Walking. Hand weights. Stretching.
I Believe in Father Christmas – Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Fairytale of New York – The Pogues
Christmas in the Trenches – John McCutcheon
Uncle Carl – Aaron Lacombe
Happy Christmas – Angelique Kidjo
Canticle of the Turning – Rory Cooney, Gary Daigle & Theresa Donohoo
Cherry Tree Carol – Sting
Silent Night – Sweet Honey in the Rock
Little Drummer Boy – Blind Boys of Alabama
Huron Carol – Jonathan Marable
Joy to the World – Willie Nelson
Cry of a Tiny Babe – Bruce Cockburn
Christmas Must Be Tonight – The Band
The Bushes of Jerusalem – Tommy Sands
The Rebel Jesus – The Chieftains & Jackson Browne
O Holy Night – Karla Bonoff
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day – Harry Belafonte
Tag Archives: Christmas
5 January 2023
Filed under Exercise, Louisville, Music, playlist
3 January 2024
Elliptical (2 minutes). Treadmill. Flex Appeal Gym.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing – Pentatonix
The Christmas Song – Steve Erquiaga
Joy to the World – Holiday Traditions
Everybody’s Home Tonight – Karla Bonoff
The Joys of Christmas – Harry Belafonte
What Child Is This – Lindsey Sterling
Sleepers Awake – Andy Narell & Tom Miller
Keep Your Lamps – The Many
Silent Night – The Blind Boys of Alabama
O Little Town of Bethlehem – Robin Stapleton, Jouko Harjanne, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Coventry Cathedral Choir & Lichfield Cathedral Choir
Huron Carol – John McCutcheon
Christmas Must Be Tonight – The Band
Then Shall The Eyes – He Shall Feed His Flock – Joan Sutherland, Grace Bumbry, London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Feliz Navidad – Jose Feliciano
Filed under Exercise, Louisville, Music, playlist
30 December 2023
Walking. ABQ and DAL.
Stretching. Louisville.
Fairytale of New York – The Pogues
I Believe in Father Christmas – Emerson, Lake & Palmer
The Rebel Jesus – The Chieftains & Jackson Browne
Torches – Robin Stapleton, Michael George & BBC Philharmonic
Once in Royal David’s City – The Rhos Orpheus Male Choir
Silent Night – Peter Mayer
What Child Is This – Ed Ames
The Holy and the Ivy – Robin Stapleton, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Michael George, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Coventry Cathedral Choir & Lichfield Cathedral Choir
Holiday Time in New Orleans – The Dukes of Dixieland
God with Us – The Many
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Black Violin
Mary Had a Baby – Little Windows
Jesus Ahatonnia – Bruce Cockburn
We Are Christmas – Spelman Glee Club
I Wonder as I Wander – Joanne Shenandoah
Veni Emmanuel – Turtle Island String Quartet
The Seven Joys of Mary – King’s College Choir
The Unbroken Thread – Jay Unger & Molly Mason
Silent Night – Over the Rhine
The Time Is Approaching – Eileen Ivers
I Saw Three Ships – The Piano Guys
The First Snowfall – R. Carlos Nakai & William Eaton
Filed under Exercise, Louisville, Music, Travel
25 December 2023
Walk. Albuquerque.
Snow on the Sandias.
Canticle of the Turning – Princeton Seminary Choir
Happy Christmas – Angelique Kidjo
Cry of a Tiny Babe – Bruce Cockburn
Christmas in the Trenches – John McCutcheon
Christmas Must Be Tonight – The Band
The Bushes of Jerusalem – Tommy Sands
The Rebel Jesus – The Chieftains & Jackson Browne
We Are Christmas – Spelman Glee Club
Away in a Manger – The Blind Boys of Alabama feat. George Clinton & Robert Randolph
We Wait for You – The Many
Mary’s Boy Child – Harry Belafonte
The First Noel – R. Carlos Nakai & William Eaton
It Came upon the Midnight Clear – Mahalia Jackson
Silent Night – Aretha Franklin
Go Tell It on the Mountain – Dolly Parton
Filed under Exercise, Music, New Mexico, playlist
A thought for Christmas Eve
Written a couple years ago, this remains relevant and may even be more so than ever.
It comes this night.
Faintly,
ever so faintly,
it comes.
Above the roar
of anger and hatred,
Above the howl
of prejudice and bigotry,
Above the oppressive maelstrom
of systems and structures,
Above the crash
of violence and war,
Above the groan
of doubt and despair,
Above the dis-ease
of heartache and heartbreak
Above the tumult
of turmoil and trouble
Above the clamor
of struggle and strife.
Above it all,
despite it all
because of it all,
it comes this night.
Faintly,
ever so faintly,
it comes.
This night
and all nights,
It comes.
Thank God, it comes.
Christmas in the Trenches
As the holy day approaches, a number of people are asking, “What is your favorite Christmas song?” A variation is “What non-religious holiday song that moves your spirit?
Recognizing the amazing amount of wonderful holiday music, whether intentionally religious or intentionally non-religious, that exists, I believe my answer would be the same.
Thanks to the Rev. Essie Koenig-Reinke (my daughter-in-love), pastor of Dickey Memorial Presbyterian Church, here is a brief reflection on the song that is my answer. This was originally written for the church’s Advent devotional.
“They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Micah 4:3b)
“My name is Francis Tolliver, I come from Liverpool.”
So begins ”Christmas in the Trenches” by singer-songwriter John McCutcheon, a song about the 1914 Christmas Truce told through the eyes of Tolliver, a fictional British soldier.
On Christmas Eve in the filth and muck of the trenches along World War I’s Western front, peace broke out.
Most accounts say it began with German soldiers singing Christmas carols. Others joined. And almost in a collective impulse, many German, British, and French soldiers put down their weapons and met in No-Man’s Land.
They sang, shared photos, told stories, and traded gifts from care packages. Some reports speak of makeshift soccer games played on Christmas Day.
Peace did not last as “with sad farewells we each began to settle back to war.”
The war raged until November 1918 and did not end war—wars and conflicts have followed to this day.
Still the Christmas Truce was a wondrous moment. of peace and and promise and possibility, of hope and justice.
Those themes resonate each year at the manger. They echo through Jesus’ life. He invites us to live into them—at Christmas and through the year.
May we so do.
Check out this call for a 2022 Christmas Trues in Ukraine.
Filed under Advent, Current Events, Family, Human Rights, Music
A prayer for the first Sunday of Advent
Slow us down, God,
that in this season,
we might wait
we might watch
we might prepare
to celebrate the birth of Jesus
to experience Jesus coming into your world and our lives each day
to live following Jesus more closely.
In his name we pray.
Amen.
29 December 2021
Walking. North East, Maryland. Christmas.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – Tom Jackson
Light of the Stable – Darlene Silversmith
Silent Night – Robert Mirabal
Angelic Glory – Red Nativity
Huron Carol – Jonathan Maracle
Poli’ahu – Kamakele “Bulla” Ka’iliwai
Joy to the World – Bill Miller
I wonder as I Wander – Joanne Shenandoah
Walking. North East, Maryland. Wounded Knee.
Wounded Knee – Micki Free
Ghost Dance – Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee – Buffy Sainte-Marie
Wounded Knee – Walela
Dreams of Wounded Knee – Bill Miller
We Were All Wounded at Wounded Knee – Redbone
Filed under Antiracism, Human Rights, Music, playlist
25 December 2021
Walking. North East, Maryland
Hanau ‘Ia ‘O Jesu/Jesus Was Born – Kaiolohia Funes Smith
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing – Mahalia Jackson
And the Glory of the Lord – Dianne Reeves
I Saw Three Ships – Walk off the Earth
Canticle of the Turning – Rory Cooney, Gary Daigle & Theresa Donohoo
Go Tell It on the Mountain – The Blind Boys of Alabama, feat. Tom Waits
Cry of a Tiny Babe – Bruce Cockburn
Christmas in the Trenches – John McCutcheon
Christmas Must be Tonight – The Band
The Bushes of Jerusalem – Tommy Sands
The Rebel Jesus – The Chieftains and Jackson Browne
Away in a Manger – Jonathan Maracle
Christmas Morning – Bill Miller
Happy Christmas – John Lennon
We Are Christmas – Spellman Glee Club
It comes this night
It comes this night.
Faintly,
ever so faintly,
it comes.
Above the roar
of anger and hatred,
Above the howl
of prejudice and bigotry,
Above the maelstrom
of systems and structures,
Above the crash
of violence and war,
Above the groan
of doubt and despair,
Above the dis-ease
of heartache and heartbreak
Above the tumult
of turmoil and trouble
Above the clamor
of struggle and strife
Above it all,
despite it all
because of it all,
it comes.
Faintly,
ever so faintly,
it comes.
A baby’s cry,
proclaiming
life and
love and
justice and
peace and
hope,
this night
and all nights.
It comes.
Thank God, it comes.
Along the Graybeard Trail 