Maybe. But out here in the real world, beyond statistics, my sense is that these percentages are highly inflated. The “nones” are in ascendancy, and we few Christians (who don’t claim the name only) whisper to each other about the nihilism we see around us. It’s fine. I like the whisper more than the shout these days.
This is self-identification and it includes a lot of wishful thinking and cultural identity and protective coloration. How many of the 26% Protestants actually attend church, do you guess?
Church is a nice place to be to pretend to be a Christian, but if one doesn't have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit on a daily basis church is just another social event.
I was at your Palm Springs show and enjoyed it immensely. It was the first time I've seen you since the procedure at Mayo. I must say that, to me, you looked better than I've seen you in quite some time, and I've seen you a fair amount this year (Denver, Livermore, Wabash--both the show and at breakfast next morning). Your color was healthy, you seemed relaxed and comfortable. I'm going to credit your newly-installed heart part for that. Amazing what a little more oxygenated blood will do for a person.
"Analyzed" and "diagnosis" sound a bit clinical to me, and I am not, nor have I ever been, a physician. As a long-time follower of yours, I noticed and appreciated that you are thriving post-procedure. Happy to see you doing what you love. Keep up the good work!
I loved the visuals, especially the man with ponytail and headphones and of course the Metallica T-shirt. Well done. I don’t think music is the problem though; if anything I think music is a great comfort. I think it’s mostly a mix of the iPhone, social media, and the rise of helicopter parenting. (It’s more complex than that, of course, but speaking generally.) Aka: polarization and the fragmentation of society, media and politics.
"I wonder if, years from now, a crowd will sing Metallica songs for the pleasure of it." Hopefully, most of that age-sector of yelling will not have the vocal cords to yell it.
Bing Crosby's version of "White Christmas is still the Leader Single of All Time:
Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" has been credited with selling 50 million copies, the most by any release and therefore it is the biggest-selling single worldwide of all time." We wore the record out on mom's Victrola when we were kids.
George Burns could sing both verse and refrain, Listen up for the latter
"The sun was shining the grass was green, the orange and palm trees grow; There's never have been such a day, in Beverly Hills, LA. But now it's December 24th, and I'm longing to be up North."
And so it is up here in the North, the whereabouts of Woebegon. Garrison, good luck in finding some old guy like us humming it on the conveyance. Crank it up a notch! Tom.
Nicely done, Garrison. It’s probably true that Metalica songs will not be passed on to the next generations, but there are still memoirs about happy childhoods and I hope will always be.
You are probably too busy to read such memoirs but I will mention mine which I wrote here in Minnesota. The title is: Don’t Marry An American.
The subtitle: a memoir of coming to America.
I came from Mount Olympus, Greece, to get my education. I had hoped that I would honor my mother’s admonition about marriage but I did not. Instead I used it as the title of my book, which is available through all bookstores and on Amazon. More info at, www.benkyriagis.com
By the way, my American wife of forty-four years, loves the title and the stories behind it!
They say that just about everyone and everything have a connection to Greece! Have you found yours yet? I hope that you will find it in my memoir!
Thanks for your contributions to Storytelling and for enriching the culture of our shared Humanity!
Back in the summer, around his birthday and for mine, my daughter treated me to a McCartney concert at Fenway Park in Boston. It was epic. As soon as the first chord of “Hey Jude” rang through the stands, everyone immediately began singing in unison right down to the last na na na nah. Afterward, as we strolled to the car, we stopped for a Fenway hot dog (so good!) and it occurred to me that singing that song together, from “What’s His Namers” to staunch liberals and everyone in between, suddenly there were no “haters” or racists or people who loved shooting deer for sport. During the length of that song, we were united on common ground and as God determined in the beginning, “It was good.” Leaving the stadium, we would all revert to our respective selves, but I, for one, will cherish that unity in song for the rest of my life.Thanks, Sir Paul.
"...shooting deer for sport." AKA: fun. Those poor lost souls inflicting terror and horrific pain (& death) on those defenseless creatures. When will we wake up?
Must say I prefer your sonnets to those of Metallica or Megadeath or any of the other heavies inflicted upon us by Gen X. My stepson preferred them in his youth. His daughters vex him now, as he once vexed me. One thing we can all agree upon is Joni Mitchell's Circle Game. We all know it and live it in three part harmony. Grunge be damned. May we, all of us, have a merry little Christmas
I am an old man., I am just past 90. I dø not live in the past, but each new day live in the present and anticipate the future. My past has built in me an appreciation for the world around me. Of what nature has wrought. This morning nature brought, on wings, numerous birds to the bird feeder on our lakeside deck. They put up with the squirrel who snatched some of the seeds and suet. It was a good start of another day.
I loved this one so much. I laughed, I cried, and I did sing along the whole song and then all three verses. That’s when I really cried. Thank you, thank you.
Just a comment on your dismissal of Metallica... I am a 71 year old lover of Prairie Home, Thrash Metal, the Swing music my father collected and much more...
The song you referenced was released 38 years ago. More than half of my life and almost half of yours! Seems to have a bit of staying power...
I think of metal bands as screaming meemie bands. Not to my taste. Christine McVeigh of Fleetwood Mac died today. So many rockers who gave us memorable music are gone and going. I can’t remember why I walked into the kitchen, but can sing Beatles songs at the drop of a hat after 58 years. Some songs speak to you, some are white noise, and some just got nothin’ to say.
It’s good there is so much music out there in the air, enough for all of us. We connect to others by singing along. Music- even Metallica- makes the world a better place for us all.
You continue to make our world a more beautiful place with your words, Mr. Keillor, and bringing people together in song.
"Small minority"?
Roman Catholicism (31%)
Protestantism (26%)
Mormonism (0.5%)
Eastern Orthodoxy (1%)
Jehovah’s Witnesses (1%)
Other Christian (0.5%)
No religion (27%)
Judaism (7%)
source: New York University
Maybe. But out here in the real world, beyond statistics, my sense is that these percentages are highly inflated. The “nones” are in ascendancy, and we few Christians (who don’t claim the name only) whisper to each other about the nihilism we see around us. It’s fine. I like the whisper more than the shout these days.
This is self-identification and it includes a lot of wishful thinking and cultural identity and protective coloration. How many of the 26% Protestants actually attend church, do you guess?
Church is a nice place to be to pretend to be a Christian, but if one doesn't have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit on a daily basis church is just another social event.
I was at your Palm Springs show and enjoyed it immensely. It was the first time I've seen you since the procedure at Mayo. I must say that, to me, you looked better than I've seen you in quite some time, and I've seen you a fair amount this year (Denver, Livermore, Wabash--both the show and at breakfast next morning). Your color was healthy, you seemed relaxed and comfortable. I'm going to credit your newly-installed heart part for that. Amazing what a little more oxygenated blood will do for a person.
Raoul Renaud
Davis, California
I didn't realize I was being closely analyzed but thanks for the diagnosis.
"Analyzed" and "diagnosis" sound a bit clinical to me, and I am not, nor have I ever been, a physician. As a long-time follower of yours, I noticed and appreciated that you are thriving post-procedure. Happy to see you doing what you love. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for the observation. I never look at myself because I'm so grim-faced and looking at me makes me even more so.
Beautiful and heartfelt feelings, and I've no doubt your observations are shared by countless millions.
“May 2023 bring us before it has flown
What we would have wished for had we only known.”
You made me cry.
I loved the visuals, especially the man with ponytail and headphones and of course the Metallica T-shirt. Well done. I don’t think music is the problem though; if anything I think music is a great comfort. I think it’s mostly a mix of the iPhone, social media, and the rise of helicopter parenting. (It’s more complex than that, of course, but speaking generally.) Aka: polarization and the fragmentation of society, media and politics.
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
"I wonder if, years from now, a crowd will sing Metallica songs for the pleasure of it." Hopefully, most of that age-sector of yelling will not have the vocal cords to yell it.
Bing Crosby's version of "White Christmas is still the Leader Single of All Time:
Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" has been credited with selling 50 million copies, the most by any release and therefore it is the biggest-selling single worldwide of all time." We wore the record out on mom's Victrola when we were kids.
George Burns could sing both verse and refrain, Listen up for the latter
"The sun was shining the grass was green, the orange and palm trees grow; There's never have been such a day, in Beverly Hills, LA. But now it's December 24th, and I'm longing to be up North."
And so it is up here in the North, the whereabouts of Woebegon. Garrison, good luck in finding some old guy like us humming it on the conveyance. Crank it up a notch! Tom.
Thanks to all!
Thank You.
Nicely done, Garrison. It’s probably true that Metalica songs will not be passed on to the next generations, but there are still memoirs about happy childhoods and I hope will always be.
You are probably too busy to read such memoirs but I will mention mine which I wrote here in Minnesota. The title is: Don’t Marry An American.
The subtitle: a memoir of coming to America.
I came from Mount Olympus, Greece, to get my education. I had hoped that I would honor my mother’s admonition about marriage but I did not. Instead I used it as the title of my book, which is available through all bookstores and on Amazon. More info at, www.benkyriagis.com
By the way, my American wife of forty-four years, loves the title and the stories behind it!
They say that just about everyone and everything have a connection to Greece! Have you found yours yet? I hope that you will find it in my memoir!
Thanks for your contributions to Storytelling and for enriching the culture of our shared Humanity!
Evangelos (Ben) Kyriagis
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Back in the summer, around his birthday and for mine, my daughter treated me to a McCartney concert at Fenway Park in Boston. It was epic. As soon as the first chord of “Hey Jude” rang through the stands, everyone immediately began singing in unison right down to the last na na na nah. Afterward, as we strolled to the car, we stopped for a Fenway hot dog (so good!) and it occurred to me that singing that song together, from “What’s His Namers” to staunch liberals and everyone in between, suddenly there were no “haters” or racists or people who loved shooting deer for sport. During the length of that song, we were united on common ground and as God determined in the beginning, “It was good.” Leaving the stadium, we would all revert to our respective selves, but I, for one, will cherish that unity in song for the rest of my life.Thanks, Sir Paul.
Tess Clayton
"...shooting deer for sport." AKA: fun. Those poor lost souls inflicting terror and horrific pain (& death) on those defenseless creatures. When will we wake up?
Must say I prefer your sonnets to those of Metallica or Megadeath or any of the other heavies inflicted upon us by Gen X. My stepson preferred them in his youth. His daughters vex him now, as he once vexed me. One thing we can all agree upon is Joni Mitchell's Circle Game. We all know it and live it in three part harmony. Grunge be damned. May we, all of us, have a merry little Christmas
I am an old man., I am just past 90. I dø not live in the past, but each new day live in the present and anticipate the future. My past has built in me an appreciation for the world around me. Of what nature has wrought. This morning nature brought, on wings, numerous birds to the bird feeder on our lakeside deck. They put up with the squirrel who snatched some of the seeds and suet. It was a good start of another day.
Garrison,
Thank You for keeping us smiling!
I loved this one so much. I laughed, I cried, and I did sing along the whole song and then all three verses. That’s when I really cried. Thank you, thank you.
Just a comment on your dismissal of Metallica... I am a 71 year old lover of Prairie Home, Thrash Metal, the Swing music my father collected and much more...
The song you referenced was released 38 years ago. More than half of my life and almost half of yours! Seems to have a bit of staying power...
Wiz
Sing it for us.
Can't sing a note... of anything. But I do know all the lyrics.
Can't sing Opera either but I have a personal collection of 300 Met Operas that I recorded and listen to with passion.
I need music with passion, positive, negative, I need emotion in music.
I think of metal bands as screaming meemie bands. Not to my taste. Christine McVeigh of Fleetwood Mac died today. So many rockers who gave us memorable music are gone and going. I can’t remember why I walked into the kitchen, but can sing Beatles songs at the drop of a hat after 58 years. Some songs speak to you, some are white noise, and some just got nothin’ to say.
It’s good there is so much music out there in the air, enough for all of us. We connect to others by singing along. Music- even Metallica- makes the world a better place for us all.