Wittenberg: For the Students Who Were Planning to Travel to Germany with Me

Nineteen Houghton students were supposed to celebrate Easter with me this morning in the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany (the church spire is in the background of this postcard view of Wittenberg, with Luther's statue in the town square in the foreground), where Luther is said to have launched the Reformation by nailing his 95 Theses to the church door.

That trip unfortunately did not take place, one of many things to fall victim to the coronavirus pandemic. I hoped that perhaps the church might put its worship services online, but that appears not to be the case. However, I did find a short clip of some Bible readings, followed by the organist playing Widor, and ending with some prayers. (The readings and prayers are in German, of course.) So if any of you students are reading, you can get at least a small glimpse of the church, and can hear the organ.

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Chinese Painting

The Wall Street Journal has been running some interesting articles under the heading of "The Staying Inside Guide," offering suggestions for artistic or cultural resources to view online during the pandemic. Yesterday I came across an interesting one entitled "Immersive Painted Worlds," on Chinese painting, about which I know virtually nothing. (The article may be behind a subscription firewall.) The article has an impressive number of links to various things online, and I watched the first couple, a pair of 15-minute videos from a former BBC program called "The Culture Show," which together form an episode on "The Art of Chinese Painting." I thought they were quite interesting. The first episode introduced me to the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang , which I had never heard of before. Located in the Gobi Desert, they contain a wealth of wall paintings and statues that are well over 1000 years old and were unknown to the outside world for cen...

Church Again

Maybe I should take a temporary break from posting about things I'm reading to write about something else for a change. How about church? Today was the second Sunday we were permitted to return to church in person again. Last week I was there just with a few of my children, today the whole family was back. It's not quite the same, of course. Everyone is required to wear masks. And of course there is social distancing enforced, with many pews blocked off. For now we are permitted to operate at only 25% of capacity, which in our small parish means no more than 31 people present. (Though we can sneak in a few more if need be by having my family sit up in the choir loft with me.) To make sure we don't exceed the limit, we have set up a system for people to reserve a spot if they want to attend, which they do by contacting yours truly. I then keep a list. So far it hasn't been a problem, though--I don't think word has fully gotten ...

Paris Cafes Open Again

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Plague Time

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