COMMUNITY A few years ago the modern choral music composer Eric Whitacre created a virtual choir online. He recorded himself conducting a piece he composed called 'Lux Aurumque' (Light and Gold) and then uploaded it. Thousands of people recorded themselves singing their various parts (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) and uploaded the videos. Then they were assembled in one beautiful, virtual community of a video which was finally uploaded to YouTube. You can wa...

SEATTLE & BACH FESTIVAL This part of the sabbatical continues to be more family oriented as we spend a few days as tourists in Seattle, Washington and then take in parts of the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene, Oregon. Before Elisabeth and I were married from August 2001 until August 2002, Elisabeth lived in Seattle as part of the Lutheran Volunteer Corps (where she worked at Seattle Habitat for Humanity) while I lived for a year at Holden Village. We were...