Today is significant for me on a couple of levels. One, it's the memorial of my patron saint, Saint Cecilia. She is the patron saint of singers, songwriters, musicians - and self-taught guitar hacks! Here's some info about her: St. Cecilia info link. And some more here: Saint of the Day link

Two, I can very clearly remember this date in 1963, walking home from school having just been informed by our sixth-grade teacher that President John Kennedy had been shot. Our teacher told us he'd been wounded, they didn't know how badly - but by the time we were on our way home, he was already dead. I guess that incident must have made a pretty profound impact on me because I really don't have many recollections of my grade-school years - but this one is very distinct. I remember watching the funeral procession on TV a few days later. Even at the age of eleven it was unsettling, as if something you believed to be solid and reliable had just crumbled to dust. It felt like the world was now completely de-stabilized, and from a secular, political viewpoint, it probably was. But I most remember that strong emotional component. Although it was never said in words that I could understand, there was a feeling in the air that Kennedy represented a new approach to world and national policy that was going to change all the old nasty stuff and usher in the age of Camelot. At the time, we didn't know what a truly fallible human being JFK really was - he wasn't around long enough. But my world, and the world for every American, was changed and our course altered by that watershed event.

Third, a couple of well-known writers also died on that day in 1963: Aldous Huxley, author of 'Brave New World'; and Clive Staples (C. S.) Lewis. Huxley had little effect on my life. I read 'Brave New World' in high school but it seemed somewhat anti-climactic to me after reading George Orwell's '1984' - both painted a horrific picture of the future of humanity, a view that I desperately hoped was wrong. C. S. Lewis, on the other hand, has had a very big effect in my life, although I only got to know him in my adult years. I learned about Lewis by becoming addicted to J. R. R. Tolkein's 'The Lord of the Rings'. I found out that Tolkein and Lewis had been colleagues and friends, so I tried reading some Lewis. I was hooked pretty quickly and have been ever since. He was an atheist who became a Christian, and arguably one of the greatest apologists for Christianity in the twentieth century. I've loved 'The Chronicles of Narnia' for years now; but in terms of just getting the message of Christianity out to everyday people in language that they can understand, his classic 'Mere Christianity' has to be among the greatest pieces of writing ever. He tells it plainly and simply and never lets the reader take the easy way out when certain aspects of the faith seem to be difficult to accept. I still read and re-read Lewis frequently. He's simply a champion.....

So, November 22 is a day that carries a lot of meaning for me. Tomorrow we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. I'm praying for all of you to have a blessed and prayerful time.

                                                                                  jk