Newsletter (Page 32)

The Gifts Are In The People

Transfiguration this coming Sunday marks the end of the Epiphany season, which will be replaced starting on the Wednesday after (Feb 14) by Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. During this seasonal change we will be taking the opportunity to hear from “the Body”, the people connected to University Lutheran, instead of from Pastor…

Niksen – A Dutch spiritual practice?

I recently had my first trip to IKEA, and so all things sort of Northern European/Scandinavian are interesting to me. So when I found out about the Dutch concept of “niksen”, I was intrigued. “Niksen” is best translated as “doing something without a purpose”, so it’s like staring out of a window just to stare…

The Fake Stuff

If you’ve ever had sushi in Japan, you’ll realize something when you taste the wasabi. There’s something wrong with it. Or more correctly there’s something wrong with the wasabi that you’re used to. The stuff that they serve at your favorite sushi restaurant in the United States, well, isn’t wasabi. It’s a horseradish blend with…

Behind the Carols: Angels We Have Heard on High

Gloooooo-ooo-ooo-ria! “Angels We Have Heard on High” This French hymn translated by John Chadwick into English is one of the greatest Christmas anthems that we have in the Church. But the French version is slightly different, it’s slightly more playful. The French version is loosely translated to “Angels in our Countryside,” and tends to bring…

Behind the Carols: O Holy Night

Hymn writing isn’t often done for the money, and so because of that, many hymn writers had second jobs. Placide Cappeau, the writer of “O Holy Night,” was actually better known for most of his life as Placide Cappeau, the one-handed lawyer wine merchant. Placide started life as the son of a vintner, a wine…

Behind the Carols: Joy to the World

“Joy to the World,” it is how we end every Christmas Eve service here at University Lutheran. This classic Christmas hymn is based on Psalm 98, which is a psalm of high praise – a good fit for a Christmas hymn, but it is also based on Genesis 3. The third verse of the hymn…