Publisher's Synopsis
The blue note and the minor key are ways we give darkness its voice, the author writes, yet within that darkness he finds beauty, grace and tenderness. This book is a gentle testimony of hope and a witness to the power of laughter and playfulness amid troubles that face us all. Friend-Jones juxtaposes Biblical commentary, theatre mimes and Amtrak journeys. He celebrates Welsh singing at national rugby matches, diagnoses "minor key angst" and reveals how the composer, Charles Ives, once saved his soul. A truly angelic cocktail party leads to an astonishing - and certainly heretical - conclusion, while he discerns an elusive and shape-shifting darkness behind so much holiday joy. Friend-Jones shares an insightful correspondence with a Shih Tzu. He knows Victoria's other secret. He argues that Arlo Guthrie's classic film, "Alice's Restaurant", is a modern - and tragic - reenactment of the saga of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. "Can one embrace a tragic view of life," he asks, and still be a person of faith?" These short essays attempt to answer that question. They have been collected from over 40 years of writing for church and community. Some are as brief as a few paragraphs; others are a bit longer. The book is loosely organized around the liturgical calendar of the Christian faith, but each essay stands alone. Through both secular recollections and sacred reflections, Friend-Jones shares his personal oscillation between doubt and awe that has characterized a lifetime of pastoral ministry.
