Unfortunately, the secretary forgot to put the titles of my prelude and postlude in the bulletin yesterday. They were both by the composer of the anthem, Alec Rowley.

The above bio comes from Groves online. I mentioned to the choir that the music I was playing in the prelude and postlude was by Rowley. Afterwards, Joy, the previous organist, thanked me for playing a loud prelude. I mentioned that it and the postlude were by Rowley knowing that she’s someone who would recognize (and appreciates) the composer. Still it would have been a tad more satisfying if Rowley’s name had been in the program. As it was, Joy probably wasn’t the only one who noticed the loud prelude. I picture people jolted and looking back at the eccentric aged organist and wondering what the fuck he was doing.

Rowley’s work is pretty dated. It sounds very Anglican to my ears and I would hesitate to use it outside of an Episcopalian or Anglican community. But it is well constructed and I do like doing a wide variety of styles.

Eileen spent the weekend very unhappy. I suggested we eat out and take in a movie yesterday afternoon. She readily agreed. We went and saw “Gravity.” I found it pretty weak like most new movies hit me these days. But we donned our 3d glasses and immersed ourseles in the special effects which were pretty cool since it takes place above the earth.

I think Eileen will be giving notice at work soon. I am encouraging her to do so. It will mean some belt tightening for us, but with her reduced early retirement we should be fine (as long I keep working). I’m thinking this morning we should start trimming down now if she leaves her work early next year.

I have been reading W. H. Auden’s oratorio, “For the Time Being.” This morning I finished it. I have enjoyed Auden’s wry take on the Christmas story through the lens of living in America during WWII (and a bit after).  I like how he incorporates images anachronistically reading his present onto the Christmas past. You can see this in the beginning lines of the section entitled, “The Temptation of Joseph.”

Joseph

My shoes were shined, my pants were cleaned and pressed,
And I was hurrying to meet
My own true Love:
But a great crowd grew and grew
Till I could not push my way through
Because
A star had fallen down in the street;
When they saw who I was,
The police tried to do their best.

I was surprised at the end. It ends with a section that is actually a hymn in the Hymnal 1982.

Coming at the end of Auden’s wicked little oratorio, these words have a different feeling than when I ran across them in the Hymnal.

Glancing over on my stack of books to look at and possibly read in, I see Merton’s The Way of Chuang Tzu.

I love convergences like that.