Dean’s Column
The Dean of the North Shore Chapter of AGO writes a monthly column for our newsletter, Overtones. Those messages will appear here, along with any other posts or articles from the Dean between editions.
Dean’s Column | March 2021
Scottish poet Robert Burns, ploughing his field, accidentally destroyed the nest that a mouse had carefully prepared in anticipation of winter. Reflecting, Burns left us the well-known phrase “best-laid plans”: You saw the fields laid bare and empty, and weary winter...
Dean’s Column | February 2021
Dear Friends, This pandemic has made me more aware than ever before that I have little control over the most important things in life. I can’t keep my loved ones safe. I’m not in charge of the world. So, I’m learning to surrender to this lack of control and find...
Dean’s Column | January 2021
Dear Friends, It has been said that an optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in, while a pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. If you were beat up by 2020, I can understand if you and those around you are anxious to see it go. I love a...
Dean’s Column | December 2020
Recently someone asked me the question, “When was the last time you did something for the first time?” That question gave me pause, as it seems a bit of a challenge to embrace new experiences within the limitations of our world today. The ideas that come to my mind...
Dean’s Column | November 2020
Dear Friends, A new genre of humor is emerging: jokes about 2020. I recently heard someone say they were not turning their clocks back “because no one wants an extra hour of this year.” I am not surprised that people want 2020 to be over. But, I do wonder why they...
Dean’s Column | October 2020
Dear Friends, These days, I’ve been thinking about things I need to spend more time considering. Thomas Hobbes famously suggested that life is “poor, nasty brutish and short.” One might assume he is speaking from the context we find ourselves in today. Yet, most of us...
Dean’s Column | September 2020
Dear Friends, It’s an Ice Age: Back when the Coronavirus was a news story from China, we had some warning from pundits that it was heading this way. As more and more cases occurred in the United States, it started to seem the only real question was whether it would...
Dean’s Column | July 2020
Dear Friends, Summer is officially here! It’s time to fire up those grills, fill up the coolers and get ready to engage in all those summer activities we have been looking forward to over the recent months. Well, not exactly….I think we would all agree it has...
Dean’s ColumnJune 2020
Dear Friends, Having watched Michael Jordan’s “The Last Dance” series a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but compare it to the situation facing many of us as musicians serving in a church setting. Is it possible we shared our “last dance” when we were...
Dean’s ColumnMay 2020
Dear Friends, If you are like me, you don’t want to hear one more thing about the present situation with the coronavirus. It seems to be part of most conversations, and of course, naturally so. Though, I do love the fact that the world has come to our doorstep in the...