Category Archives: Religion

Alvin Ailey II

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Last night, Anne was still not feeling well, so I took her ticket and went with Joanie to see Alvin Ailey II perform at UMSL’s Touhill. The evening’s dance concert was preceded by a rock concert performed in the auditorium’s Terrace lobby. The rock concert was a tribute to Saint Louis’s own Chuck Berry. The tribute band What the Chuck! was led by Berry’s son and includes his grandsons.

Ailey II is the company’s JV squad or as Anne likes to call them the farm team. Even so, they are still quite professional and based on the size of the house, much respected in Saint Louis. They opened their show with a hat tip to Berry and Saint Louis in a continuation of the lobby’s concert with Berry Dreamin’, a dance that featured Chuck Berry’s music.

The second act’s dance, Down the Rabbit Hole continues choreographer Houston Thomas’s earlier work and expands on its themes of examining the relationship between humans and technology. Inspired by The Matrix films, this dance explores how technology weaves itself into the fabric of our life, transforming how we as humans interact and function. Set to a techno music score, this high-powered piece asks the question: Technological change—are we powering it or is it powering us?

The final act featured Revelations, Alvin Ailey’s signature work from 1960. Inspired by the spirituals of his youth, this work features traditional gospel music. This dance is divided into three sections.

The first section, “Pilgrim of Sorrow”, begins in total stillness. When the stage is illuminated, the earthy colors of the costumes appear as drab earthtones. Ailey’s intention was to portray people attempting to rise up from the ground. The motions of these dancers also add to this portrayal. This dance has arms reaching up, as people reach skyward as they rise.

The next dance section, “Take me to the Water”, is set to the spiritual “Wade in the Water”. Which was used by slaves as a euphonism for riverbank escapes. This dance portrays a baptism, symbolizing another pathway to freedom. Bolts of fabric were waved behind the dancers to represent the water.

The final section, “Move, Members, Move” celebrates the liberating power of gospel music. It is also the most positive and uplifting section. A rousing church service is enacted complete with Sunday hats, fans and stools. The entire cast appears onstage, conveying a huge celebration.

As with any good performance in town, at its finally, this Saint Louis audience rose like a herd of clapping seals and earned an encore for its trouble.

What the Chuck! in the Terrace Lobby at the Touhill

A Trifecta of Lunar Holidays

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Today, we are on the cusp of a trifecta of lunar holidays. Through the vagaries of lunar calendars superimposed upon our regular Julean one, today we celebrate three different holidays. The Lunar New Year, Ramadan and Mardi Gras, the gateway to Lent and eventually Easter all begin today. While all three holidays occur annually, having them all start simultaneously is a rare trifecta.

The pictured 39¢ US postage was first issued in 2006, a year of the dog. This year, 2026, is the year of the horse and is celebrated throughout the world as the beginning of a new year. Today, begins a major celebration marked by family reunions, cleaning to sweep away bad luck, decorating with red, and setting off fireworks to deter evil spirits. While still valid postage, one of these stamps is no longer enough to mail a letter. These stamps were first collected by my father, who was a lifelong philatelist.

In the photograph of the Ka’ba (cube), we see some of the multitude of nearly three million Muslims that come to Mecca every year to pray around it. Circling it in a dense crowd, sweeping by in an almost impossible, undulating wave, they recite their invocations to Allah, their voices become as one as they speak the supreme supplication, “Here I am, O God, at Thy command. Here I am!” It is an overwhelming reminder of the unifying principles of the Hajj. While the Hajj is not Ramadan per se, Ramadan does serve as preparation for it.

Saint Louis as its name implies is a very Catholic town. Consequently, we boast the second largest Mardi Gras celebration in this country, second only to New Orleans. Fat Tuesday is followed by Ash Wednesday, Lent and eventually Easter. I was raised Catholic and I remember being asked to give something up for Lent. This is a bleak time of year. One that easily lends itself to self-sacrifice, but for today, let us celebrate. We can always repent tomorrow.

Da Pope

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Laguna Seca

Da Bears! Da Bulls! Da Pope! Pop a cork, because Chicago is celebrating its good fortune, having sired America’s first pope. It must take some broad shoulders to pull off this feat. Today’s Chicago paper crowed the headline, “Da Pope,” and the memes have flowed freely ever since. This includes silly TikTok videos of cats wearing bras on their heads like they are some sort of Mitre.

Meanwhile back here on the ranch, the sound of race cars can be heard from across the valley. Laguna Seca is hosting a Weathertech sponsored race this weekend. The cars arrived earlier this week in a line of semis that Anne mistook for a train. On our way west last week, we passed train after train full of shipping containers and these trucks parked on the ridgeline looked like them. It is warm enough now that some venting feels good.

Lent

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Photo by Ahna Ziegler on Unsplash

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Lent lasts just shy of six weeks and ends after a forty-day countdown with Easter. Meanwhile, in the last six weeks, our country has gone from being the ‘Shining beacon on a Hill’ to The Shining. This dichotomy between the holy and the profane puts us at a crossroads. Where do we go from here? I was raised Catholic. I knelt at the altar and had the ash of incinerated fronds from last year’s Palm Sunday smeared across my forehead. Believe me, by lunch time the original cross looked more like a smear. During Covid, I was not any better at not touching my face.

Traditionally, Lent is a time for penance. It coincides with the leanest time of the year, making it easier to give up on wanting things that you do not have and are not likely to get. This year’s Lent also brings the added sorrow of an ailing pope, a good pope. It is an open question whether or not he will make it to Easter. His suffering and that of those who support him is one more thing that can be offered up as penance. In the past, I have offered up penance. First giving up childish things like TV or candy. Growing older this habit persisted, even as much of my faith fell away. More recently, I have offered up penance by going dry or again not eating candy. This year, I am trying something new. I am giving up my $4.6T tax cut. Again, it is something that I do not have and are not likely to get. Leavening this sacrifice, I am willing to donate these proceeds to the poor, think Medicaid and SNAP and the elderly, think Medicare and Social Security. I believe that this is the right thing to do, the Christian thing to do.