see and hear this stunning tune by Dale Zola, with text by Rumi (pacing up and down by Ana). I taught this in Ottawa in August at a Music That Makes Community Conference. It

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-67681600796663215442011-07-04T20:23:00.003-04:002011-07-04T20:26:35.235-04:00

Here's a list of the dozen best books I've read in the last three months or so, followed by a short list of what I'm reading now... What are you reading? Bodies in Motion and at Rest: On Metaphor and Mortality, by Thomas Lynch The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, by Isabel Wilkerson Verily, Verily: The KJV - 400 Years of Influence and Beauty, by Jon M. Sweeney

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-5691530105322159242011-06-03T23:11:00.000-04:002011-06-03T23:11:00.681-04:00

Ya know how sometimes you pick up an article that you haven't read in years and realize that the first time you read it, some mystical information was passed directly into your soul, and then you realize that you are the way you are NOW because of what you allowed inside THEN? Here's something that was hard-wired into me about thirty years ago. I happened to open The Sacred Art of Chant:

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-19694669390257098842011-06-02T13:32:00.002-04:002011-06-02T13:39:07.832-04:00

Click on the title of this post and be swept away to the Church Publishing website, where you can download The Greatest Hits of the Miserable Offenders. Believe me, I'm as surprised as the rest of you, having missed the fact that the Miserable Offenders even HAD a "hit" - much less an entire album of them! Nevertheless, I do recall making some recordings many moons ago with Deborah Griffin Bly,

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-63773957456796443552011-04-26T02:18:00.000-04:002011-04-26T02:18:58.853-04:00

Last July I wrote a blog post about my first patron, and how a guitar just showed up on my doorstep one Good Friday, delivered by the UPS man (See Still Grateful After All These Years, July 2010). Well, in spite of the fact that it's not Good Friday, as luck (grace?) would have it another guitar has made its way to my doorstep. I kid you not. I wasn't at home to receive the box, but I did get

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-54805667195759439202011-04-22T15:57:00.012-04:002011-07-14T16:31:00.453-04:00

Click on the title to see Krista Tippett interviewing Bobby McFerrin on improvisation, creativity, his upbringing, and life in general. This is one very rich and lovely hour for your life.

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-60025364229689433822011-04-04T22:10:00.000-04:002011-04-04T22:10:13.404-04:00

I spent last week in Chicago, working with friends old and new. Two days were spent at an editorial meeting for a hymnal revision, while Wednesday brought me to the Lutheran School of Theology at the Univ. of Chicago with some friends. We had some church, talked with some students at lunch and sat in on a 3-hour class. The rest of the week I co-led a conference called "Music That Makes Community"

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-67518242022661860102011-03-21T13:25:00.001-04:002011-03-21T14:04:38.016-04:00

I've been chanting Aham Prema (I am Divine Love/You Are Divine Love) for Lent. Whenever I change my practice around, adding or subtracting mantras, things pop up that I haven't seen in a while. Sometimes they pass, but sometimes they put on the *whole* show. Last week I was reminded that sometimes sitting meditation takes serious effort. To sit through the mental discomfort of monkey mind and do

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-42240452314978195692011-03-19T23:19:00.001-04:002011-03-19T23:23:56.122-04:00

That's what I tell myself all the time. This particular habit, honed over decades, has fewer applications than you might think. I know I am not the only person who sits down to meditate only to be confronted with endless streams of mental list making. Once I was talking with a Zen teacher and she said to me "You're a planner." It took every ounce of strength to keep myself from saying "No s***,

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-88227479114419969072011-03-15T18:13:00.001-04:002011-03-18T19:24:56.748-04:00

Things come and things go. Some things remain fairly constant, some change with the seasons. Many change when we least expect it. Some are erased from the earth completely yet linger in memory or curiosity. Still, there are are things I'd like to be more constant and intentional about: loving neighbor as self, staying open, exercising, (add your list here). I've been listening to and reading

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-53688175248119959262011-03-08T17:10:00.002-05:002011-03-20T10:52:15.298-04:00

Nurturing love, kindness, and compassion are The Big Deal, but for most of us, the intention to try to create love and live a happy life while we're here is often put aside due to "the nature of things," which (as Edmund Burke once wrote) is a sturdy adversary. The nature of things causes us to forget. In his book Present Moment, Wonderful Moment, Thich Nhat Hanh writes: "We often become so

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-83386586842955315552010-09-19T12:05:00.016-04:002011-12-15T12:23:14.312-05:00

When I enter into a relationship with someone, I want it to go both ways, especially with children. Like it or not, we have a tremendous effect on them. They see and hear everything, and especially notice whether they're being excluded or included in our lives and the decisions that affect us all. I had the oportunity to spend ten days with the Virginia Girls Choir in June, and we recorded

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-30599503568033842672010-08-31T17:33:00.000-04:002010-08-31T17:33:25.107-04:00

Here's a blog post worth its weight in gold. I'd been thinking about this very thing, and ta da! Here it is already written for us: Karen Kissel Wegela is a professor at Naropa University, and the author of The Courage to Be Present. The subtitle of her blog is Ancient wisdom from Buddhism for today's therapists and clients. Click on the title and you can find her regular blog at Psychology Today

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-41058772412904900672010-08-08T00:47:00.000-04:002010-08-08T00:47:13.346-04:00

What at first seemed like a simple request for permission to use one of my tunes nabbed me a new friend today, even though it wasn't my tune. It was Ann Lee's tune. Mother Ann founded the Shakers many moons ago. I came across a song she wrote called simply Mother Ann's Song and recorded it ten years ago. At about the same time, Kate Munger founded the first Threshold Choir. I've met women who

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-47267560514661463222010-08-06T23:36:00.003-04:002010-08-07T22:38:17.218-04:00

Today has been a fairly representative day in my life, so here's a glimpse. Wake up, clean the kitchen, make coffee. I don't always clean the kitchen in the morning, but I was too tired to deal with it last night. I realize I'm still tired after 8 hours of sleep because I just spent two days in the recording studio singing Christmas carols with the Virginia Girls Choir (Project No. 1), and it's

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-24539650746374480222010-08-03T23:45:00.002-04:002010-08-25T12:47:05.125-04:00

This week's been full of cooking my favorite summer recipes, dreaming up new recipes, and improving old favorites. I love to cook, but only in spurts, so I make big batches and freeze or can when A) I'm in the mood; B) I'm home long enough to enjoy it; 3) the necessary ingredients are so fresh that they leap off the shelf at the market and wrestle me to the ground; Q) I need the practice to keep

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-52037371920290939582010-08-01T13:06:00.001-04:002010-08-01T13:09:02.427-04:00

These are my favorite muffins. You can refrigerate the batter for a month, which eliminates multiple messes, and makes you look even more magnificent to your people. If you have muffins left over when company leaves, they freeze like a dream.  Makes 3-4 dozen 3-1/2 c.  all-purpose flour1 c.        whole wheat flour1/2 c.     flax meal5 t.         baking soda 1 t.         salt2 t.        

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-81295726531857597962010-07-30T18:22:00.001-04:002010-08-25T12:59:41.250-04:00

Thinking again... Every day I write a To Do list like a million other people who set out to accomplish something before their days are diminished by one. Today my list contained nothing one might consider "practical", but a few things I consider crucial for reasons I cannot seem to articulate. Ideas, surprising affirmations, previous thoughts, wishing I could save the world, but I'm making quiche

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-8739938282048672422010-07-29T12:49:00.001-04:002010-07-29T14:04:24.072-04:00

Lately I've been poking around the Berkana Institute website reading (and rereading) Margaret Wheatley and her good work. The first thing on the website in big bold script: "Whatever the problem, community is the answer." Tonight I had the great pleasure of hearing the string Quartet known as ETHEL. They were playing a free concert, the first in the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Series, which runs

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-50730492581362639132010-07-27T19:40:00.000-04:002010-07-27T19:40:41.900-04:00

For the last couple of months, I've been co-leading the music at a recovery ministry called Lifeline. Lifeline seeks to help people attain a God-centered recovery from addictions, give people the opportunity to experience prayer, singing, and a pith instruction in a spiritual practice. The aim is to be an intentional community watering hole supporting the 11th Step (remember the 12 steps?):

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-70784848240014479312010-07-24T17:10:00.001-04:002010-07-27T18:17:24.368-04:00

In our last episode, I posited the following: How many things in this life conspire to support us in our work, and encourage (or push) us along the way? It seems there's been a fair amount of both encouragement and shoving to get me here.  Today's trio of support, encouragement, and pushing begins with our musician (Hey, that's me!) living in a big red barn in Lansing, NY, owned by Cora Kay

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-90075623710013562912010-07-23T11:44:00.000-04:002010-07-23T11:44:07.533-04:00

It has been months since I've been here, and I've pondered the entries for changing the name of this blog, and have decided (or been convinced by the angels) that Support your local sacred musician is going to be always and forever Support your local sacred musician. It's grown on me, and I've generated a few ideas since the last post - spring can do that to a girl. I've also been home for the

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-34895587325332168032010-02-10T00:33:00.002-05:002010-07-23T12:29:36.393-04:00

I spend a lot of time on the quest for a simple tune, hummed while washing the dishes or driving the car. A simple tune, humming me to the place that has been calling as long as I can remember. A simple tune, breathing me in and out, over and over, renewing my strength, bolstering my resolve. A simple tune, simple enough to be sung by everyone – simple enough so we can all forget for the moment

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-33738918249064484582010-01-30T22:37:00.000-05:002010-01-30T22:37:55.523-05:00

Here's one man's idea of how to support your local sacred musician. Thanks to Frank Goodwin, The Boston Globe, and Alex Beam. Enjoy! VOICES One top cookieFrank Goodwin sells macaroons to assist Episcopal choir schoolsBy Alex Beam Globe Staff / January 29, 2010 In March , 2008, The New York Times reported on a “crisis’’ at Manhattan’s Century Association, a posh membership club. The venerable

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-56730092667752759852010-01-27T15:38:00.005-05:002010-07-27T17:53:06.555-04:00

I'm not sure that compassion has ever been uncool, at least not with me, but even I'm not foolish enough to think we've manifested all we need to get by (You're all I need to get by... everybody sing! God, the stuff we can do without apps!:). Click the title for the follow up interview to Karen Armstrong's TED award. TED funds ideas worth spreading. Karen's idea was The Charter of Compassion.

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-8484714099736903772010-01-24T12:33:00.003-05:002010-01-24T12:36:47.317-05:00

Have you ever wondered how I chose the name for the blog? Every time I see Support Your Local Sacred Musician, I wonder anew. I mostly wonder if I should change it, but I’m terrible at naming things. Then I look at it and wonder what possessed me to think it was a good name in the first place. It’s not as though I think the content is a bad idea, but after writing (and reading) the posts, it

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-53050545406675271002010-01-20T14:32:00.005-05:002010-07-27T18:08:32.575-04:00

I read a lot of poetry, but not too much. I once made the mistake of reading every book of poetry in the Brightwaters Public Library on Long Island in too short a time, and didn’t feel like reading any more poetry for a very long time. I read through the section one author at a time, and it might have been too much Robert Lowell that drove me from poetry, but there were others toward the end of

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-46697677608061428652010-01-19T11:49:00.003-05:002010-01-19T21:04:24.630-05:00

Greetings, friend, I've been dreaming of blogging again, so here goes. We begin this new year with a sermon preached in Atlanta by Cynthia Hizer, after having attended a Sound as Prayer Workshop with Ruth Cunningham and me. You can understand why I try to do what I do. I'll be back soon. Enjoy the day, and show love now! Ana **** Jesus said, “Now fill the jars with water.” Were the jars empty?

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-46502490646042719352009-03-20T00:15:00.002-04:002009-03-20T00:17:58.589-04:00

This is a beautiful piece about how music really works. Read it, then go make some music!Ana*******************Posted on March 11, 2009 by fttgreenroomKarl Paulnack, pianist and director of music division at Boston Conservatory, gave this fantastic welcome address to this year’s freshman class:Karl Paulnack“One of my parents’ deepest fears, I suspect, is that society would not properly value me

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-79055744887985472332009-03-11T10:57:00.003-04:002009-03-11T11:48:47.029-04:00

This is a thank you SHOUT-OUT to everyone who has stood by me through thick and thin. My gratitude knows no bounds. Click on the title above, sit back and enjoy yourself for five minutes. A friend sent this along today, and I'm hoping you'll pass it on to your friends and family, encourage them to send it to their friends, and make everybody's day a little brighter.Thank you all.I awoke this

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-88416960253721584222009-02-25T13:25:00.007-05:002010-07-27T18:25:52.261-04:00

Once upon a time, in the smokiest church during mud season, while hotel whistlers and taxi horns blew notes into the wind, Signore Allegri looked down from heaven through roof, blue ceiling, golden stars, and smoke. He smiled as the sound of the choir rose in greeting. Because I do not hope to turn and see quizzical faces, in the choir, on Fifth Avenue, or the commuter train home from Grand

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-40896318068069048472009-02-07T16:28:00.003-05:002009-02-07T16:35:14.108-05:00

1) One summer, I practiced flying by running from one telephone pole to the next, and then taking off and flying to the next pole. Then I switched to drugs, to see if that made it any easier.2) When I was 12, I used to go to the Ross Nursing Home on Saturday mornings with TC, and we'd play and sing for the residents. I wonder whatever happened to her. Her momma took her outta public school

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-31553872278337110162009-01-31T13:29:00.003-05:002011-10-21T14:40:28.701-04:00

I make my own chai at home, and serve it to anyone who wanders by. So many people have asked for the recipe it seems like a good idea to share it. Enjoy! 10 slices fresh ginger root 1 whole nutmeg 12 whole cloves 5-7 cinnamon sticks (3-4 inches long) 12 black peppercorns (more or less to taste) 12 cardamom pods 1 star anise 4-6 teaspoon black tea (with or w/o caffeine, 6 or so bags are okay, too

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-27934805138655928592009-01-16T20:04:00.001-05:002009-01-29T15:47:17.381-05:00

Every now and then a friend bemoans the fact that she is aging in ways she isn’t particularly comfortable with. It hasn’t helped to mention that the alternative to aging is not aging, and that it, too, has its drawbacks. I now feel forced to pay attention to aging because it’s been the friends I look up to as wise and smart, with great senses of humor, good skin, and the sweetest dispositions who

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-23000470521386120052009-01-16T19:17:00.000-05:002009-01-17T16:53:26.491-05:00

Dear gentle friends,This post is an act of shameless self-promotion, so hit delete NOW if you care not one whit about it, and don't say I didn't warn you. If, however, you are the curious sort, and of a mind to support a couple of sacred musicians, read on:Many of you are aware of my music, and of my singing partnership with Ruth Cunningham, a member of The Anonymous 4 vocal quartet. Our second

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-13009780759370888502008-10-30T12:28:00.002-04:002010-07-27T18:00:31.633-04:00

“Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view.” Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words usually seem worth reading but rarely move me to action. So why I felt as though suddenly struck by lightning upon reading these words the other night is beyond me. Truth be told, I wasn’t even reading Emerson at the time I stumbled across them. I was reading an essay about him by Mary

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-63370091943879082842008-06-16T21:55:00.001-04:002010-07-27T17:57:26.892-04:00

It may seem paradoxical that one of the most direct routes to silence and a peaceful state of mind is by making sound, but humming is the fastest way I know to achieve a deep meditative state. At the beginning of my prayer time, I sit on my cushion looking for silence and a little peace. Humming helps me to quiet my mind, so I can enter the realm of contemplation. Listening for the silence beyond

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-86271857698781905762008-05-24T20:59:00.000-04:002008-05-24T21:38:36.394-04:00

If you click on the title of this post, you'll find yourself watching me on YouTube, in St. Paul's Chapel in NYC, doing what I like best: helping people to sing about the most important things. The video is from the Music That Makes Community Conference a few weeks ago, and shows about forty people in a chant called Open My Heart. It's the kind of chant that helps you to open your heart. I only

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-11603746585889055172008-05-21T00:02:00.000-04:002008-12-08T18:59:46.418-05:00

Short blooming seasons for the finest and most fragrant flowers surely make my list of things to take up with God every spring. Luckily, this shortcoming creates a need for more beauty, and there are still many humans creatively filling it (some of us can't help ourselves). One of the coolest of these is my friend Toinette Lippe. She sees deeply into the nature of beauty and manages to

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-8590343286512266972008-05-19T20:22:00.001-04:002010-07-27T17:53:57.063-04:00

This week, I’ve been reading a book I found in the Episcopal Bookstore in Seattle (on my February trek out to Olympia to teach a workshop at St. John’s). I was surprised to see it there, and I hardly cracked it open until the day before yesterday, when I found it was stuck to my hand and wouldn’t let go (you'll see, and I won't even mention the recipes). I was surprised to see Gurdon's name on

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2002379722324000380.post-6958892641122227872008-05-18T21:02:00.001-04:002008-05-19T20:22:42.287-04:00

Greetings all,This is a note about the not-so-recent past. Think of it as a prequel that doesn't require you to sit in a dark theater, or eat popcorn. Feel free to do those things, though, if you think it'll help. Feel free to skip this post and come back another time for something more to your liking... Hey, it could happen! Future posts will deal with life as I experience it (whoa!), and the

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907980219265587405noreply@blogger.com5