Category Archives: Stories & Sound

J. R. R. Tolkien Remembered: When the Last Ship Departed the Grey Havens

On September 2, 1973, J. R. R. Tolkien died in Bournemouth (a seaside town on the southern coast of England) at the age of eighty-one. The New York Times remembered him the next day as a “linguist, scholar and author of The Lord of the Rings,” a man who cast “a spell over tens of thousands of AmericansContinueContinue reading “J. R. R. Tolkien Remembered: When the Last Ship Departed the Grey Havens”

Dinner, Mystery, and Memories: Our Night with the Impromptu Players

Our little corner of Louisiana doesn’t always get much theater, so when a community troupe puts on a show, it feels like an event. The Impromptu Players in DeRidder, now in their 43rd season, staged the interactive mystery Sherlock Holmes and the Bully of Baker Street. Last night, it was a full evening — dinner, fellowship,ContinueContinue reading “Dinner, Mystery, and Memories: Our Night with the Impromptu Players”

An Ordinary Love, Lifted into Song

Back in the 1980s, chasing U2’s spark led me to Clannad, whose music wove Ireland’s ancient roots into something fresh. Their duet with Bono, “In a Lifetime,” caught me in a spell, Moya Brennan’s voice like a breeze carrying secrets from another world. Without knowing a word of Irish Gaelic, I was enchanted, drawn intoContinueContinue reading “An Ordinary Love, Lifted into Song”

A Song That Surprised Me

I first heard “I Know A Name” at home while running through the worship setlist for an upcoming Sunday service. Up until then I mostly stuck to the old hymns — with the occasional early-2000s worship anthem thrown in. But recently, some newer songs have started sticking with me… This song, a collaboration between ElevationContinueContinue reading “A Song That Surprised Me”