[NOTE TO READER: In paragraph 22, the Hebrew word ruach is pronounced “ROO-ark.”] The promise of Pentecost is baptism. “The one coming after me,” the Baptist promised, “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” This Pentecostal promise speaks not of some infantile christening, the dribbling of water across the crown, water wiped…

Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunami waves fascinate us. Their destructive force seems to come out of nowhere to wreak havoc upon man and nature. Television gives many people the chance to watch their devastation from a safe distance, so that they mean only fantastic images in the mind’s eye. A different experience falls to…

One can imagine the followers of Jesus huddled in the Upper Room holding endless discussions. It must have been rather like one of those vestry meetings where the members have been challenged to do the impossible and haven’t yet plucked up the courage to say that the proposal is impossible. Jesus had told them to…

Charles Lloyd, the world renowned tenor sax, flute, and virtually anything-like-a-woodwind virtuoso, who gave us Forest Flower at Monterey Pop, and Billy Higgins, the quintessential West Coast jazz drummer and sideman for literally hundreds of recordings of the past 50 years or so, worked on an extended suite in the months leading up to Higgins’…

One traditional analogy for worship in the Episcopal Church is that of a symphony orchestra. The members of the congregation are the players in the orchestra, with many different instruments represented among them. The score is the Prayer Book, and the conductor is the celebrant or officiant, who leads and helps tie everything together. And…

In Miss Manner’s “Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior,” much is made of thank-you notes, especially thank you notes for wedding presents. One of her sample letters reads as follows: Dear Aunt Patience: Rhino and I are thrilled with the magnificent silver sugar shaker you sent us. It adds not only beauty and dignity to our…