by Jonni Turner | Dec 31, 2020 | Arts & Letters
Since early December this year I’ve been plagued by an earworm, and perhaps you have, too. This is hardly surprising amidst a global pandemic during a year like 2020. According to one article, “Earworms are a generally benign form of rumination, the repetitive,...
by Jonni Turner | Apr 29, 2020 | Arts & Letters
Life in a pandemic takes thought down intertwining paths. As spring approaches, I find myself in a peculiar headspace. Lament and exultation dance in counterpoint, as do death and life. Sometimes words are not enough to explain what I feel. It takes music to fully...
by Jonni Turner | Aug 31, 2019 | Arts & Letters
It may seem strange at the end of a long, hot, febrile summer to call to mind a piece of music from a chillier season half a year away. Written in the Middle Ages and traditionally sung in spring, the Hymn of Kassia is heard in public once in the church calendar,...
by Jonni Turner | Apr 30, 2019 | Arts & Letters
Easter Sunday is a trumpet peal of light and glory at winter’s end. The Lord is risen indeed, and all sing Alleluia! Thus begins Eastertide, the most festal season of the Christian church. Easter also marks the end of Lent, season of penitence and prayer and, among...
by Jonni Turner | Aug 29, 2018 | Arts & Letters
A fascinating aspect of God is the way he finds you. He knows when and where you begin your quest for truth, even before you do. How this happens is a mystery; when it happens could be anytime, anywhere. Surprisingly often it occurs when you are touched by metaphor...
by Jonni Turner | Feb 18, 2018 | Arts & Letters
On my desktop as I write this post is Joel Auerbach’s heart-rending photograph of grieving parents, taken after the school shooting in Florida on Ash Wednesday. A work laden with so many layers and depths of meaning etches itself into the consciousness of millions. It...
