An art gallery downtown. Makoto Fujimura reads from The Four Quartets, testifies to what T.S. Eliot has meant to him. Tells of reading the poem aloud in the subway after 9/11. No one minded, he assures us.
Debra RienstraApril 15, 2016
I first found out about the new Broadway musical Hamilton during a car ride across Michigan last November. The family was packed in the minivan on our way to Thanksgiving dinner at my brother’s in Detroit. To pass the two-and-a-half hours of car time, we…
Debra RienstraJanuary 22, 2016
Calvin College, where I teach, faced another brutal round of budget cuts this fall, and not surprisingly, the arts took a hard hit. I lament this deeply, though I’m not complaining. I understand all the exigencies behind it, and I gratefully acknowledge that the process…
Debra RienstraJanuary 9, 2016
Now that I’ve turned 50 (on August 7), I have begun to reflect tentatively on mortality and legacy and all those things that hit you when your first AARP membership invitation arrives in the mail. But I admit I had not given much thought to…
Debra RienstraSeptember 5, 2015
Congratulations on starting dance lessons! Dance students gain many benefits through becoming better dancers. In order to assist your specialist teacher in personalizing your foundation and future programs, please let us know the five most important benefits you wish to receive through your dance lessons,…
Debra RienstraFebruary 6, 2015
Last night I sat on the steps of the United States Capitol and enjoyed my tax dollars at work in the form of the U. S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own.” It turns out that this elite army band is actually a collection of nine ensembles,…
Debra RienstraJuly 26, 2014
As I read Rohr’s book together with The Talent Code, I’m pondering the possible connections. For example, I wonder about this idea of “deep practice.” Could what Coyle has discovered about learning tennis and violin somehow be applied to the faith life? Could it be…
Debra RienstraJuly 12, 2014
I report to you late on Friday night after two exhilarating days at the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College. I’m exhausted and happy and there’s still a whole day to go.
Debra RienstraApril 21, 2012
Today, I would like to give some grateful public praise to people who put in a lot of none-but-the-angels labor: musicians.
Debra RienstraMarch 10, 2012
