October :: Porch Story

• Porch Stories host Kristin reveals an extremely varied October; her book suggestions always interest me.

• Here are a few of this month's stories from round about town!



• Very early in October, Green Teammate Jane and I enjoyed a middle eastern dinner with conversation about our currents.



• LA Metro Fall Conference happened in my old South Central 'hood; not any pictorially memorable metting moments, but the pumpkin-themed table décor was seasonably pretty—pumpkin desserts, too!



• With the school no longer on site, Green Team meetings in Glendale no longer bring a plethora of pics, but I found a worthwhile glimpse of the playground plus one of intertwined flowers and greens.





• A small sampling of the many excellent images a romp through one of the largest local Farmers Markets yielded; I also enjoyed a [not illustrated here] savory Peruvian lunch.



• Sunday morning closest to St. Francis day for annual Critter Blessing No. 3.



• Last moonflower of 2019.



• Another Level Ministries celebrated Ten Years! at The Proud Bird—within easy earshot of LAX. Surprising that I didn't find any memorable photo opps at the celebration itself.



• Roxy Kitteh flew from DFW through PHX to SAN nine years ago!


• It's been far too long since I blogged blueberries (or any berries), so here's some for this year as the berries season slows and concludes.



• As a church geek, theology geek I had to celebrate Reformation Day 502. I didn't get a bulletin cover designed for my church this time, but upcycled a design from a previous year for this blog and for twitter. Really appropriate since again I discussed the Jeremiah pericope with my SS class. Can you say "neighborology"? Can you live neighborology?

A Glad Obedience

• A Glad Obedience: Why and What We Sing by Walter Brueggemann on Amazon

Inspired by the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Glory to God hymnal, "A Glad Obedience" by Hebrew bible scholar Walter Brueggemann with a foreword by renowned liturgical scholar John Witvliet, what we sing in church is not only the Genevan Psalter (as it used to invariably be in John Calvin's Geneva Reform and in some of the American colonies)—singing in church covers many different styles, meters, rhythms, and modalities from continental Europe and from the British Isles, those places where American protestantism began.

If you've been attending church during this century, you've experienced hymns from African, Caribbean, Asian, and other cultures. (However, We Are Marching in the Light of God that originated in South Africa is the only non-traditional church song the author considers.) Alongside the kind of old favorites Brueggemann focuses on, If you've attended church even sporadically during the twenty-first century, in a more non-denominational setting you may have been surrounded by or sung what's sometimes called contemporary worship music, usually led by a band; in a mainline protestant or Roman Catholic church of any size, hymnody – and liturgy settings – almost definitely have included pieces by Marty Haugen, David Haas and cohorts.

Book is in two main sections:

• Why We Sing – an overview of four psalms explicating God's gracious, redemptive acts throughout history;

and

• What We Sing – an overview of 15 standard-issue hymns (and a chapter about sparrows) that respond to God acting in our lives. They're mostly British Isles/North American, ending with the aforementioned "We Are Marching" …no Lutheran chorales. Absence of chorales is a bit surprising, given how much of the history of new world immigration and the history of American Lutheranism run parallel, and given WB's Evangelical Reformed roots. The book concludes by considering The Covenantal Fidelity of the Psalms. After all, Walter Brueggemann is the author!

Despite finding A Glad Obedience relatively underwhelming – probably because I tend to rely on WB for biblical scholarship and incisive theology – I'm happy to have discovered this approach that could be exceptionally helpful in a small group or bible study gathering. The facilitator or another individual could choose a hymn or a stanza from a hymn to explore in terms of history, imagery, scriptural sources, and daily application. Of course, everyone present would sing together, either a cappella or with keyboard or instrumental accompaniment.

• My Amazon Review: underwhelming yet helpful overall

Better Together

• Better Together: Life is Best with a Friend Like You on Amazon.

This board-bound small size coffee table type book comes from Christian publisher Zondervan and follows the general concept of gift books and flip cards that have scripture quotes to help jump start your day or catapult a person out of a funk.

In seven inspirational categories that include Friendship, Respect, and Diversity, each spread features a full-color photo of a cute cat, dog, bunny, or other furry creature on one side, a memorable quote on the other. I especially like how they visually emphasize a single word within each quote, so you can ponder the whole and then consider possibilities like oneness, difference, immersion, compassion, love, peace, purpose.

Better Together: Life Is Best with a Friend Like You would be a nice standalone or tuck-in gift, though I plan to keep my copy. Endnotes provide sources for the quotes and copyright information.

• My Amazon Review: Life *IS* Better Together