I’ve just returned from the annual Bishop’s Retreat for the Clergy of the Diocese of Virgina at Shrine Mont in Orkney Springs. It was wonderful to take a few days away from the busy routine of parish ministry and give my soul time to catch up with the rest of me. We were blessed by the leadership of both Br. Curtis Almquist (Superior) and Br. Geoffry Tristram from the Society of Saint John the Evangelist (SSJE) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Their meditations were profound and authentic expressions of life and ministry grounded in prayer and engagement with the human condition. They shared insights on topics such as expectant hope, performance anxiety, strength from weakness, and the unique shape each of us brings in our motivated abilities and gifts for the common good.
I relished in the gift of time to be with my friend “Marzal” (nickname for my favorite guitar), and to work on Bach’s “Air” from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068. The arrangement I’m playing is by the fine Sweedish Guitarist, Per-Olov Kindgren. I played the piece for those gathered for Compline on Tuesday evening and folks expressed appreciation for the way it led them into prayer. Here’s a video of me practicing on the third floor of Pennsylvania House accompanied by sounds of wind, cars driving on gravel, seasoned with a bit of reverb to the audio via Garage Band. I recorded it on my Ultra Flip camcorder. Fun with technology. Enjoy.
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Very nice. Hope that gets included in the Good Friday Stations of the Cross music.
This is just a marvelous clip. I believe that the car crunching over the gravel (and visible in the background) actually lends a unique quality to the clip — a sort of “despite it all, despite the cars and other material trappings of our lives there will be beautiful, inspirational uplifting music, and it will be Bach!”
Bravo!
Lovely. I especially like the clean melody line playing it on guitar, and also the real-life background ambience. Thanks for sharing this!