Accompanist // Practical Theologian // Voice Over Artist
Liturgical season preceding Christmas
In the second week of Advent I have been pondering what it means to prepare a highway for Jesus. This Advent highway has a wonderful word picture: Every valley shall be lifted up,and every mountain and hill be made low;the uneven ground shall become level,and the rough places a plain (Isaiah 40:4). It is, first,… Continue reading Preparing for a King
When I was a child there was a lot more talk about the second coming of Jesus. I was too young to get caught up in the theological debates about when and how Jesus was coming back, only that he was coming. And while, even as an adult, I have never found much interest in… Continue reading Waiting for Jesus
“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.” Mary waited, as a sword swings constantly before her, and the frantic mother and father looking for a lost twelve-year-old find him unapologetically residing in his Father’s house. Martha and Mary waited for their friend and Lord to come heal their… Continue reading As A Watchman Who Waits
Mary is waiting. When Gabriel arrives, she is waiting to marry Joseph. She is engaged, or rather, in more hefty biblical language and meaning, she is betrothed. She is technically married to Joseph. Now she is waiting out the prescribed year of preparation before she goes to live in Joseph's house as Joseph's wife. But… Continue reading Engaged to Gratitude
No, I've not taken to writing new slogans for Italian made cars that can be trusted. That is a Fi-at'. I am writing instead about fi'-at, the great "let it be done" in redemptive history. This fiat is not a resigned acceptance, a sort of spiritualized "que sera, sera, whatever will be will be." Rather… Continue reading Four Fiats
Resignation is a soul-deadening, light-obscuring posture of the soul. There is a hopeless inevitability in it that slowly shuts the door to God's comforting light. When Zechariah the priest entered the temple to burn incense that day a double-portion of resignation is residing in his soul. As an Israelite, he is the member of a… Continue reading A Merciful Silence (Zechariah Part 1)
His name is John...that caused a stir—and then it got even more interesting. Nine months of silence had been very good for Zechariah’s soul. And when he opened his mouth, his words had not a trace of doubt left in them. He blesses God. “And fear came on all their neighbors.” It would be the the normal response to… Continue reading Zechariah’s Song (Zechariah Part 2)
I think my eyes get cloudy in all the wrong the places. I am working hard to paint my house coordinating colors, to center the pictures I hang on walls, and put my books on the shelves in some kind of coherent order. I'm really quite clear about these things. But grace, a reality as… Continue reading Dusting Off Grace
Her story began in earnest with a clarion call from an angel. “Don’t be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.” But not too many chapters in, the plot got more complicated. An old man in the temple recognized this unique family for who they were, rejoiced that the Lord has allowed him “to see thy salvation” and then… Continue reading Mary’s Path
In the end, we always performed our choral works with orchestral accompaniment. During my years at Bethel College we performed Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s St. Paul, Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors and the Faure Requiem. But first came the rehearsals where I, as the rehearsal accompanist, attempted to approximate the glory of orchestral majesty initially contained in eighty-eight… Continue reading Orchestral Joy
Carla Waterman 