Pastor's Corner, June 2021

One of the lovely things that has emerged in our church over the last year is a collaboration that crosses the globe, generation, gender, and more.

Sitting at her childhood piano, one person records a song on her iPad and sends off an audio file by email. Having received it, the other person sits at his computer, scrolling through hundreds of thousands of images that he has taken over the years, looking for pictures that capture the feeling of the music.

Kyoko Makino, a classically-trained pianist who has been our church accompanist for the past 25 years, and Ed Trayes, Emeritus Professor of Journalism at Temple University and member and leader in this congregation for 18 years, have joined their profound artistic gifts to create a series of exceptional videos evoking the beauty and power of music and the life that surrounds us.

They talked about collaborating for years, but the actual work did not happen until last spring when Kyoko found herself in need of a way to stay calm in the midst of immigration and pandemic stress. According to Kyoko, “Ed’s beautiful pictures provided me that space of comfort where I could feel safe and see beauty in life. I was so moved by his images of mysterious clouds that I created a video using these images with an Enya piano piece I recorded in the sanctuary. I sent the rough draft of the video to Ed and that’s how our collaboration began.  We have created seven videos and I have enjoyed the work tremendously.”

When Kyoko moved back to Japan suddenly last June, the two artists continued their work with Kyoko sending recordings from the upright piano in her childhood home, where she is currently caring for her mother, awaiting the opportunity to be vaccinated so she can safely return to the US.

In this church, we often talk about all the different ways there are of praying. These stunning videos are perfect as prayer and meditation pieces and opportunities to drink in beauty and joy. Keep them close at hand!

Clouds - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYBuMJSoHcM

Hope - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIm2fvYr0kY&t=4s

All Creatures of Our God and King - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-P71rJfhpg

Be Thou My Vision (Video for the Soul) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyehysfqbCE

God Be with You ‘Til We Meet Again - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6YFYZQGNc8

Discovery - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xb6ZFvU0SI

Awe - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIzvpcwFMSQ