“The Weekend Wanderer” is a weekly curated selection of news, stories, resources, and media on the intersection of faith and culture for you to explore through your weekend. Wander through these links however you like and in any order you like. Disclaimer: I do not necessarily agree with all the views expressed within these articles but have found them thought-provoking.
“To Be Human Is To Pray: Finding Ways and Places to Speak the Soul’s Native Language” – Pete Grieg at the Renovaré blog: “On Mount Athos, two thousand meters above the Aegean Sea, big-bearded Orthodox monks are praying, as they have done for 1,800 years. About eleven miles north of Lagos, more than a million Nigerian Christians are gathering for a monthly prayer meeting at the vast campus of The Redeemed Christian Church of God. On the banks of the River Ganges at Varanasi, Hindu pilgrims are plunging into the sacred waters seeking cleansing and hope. Somewhere in Manhattan, a group of addicts on a twelve-step program is seeking “through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God.” High in the Himalayas, bells are chiming, and strings of colored prayer flags are dancing against sapphire skies. Deep in the forests of giant Redwood and Douglas fir on California’s Lost Coast, Cistercian nuns are keeping vigil beside the Mattole River, where salmon and steelhead swim. One person in every four prays the Lord’s Prayer each year on Easter Day alone. One person in every six bows toward Mecca up to five times a day. Hasidic Jews stand at Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall dressed in black and rocking to and fro like aging goths at a silent disco. In front of them, between the giant stones of Herod’s Temple, thousands of handwritten prayers are wedged like badly rolled cigarettes between the bricks.”
“Shooting at Christian School in Madison Leaves Three Dead, Multiple Injured” and “Abundant Life Teachers Pray: ‘Our Hearts Are Confused'” – Both by Emily Belz in Christianity Today: “Amid announcements about lunch menus, fundraisers, and Christmas concerts, Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, posted, ‘Prayers Requested!’ It was the scenario so many teachers and parents fear: a shooter on campus. By mid-morning on Monday, just days before Christmas vacation, two people had been killed, at least six injured, and the suspect found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police. Police later identified the shooter as a 15-year-old female student at the school, Natalie Rupnow, who went by Samantha. A teacher and a teenage student were killed, police later updated. Two of the injured were in critical condition, they said. Four of the injured have non-life-threatening injuries.”
“Christians in Syria mark country’s transformation with tears as UN envoy urges an end to sanctions” – Abby Sewell at AP News: “In churches across long-stifled Syria, Christians marked the first Sunday services since the collapse of Bashar Assad ‘s government in an air of transformation. Some were in tears. Others clasped their hands in prayer. ‘They are promising us that government will be formed soon and, God willing, things will become better because we got rid of the tyrant,’ said one worshiper, Jihad Raffoul, as the small Christian population hoped that new messages of inclusion would ring true. ‘Today, our prayers are for a new page in Syria’s future,’ said another, Suzan Barakat. To help those efforts, the U.N. envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called for a quick end to Western sanctions as the rebel alliance that ousted Assad and sent him into exile in Russia a week ago considers the way forward. Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the United States, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.”
“Why Am I a Christian? The Answer I Stake a Life On” – James K.A. Smith at The Veritas Forum: “Jamie Smith of Calvin University explores why he is a Christian.” This is taken from a longer Veritas Forum event at Vanderbilt University on October 2, 2024, entitled: “Is There More? Two Professors Discuss Religion, Meaning, & Truth | James K.A. Smith & Ted Fischer.”
“The Messiah Project: A new production of Handel’s Messiah breathes new life into the famous oratorio” – Mark Clemens interviews John William Trotter in Comment: “In March of 2024, I attended a performance of Handel’s Messiah at Wheaton College that turned one of the hoariest works in the canon into something very special. Among other innovations in the performance, discussed below, the oratorio was semi-staged: the choir moved around throughout the show, into the house at times; staged dramatic tableaux; and at one point even performed a Georgian dance. All this movement was possible because the two-and-a-half-hour piece was sung entirely from memory. When the lights came up at the end of the evening, I felt I had never really heard this music before. (A recording is available here.) The performance was billed as The Messiah Project, and was helmed by John William Trotter. John is the inaugural John and Anita Nelson Distinguished Chair of Sacred Choral Music and Conducting at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, and the director of the Wheaton College Concert Choir. He is also my friend and co-parishioner, and agreed to talk with me on the record about this project, its origins, and its implications, which we did, first in his office at the conservatory, and then by a fire in his backyard. What follows is an edited transcript of those conversations.”
“‘Remarkable’ Discovery Shines Light on Christianity in Early Roman Empire” – Tré Goins-Phillips in FaithWire: “Investigators have discovered a nearly 2,000-year-old silver amulet attached to a necklace around the neck of a skeleton buried in Frankfurt, Germany, possibly highlighting the early presence of Christianity in the Roman Empire. At just 1.4 inches long, the amulet contains an ultra-thin sheet of silver foil tightly rolled up. Tine Rassalle, a biblical archeologist, told Live Science the purpose of the charm ‘was to protect or heal their owners from a range of misfortunes, such as illnesses, bodily aches, infertility, or even demonic forces.’ ‘These amulets were widely used in Late Antiquity, especially in the eastern Mediterranean world,’ she continued. ‘[But] they are much rarer in the western Roman world. The discovery of this amulet in Germany suggests that Christian ideas had already begun to penetrate areas far from Christianity’s early centers of growth.'”
Music: Wendell Kimbrough, “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” from Advent
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Matthew Erickson 