Tag: hope

Art, Christianity, church, easter, Faith, Holly Week, Jesus2 Comments

Out of the Ashes of Holy Week

Gary Furr

The emotions of Holy Week run the gamut.  From the wild enthusiasm of Palm Sunday morning to dread and anxiety of Maundy Thursday, the stark hopelessness of Good Friday and “darkness across the face of the earth” to the somber placing of Jesus in a borrowed tomb, the pilgrimage takes us through the full range of human experiences. Churches will look forward to crowded sanctuaries on Sunday morning, naturally. Children in beautiful new Easter clothes, beautiful ladies’ hats, uplifting music and, unless a pastor has the flu, a message of enthusiastic hope and energy. A great crowd, a holiday,: of course, … Continue reading Out of the Ashes of Holy Week

hope2 Comments

Hope: Quotes Worth Having

Gary Furr

Frederick Buechener “Ministers and congregation both, they came to church year after year, and who is to say how if at all their lives were changed as the result? If you’d stopped and asked them on any given Sunday, I suspect they would have said they weren’t changed much.  Yet they kept on coming anyway; and beneath all the lesser reasons they had for doing so, so far beneath that they themselves were only half aware of it, I think there was a deep reason, and if I could give only one word to characterize that reason, the word I would give is … Continue reading Hope: Quotes Worth Having

America, Art, Culture, Dr. Gary Furr & Friends, fear, Folk, folk music, Forgiveness, Gary Furr music, history, Hope, humanity, Justice, Martin Luther King, Memory, Music, Politics, Politics, Race, spirituality, Story, Theology and Life, Tragedy, violence1 Comment

Remembering Martin Luther King

Gary Furr

Fifty years ago this week, Martin Luther King’s life was frozen in time for the whole world. His words keep living, his story keeps being told, and the events of his life are examined again and again.  It is not that time any more. The pain is more diffuse, spread into new struggles for equality and justice. It is worth marking the remarkable changes that have happened in that fifty years. We can go to any restaurant and drink from the same fountains. A lot of things are better, much better. But the pain he saw is still in the … Continue reading Remembering Martin Luther King

Americana, Art, Bill Monroe, Bluegrass, Country Music, Culture, Earl Scruggs, Folk, folk music, Gary Furr music, Hope, Music, Old-time music3 Comments

Start Young

Gary Furr

If you don’t know who Ricky Skaggs is, then you really don’t know anything about bluegrass and old-time music. It’s important to distinguish those two terms. “Bluegrass” technically didn’t exist before the 1940s. It was literally invented as a form by Bill Monroe, recasting the traditional old time music of his Kentucky and Appalachian roots with a new sound built around his unique mandolin playing. The mandolin took a new role as a centerpiece performing lead instrument inMonroe’s vision. He was truly a unique American music phenomenon. Monroe inspired an entire generation of musicians and his influence lives on in … Continue reading Start Young

Abide with Me, Contemporary Christian Music, Death, Disappointment, Family, Grief, Hope, Hymns, hymns, Ministry, Suffering

Abide With Me

Gary Furr

Henry Francis Lyte was an Anglican priest who originally intended to be a doctor, but then entered the ministry. He was a prize-winning poet during his university years, and best known for his elegant hymn, “Abide With Me.” He continued to write religious poetry through his life.  He was born in 1793 and died when he was only fifty-four years of age. The first verse captures a transcendent and haunting mood: “Abide with me; fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me.” … Continue reading Abide With Me