Maybe this is the new normal?

At least for now.

We’re 48 hours out from the bombings and things are… different.  It isn’t just the obvious police presence or the national guard people in uniform everywhere.  Things are different.  Yesterday everything was eerily calm, almost like the afternoon of 9/11 when all flights were grounded and nobody knew what was going on, except that yesterday there were helicopters in the air overhead and we were all waiting.

Waiting for news of who else was going to die.  Waiting to hear from that last person or two that we hadn’t yet heard from.  Waiting for news from the police, the feds, the various hospitals.  Waiting.  It was like life in suspended animation.

We were going to work and going through the motions, but everyone was asking the same thing, “Should we be doing this?”  “Is this appropriate?”  “What is the right thing to do now?”

Nobody has an answer for that.  There is no single answer when there is a 15 block long scar in the middle of your city that was carved out by a coward with bombs, a bone to pick with humanity, a need to see his human fears and frailty writ large on the TV, and not enough guts or intelligence to make the change he wants to see from within the system.

Continue reading “Maybe this is the new normal?”

King’s Chapel on the news

We opened early today – about 8 AM – and stayed open until about 7 PM, when our second service ended.  So a long day today.  But a reporter from Channel 6 in Providence stopped in to talk to our new minister as well as a few Marathon runners.  You may see yours truly doing security in the  background.

-Geoff

To see the video that this still comes from, click here.

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Reporting in from Boston

This is a quick post to let people who have been calling and emailing from near and far know that we’re OK. We were driving back from Boston when the bombing happened. The Cambridge EMS, Fire, and Hazmat were screaming past in the other direction and I casually wondered if there’d been a bomb threat. Oops.

We’ve heard from one friend who ran today and he finished and cleared the area before the bombs went off.

I’m sure there will be more information and more to post about later. Stay safe, everyone.

Kelly & Geoff

For live reports from Boston.com as the situation develops, go here: http://live.boston.com/Event/Live_blog_Explosion_in_Copley_Square

This is considered an “ongoing event.”  AKA: the city is under attack as I write this.  The most recent bombing was a half hour ago.

ETA: This photo.  Wow.

The running of the 117th Boston Marathon was dedicated to the town of Newton, CT.

ETA: From the Globe.  Sometimes you don’t need words.

More info on the Seraphim Singers April Concerts

I wish I’d received this information before I sent out my email blast and did my prior post.  But, I didn’t .  I got it today.  So I’m posting it now so you can all see the details I didn’t have before.  Enjoy.  And please come, this will be a really good concert.

~Kelly

Seraphim Singers logo
The Seraphim Singers

The Seraphim Singers invites you to the final concert of our 16th season:

Persecution, Transformation, and Triumph

Music that Transcends and Redeems

A celebration of the resilience of the human spirit through the centuries, in music by Messiaen, Shostakovich, Poulenc, Penderecki, Tippett, and more.

Sunday, April 21, 3pm

Mission Church
1545 Tremont St.
Mission Hill, Boston
With Eliko Akahori (piano), Lilit Hartunian (violin), Rafael Popper-Keizer (cello), Amy Avocat (clarinet)

Tickets: $20 general admission / $15 for students and seniors available at the door)

Sunday, April 28, 3pm
First Parish (UU)
75 The Great Road, Bedford
With Lilut Hartunian (violin), Elizabeth Connors (clarinet), Bradford Conner (piano)

Suggested donation: $20 / $15 students & seniors (a portion of proceeds will benefit UUSC-UUA Haiti Relief Fund)

Music composed in times of oppression and persecution often possesses a singular resilience that inspires and gives witness to the courageous dimension of the human spirit. In this concert The Seraphim Singers presents choral and instrumental works composed under conditions of religious persecution in Renaissance England, slavery in 18th and 19th century America, the Holocaust during World War II, and totalitarianism in the Soviet era.

 

Visit our website: www.seraphimsingers.org

Seraphim Singers- final concert of the season

Please come see us, I’m a soloist this time!

~Kelly

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Join us for our inspirational final concert of the season.

Persecution, Transformation, and Triumph
Jennifer Lester, conductor
Sunday, April 21, 2013  3:00pm
1545 Tremont St.
Mission Hill, Boston

Sunday, April 28, 2013  3:00pm
First Parish (Unitarian Universalist)
75 Great Road
Bedford, MA

Tickets (available at the door): $20 general admission /$15 for students & seniors

Music composed in times of oppression and persecution often possesses a singular resilience that inspires and gives witness to the courageous dimension of the human spirit. In this concert The Seraphim Singers present choral and instrumental works composed under conditions of religious persecution in Renaissance England, slavery in 18th and 19th century America, the Holocaust during World War II, and totalitarianism in the Soviet era. Featuring:

Poulenc: Un soir de neige
Tippett: Selections from A Child of Our TIme
Messiaen: Selections from Quatuor pour la fin du temps and choral works by Shostakovich, Penderecki, Stanhope, Zuckerman, Goudimel, Sweelinck, and Tallis

Visit www.seraphimsingers.org for more information.
Seraphim Singers

What I’ve been reading lately

While both Geoff and I have spent a ton of time at work lately (this is my first day off in 11 days I think) I’m in the middle of a fascinating book and I’ve been emailed some really fascinating blog links.  Now it’s my turn to share them with you.

Continue reading “What I’ve been reading lately”

Easter photos

Easter is a special time of year at King’s Chapel, as it is the only time that the stained glass window is visible.  So Saturday night I opened up the shutters, and then Easter morning I got a picture when the morning sun was shining through it.

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The window dates from 1863, so not as old as the building itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took some pictures of all the Easter flowers too.  You can see them below the cut.

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Because commuting in Boston isn’t fun enough…

Tonight it took two hours, a bus, and a taxi to get me from my front door to Mission church where I was singing a Holy Thursday Service (that’s Maundy Thursday to you non-Catholics out there).  Normally it’s a 45 minute trip at most.  Now things are about to get worse.

Continue reading “Because commuting in Boston isn’t fun enough…”