In times of adversity and crisis, it is helpful to seek the counsel of wise teachers. Our guest today, Don Saliers, Theologian in Residence at Candler School of Theology, is one of our wisest teachers. He’s handling social distancing, in part, by playing the piano, revisiting sacred music from Bach to the spirituals. 

“There are times when I don’t have the words. And I don’t have the sense of what needs to be said. All I have is a kind of buzzing confusion of emotion or feeling, and then I come across a piece of music or a poem or psalm that articulates it for me, that gives me the language I need to say to God, and to myself.”

In this conversation, we explore the deep, rich treasury of Christian spirituality from music to poetry to prayer that allows us, even in adversity, to be fully alive to God as human beings in the world.


Psalms in Our Lamentable World, by Don Saliers:
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/yjmr/vol1/iss1/7/

Beethoven's Piano Sonatas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7sDg8_26N8

"Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXg9UFUXFXU

The Poetry of Mary Oliver:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/mary-oliver