The sun rises to meet the blue sky above, casting its light upon a diamond of reddish dirt and fresh cut grass. A white ball pops against the worn, brown leather of the catcher’s mitt. The crack of the bat…
Springsteen and Easter: ‘The Rising’
Many fans of Bruce Springsteen will not be surprised that this series of writings on the intersection between Lent and the minstrel from Freehold Borough, N. J., should come to a conclusion with “The Rising” on Easter Sunday. The song…
Springsteen and Lent: Born in the USA
I always thought Palm Sunday was such a fun day as a child. Each year, the choir or children would enter into the sanctuary waving palm branches to a celebratory hymn of some sort. And each year, someone would awkwardly…
Springsteen and Lent: ‘We Are Alive’
As we continue through this Lenten season, I find myself becoming more and more overwhelmed with work. When I gaze at everything that needs to be done, however, it amounts to nothing more than usual. With winter waning and spring…
Springsteen and Lent, part 4: ‘Hungry Heart’
I had the privilege of participating in a nearly 35-year-old tradition two weeks ago. On Feb. 18, along with a few thousand people, I sang the opening verse and chorus of “Hungry Heart” at Bruce Springsteen’s stop in Atlanta while…
Springsteen and Lent, part 3: Fear and love
I was reminded a few months ago when I visited Ginter Park Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., of the numerous scriptures in which the phrase “Fear not” appears. Some counts suggest that phrase and similar phrases appear 365 times — one…
Springsteen and Lent, Part 2: The First Sunday in Lent
When I think of this week’s lectionary text from the book of Romans, I am always reminded of the now infamous comments of former Southern Baptist Convention president Bailey Smith. The year was 1987, and Smith was at a conference…
Springsteen and Lent: Part I, Ash Wednesday
In graduate school, it can often seem as if all of the good ideas have already been taken. Someone smarter and older has already written on whatever idea you may have. To remedy this seemingly unending problem, one begins to…
Finding new meaning in ‘blood’ language
By Andrew Gardner For numerous people the sight of blood can cause a level of queasiness unmatched by anything else. In a somewhat related manner, for some Christians who characterize themselves as moderate, progressive or (dare I say) liberal, the…