To Hear the Falconer

My father, Howard Webber, has published a long-awaited book: To Hear the Falconer: Song and Prophecy for the Time of War, Want, and Warming.  It is an epic poem—song, prophecy, and prayer—crafted using many scriptural quotations and allusions.  I remember him working on this manuscript when I was a child, and I hear his voice in every line, so I cannot help but love it.  But I’ve also heard praise of it from other, more impartial readers.  It’s rewarding to read, and prayerful to read aloud.

You can find it on Amazon, read the author’s page about it, or see the author’s short video introduction.

2012-07-02T11:05:21-05:00July 2, 2012|0 Comments

A Sermon on Psalm 90: “The Window Opens”

Here’s a video recording of a sermon I delivered in the First Congregational Church of DeKalb, IL on Sunday, November 13, 2011. The text was Psalm 90:1-12, and as part of the sermon I sang two songs: “Dies Irae” and “I Think”. The “Dies Irae” is some 800 years old, with a Latin text said to have been written by Thomas of Celano, the friend and disciple (and official biographer) of Francis of Assisi. I sang a subset of the verses, using the 1848 English translation by William Irons. The second song, “I Think”, is one I wrote myself.

2011-11-20T22:50:29-06:00November 20, 2011|1 Comment

Animals’ Meditation on Psalm 83

Animals' Meditation on Psalm 83

O God, do not keep silence;
	do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
Even now your enemies are in tumult;
	those who hate you have raised their heads.
They lay crafty plans against your people;
	they consult together against those you protect.
They say, "Come, let us enslave them, bring them to nought,
	let the spirits of free animals be remembered no more."
They conspire with one accord;
	against you they make a covenant--
the tents of Con Agra and Cargill,
	ADM and Swift Foods,
Monsanto with the shareholders of Hormel,
DuPont also has joined them;
	they are the strong arm of the children of the apes.

How long will you be silent, O God,
	while your people weep?
In vast stinking pens we pray to you,
	in dark dreams, in rows upon rows.
We are born and ripped from our mothers,
	we give birth, but our children are taken away.
Happy are they who are born upon the free earth;
	in living and in dying they sing your praises.
Who will glorify your name, O God,
	when all your children are broken and silent?

As fire consumes the forest,
	as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
so pursue your enemies with your tempest
	and terrify them with your hurricane.
Fill their faces with shame,
	so that they may seek your name, O Lord.
Let them know that you alone,
	whose name is the Lord,
	are the Most High over all the earth.
2011-09-17T19:49:22-05:00September 15, 2011|2 Comments
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