Watch Services Online at the Washington National Cathedral

I found myself applauding at home at 11:38 p.m. Christmas Eve listening to Scott Dettra playing the familiar organ classic, Carillon de Westminster by Louis Vierne (1870–1937). It'll be available very soon at the Washington National Cathedral website. It was a  most satisfying end to the three pre-Christmas services I've seen online. There are also services Christmas Day, including one televised nationally.

It's possible to view videos of recent years of entire worship services online, with closeups, and watch fabulous sermons given by the very gifted Dean Samuel Lloyd, surely the most inspirational and solid theologian in the country, in my view. His sermon texts are well-worth reading and can also be read online. Services of worship are available at the National Cathedral archives in the content-rich website, nationalcathedral.org.

Scott Dettra is undoubtedly one of the finest organists in the country, and always a delight to hear. His youthful energy and mature skill combine to create beautiful performances of the best organ music. He's a great asset and attraction of the Cathedral.  Watch his performance up close of that complicated, challenging Carillon music, at the very end of the two services on Dec. 24, 2009.

Be sure to enhance your enjoyment of the holidays by taking a look at the services at the National Cathedral online or in person, and donate generously tax-free to this non-profit.

Bin Laden Escaped: Chaos & Confusion in Afghanistan Recounted

It seems the federal government blew its chance in 2002 to stop Osama Bin Laden from escaping American forces in Afghanistan and building up Al Qaeda into the considerably more formidable force it is now. American intelligence now says, "we haven’t a clue where he is" at least according to Peter Bergen, author of "The Osama bin Laden I know: An Oral History of Al Qaeda's Leader" in his excellent interview today on NPR.  In The New Republic, "The Battle for Tora Bora" is an article about Peter Bergen's book, excerpted here to highlight a few points. Here's how the battle in 2002 went down:

•  American forces are "haunted by the moment on December 10 [2002] when bin Laden may have been less than 2,000 meters away."
• “For the most important mission to date in the global war on terror,” Dalton Fury wrote, “our nation was relying on a fractious bunch of AK-47-toting lawless bandits and tribal thugs who were not bound by any recognized rules of warfare.” 
• Brig.Gen.Mattis, commander of Marines in the Afghan theater, reportedly asked to send his men into Tora Bora, but his request was turned down...There were more journalists--about 100...around Tora Bora than there were Western soldiers." 
• "Between December 4 and 7 [2002] alone, U.S. bombers dropped 700,000 pounds of ordnance on the mountains...But bin Laden was not dead. A subsequent account on an Al Qaeda website offered an explanation of how he saved himself: Bin Laden had dreamed about a scorpion descending into one of the trenches that his men had dug, so he evacuated his trench. A day or so later, it was destroyed by a bomb." 
• "Osama bin Laden, who slipped into Pakistan, largely disappeared from U.S. radar, and slowly began rebuilding his organization."

Fast-forward to December 2009, and for the project of containing Al Qaeda and capturing Osama bin Laden: "with contractors included, a total of 522,230 personnel are engaged in the overall U.S. war effort from the Middle East to Afghanistan, according to a report released this week by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), using data from September 2009." NPR.org. That number doesn't include supportive family and businesses back in America.

Magnificent Magnificat Sunday at the National Cathedral

National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.
Photo: cooschv.org

Today, the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. held a Service of Worship for the Fourth Sunday of Advent despite inclement conditions. It was an achievement all by itself because of unfavorable weather conditions.

The music was a successful effort to give cheer, vibrancy and immediacy to the Christmas season. The service and sermon by the Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III were wonderfully restorative and welcome to viewers across the country and around the world -- no pressure to him, the Rev. Canon Carol Wade and all intended. I was grateful to be able to view it online again.

Please give generously to the National Cathedral as they minister to those among us most in need of assistance.

There was a fine performance of J. S. Bach's Fugue on the Magnificat at the end of the service. The entire service can be accessed at the National Cathedral site online at nationalcathedral.org.

Here's a recording of Bach's Magnificat with choir (well-recommended for in-car listening) from Amsterdam. Ton Koopman leads the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Soloists:



Try here if the audio doesn't match the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo1x-62WmrI

 Please let me know of any more magnificent recordings of the Magnificat.

Required Reading: U.S. Immigration Reform

Excellent points in Anis Shivani's article in the Huffington Post. Just wish it were a bit more toned down. Perhaps given the topic, that would be impossible.

National Cathedral: The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III

The Very Reverend Samuel T. Lloyd III gave a special inspirational presentation last Sunday morning in the Sunday Forums series before the Advent service about how Christmas has enormous potential to change our lives. My greatly simplified notes cannot do justice to this eminent gifted preacher’s power of persuasion and gifted eloquence. It can be seen in its splendid entirety here at Washington’s National Cathedral site at nationalcathedral.org.

Dean Lloyd talked about Christmas from the perspective of commerce, history, theology, politics. The final, most important aspect he explains is "Christmas Now," our own celebrations, as we each experience a holiday that has the power to sustain us all through the year.

photo: Episcopal Church
The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III

The first aspect of Christmas, the commercial side, has cultural pieces that add to the richness and is a recent dimension. Dean Lloyd said that the American Christmas took off in New York in the early part of the 1900s. Christmas celebration shopping began after the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade in the 1920s in an even bigger way.

The historical dimension of Christmas is part of the conviction that makes us Christians. For Jesus was born in Bethleham, 4-6 A.D. He lived, grew and died near there. Powerful stories tell us about the birth. And while details of His birth are elusive, they are mentioned in Matthew and Luke. History suggests that God became flesh at one point.

The theological aspect of Christmas has to do with Mary giving birth to her Creator. The main idea is that in this life and moment, something significant took place for all time; that God took on flesh among us.

The political aspect was the threat to Herod who wanted to destroy a new king who posed a threat to his empire and all they believed. This counter King Jesus being born would change the world forever, and be a King of peace, compassion, love, justice and healing.

"Christmas Now" is what Christmas means now to our souls and spirit. What happened then happens now. Dean Lloyd refers to Hymn 79, "O Little Town of Bethlehem": Christ is born of Mary. "Christmas is a phenomenon that is happening now." Christmastime is when our soul is able to receive Christ in. It can happen, will happen and can have a huge impact. Dean Lloyd says that it is tragic if we ignore our spiritual beings.

He referred to Theological Germanica, a text from 1350, has a description of the idea that we live our lives with two eyes. We tend to live engaged in the mundane present with one eye. The other eye is meant to see eternal beauty, depth and the connectedness of all things. Spiritual life is about keeping both eyes open.

Dean Lloyd referred to Beatrice Bruteau who says that “seeing the fullness of a person is like seeing a rose.” We inhabit the tips of the rose, while it is the center that holds us and all the universe together. We want to maintain the vision of the rose. Dean Lloyd says that when we focus on the mundane, we lose our way and forget what’s important. We need to maintain our sense of connectedness.

Dean Lloyd says that the rich power of the Christmas story is to deepen our life now. Christ is continually being born and being in our lives and is part of the enormous possibility of what’s happening now. The angelic visitations in the Christmas story are about how we live in a world where there are divine messengers all the time. God is getting through to us in our daily lives if we pay attention to the messengers. God is speaking to us through them, he says.

The historicity of the virginity of Mary makes the point is that Mary was ready, willing and open. She was willing to make room for this gift to come. It is thought that she was not promised for marriage to explain the idea of her virginity. The challenge is for us to be more open, to create a space where God can come in, in a surprising way.

ChristmaSpirit.com

The urgent message of Christmas, says Dean Lloyd, is that someone is willing to receive a message, a message that entails waiting. The messenger and messages come when we are ready and open to receive. That waiting, openness and availability are important aspects of the Christmas story as it relates to us personally.

We should rejoice that God has found us, says Dean Lloyd, for the great mystery behind love will come. It makes us “re-scramble our paradigms.” We tend to spend a lot of time making sure our inner psychic structure doesn’t get threatened. That self-discipline is good, but we need to let in God’s angels, so God can say something fresh through His messengers.

To allow ourselves to be open requires us to trust there is a Grace who will go with us and not desert us. The Angel says “do not be afraid” and Mary says, “yes... how can this be?” that something has "come to claim me?" Mary says yes to living with both eyes open, that she won't go alone. Christmas says we are made for union with God and with each other. We are meant to pay attention to the story. We’re intended to have silent nights all of our lives. Christmas is about a new King who seems part of making a different kind of world.

In the open question period, Dean Lloyd was asked by the audience:

1) How should we think about Easter?

Dean Lloyd says that it’s a secret that Christmas and Easter are telling the same story. It’s one story, and two different places in the same story. It’s a story about calling us into the life we were made for. It changes the way we feel about our lives. The story has a “surplus of meaning.” It’s like a story of standing next to a waterfall and the best we can do is hold a tin cup to catch a little water and pass it along.

Niagara Falls. Photo: E. Seymour

2) How can Christianity be reconciled with major world religions and Christmas expressed in an ecumenical stage so that the story becomes a universal message?

Dean Lloyd says that all religions share the vision of God who has been everywhere. Christians believe that Christ is the defining insight of who God is, in the body of Jesus of Nazareth. We follow Him and He teaches us to respect and love and honor other traditions.

3) How can we overcome the sometimes overwhelming cultural aspects of our Christmas?

We need to learn to nurture and cultivate the Christmas message of hope, Dean Lloyd answers, the ways of staying loving, hopeful, alive, generous and connected rather than frightened, anxious, closed down and pulled into ourselves. We need to listen and create the space for God in our daily lives. We need to listen, create space for God and trust that life will enter in, and it is a thing of grace. We can contribute to the Christmas story by being people of hope.

Dean Lloyd observes that the Christmas story has the rich power to deepen our lives now. Christ is continually being born and being in our lives, giving us work to do and is part of the enormous possibility of what’s happening now.

author’s note: If he hasn’t already, Dean Lloyd could make wonderful books of official collections and recollections of his presentations and sermons and conversations. They’d greatly benefit many lay and pastoral readers.

This effort has not been requested or acknowledged by the National Cathedral. Any mistakes and inaccuracies are wholly my own. The presentation is available online in its entirety and should be checked to verify.

Where To Go For Dinner In The United States Of America

Bocuse d’Or (Preliminary) Contestants Are Announced

The chefs are:

Luke Bergman, 28, of The Modern, Museum of Modern Art; NYC

James Kent, 30, of Eleven Madison Park; NYC

John Rellah, 40, of the New York Yacht Club, and

Jeremie Tomczak, 33, French Culinary Institute. The other chefs are

Danny Cerqueda, 29, of the Carolina Country Club in Raleigh, N.C.;

Michael Clauss, 35, of Daily Planet in Burlington, Vt.;

Mark Liberman, 31, of Roxy’s Black Sheep of West Palm Beach, Fla.; (can't find website)

Christopher Parsons, 38, of Catch in Winchester, Mass.;

Jennifer Petrusky, 22, of Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago;  (best website - most content)

Andrew Weiss, 28, of the Chef’s Workshop in Las Vegas; (can't find website)

Percy Whatley, 40, of the Ahwahanee in Yosemite, Calif., and the Top Chef contestant

Kevin Gillespie, 26, of the Woodfire Grill, Atlanta, Ga. (A position on the team was a reward in one of the show’s competitions.)

The chefs, each assisted by a commis, will compete on Feb. 6 at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., to see who will go on to cook against teams from 23 other countries at the Bocuse d’Or International Culinary Competition in Lyon, France on Jan. 25 and 26, 2011, "perhaps the most demanding and prestigious cooking contest"NYTimes.com

Some of these restaurants take reservations online. Please let me know if you find the missing websites and they'll be added. (My words are italicized.)

America's Current Health Care System Is Not "Up To Code"

There is so much wrong with Senator Gregg's remarks on healthcare on NPR Saturday, I hardly know where to start.   He made very aggressive statements against the healthcare bill currently being debated. At the same time he doesn't begin to address the problems that the healthcare bill is supposed to solve. His fellow Republicans haven't succeeded in the past one hundred years.

Sen. Gregg, wikimedia.com

He says the debate is first, to get everybody covered.

Sen. Gregg says second, to get health care costs down.

The third stated goal is to keep the current system, "make sure that if you had an insurance that you like, that you were comfortable with, you didn't lose it."

Sen. Gregg claims that the current healthcare bill does not solve these concerns, although he insists on keeping the current status quo in place with "comfortable" insurance.

The logic of the bill itself defies me, but I have to give current lawmakers good marks for getting farther than any previous administration. The government expects widespread agreement to start a new system charging higher payments to all while keeping the current broken, corrupt system in place.

The government  would make those without healthcare insurance now pay for the public option, more than they already are in taxes. But Americans already pay more for healthcare  than taxpayers do in most other countries. What incentives exactly will it take to get costs down, and make healthcare more efficient, organized and better for all patients?

Is healthcare a human right or is it a "comfort"?

"Health care is a privilege," Representative Zach Wamp (Republican-Tennessee) explained in a March 2009 interview. "[I]t's not necessarily a right." An international treaty signed by America in 1948, however, makes that particular assertion untrue, and here's proof.

Question: Is Universal Health Care a Human Right?

Answer: According to the most widely accepted international human rights treaties, yes.

Article 25 of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) reads (emphasis mine):

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Likewise, Article 12 of the U.N. International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1966) reads:

1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

2. The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for:

(a) The provision for the reduction of the stillbirth-rate and of infant mortality and for the healthy development of the child;

(b) The improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene;

(c) The prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases;

(d) The creation of conditions which would assure to all medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness.

Because the United States is a signatory to both treaties, and U.S. policymakers played a role in drafting both treaties, it would stand to reason that health care would be accepted as part of the American understanding of human rights.

America has an internationally accepted responsibility to stop the current brutal exclusionary system and make "healthcare for all" a reality for its own populace. So far America hasn't taken its responsibility seriously. It needs to get "up to code."

You can find a transcript of Senator Gregg's interview or hear it again in its entirety at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121119749