Words & Music

by Mike Power

latest

  • 2020/2021

    Last year at this time I wrote: A new year, a new decade, a new chance to reverse the obvious errors of the early years of this new century and new millennium. Here’s hoping for a greater clarity in our vision this year, for telling ourselves better stories, stories of hope and humility, of generosity Read more

  • Christmastime

    “I am sure I have always thought of Christmastime, when it has come round — apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that — as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the Read more

  • Wishes

    One of the first questions a child is asked at this time of year is “what do you want for Christmas?” Wishing is as natural as breathing. We have all wished for things we did not or could not get. Some of us have been lucky enough to have at least one of our wishes Read more

  • Peace on Earth

    There was a time in human history when torture and even murder were offered up as forms of popular entertainment. As hard as it might be to believe, with so many violent acts being amplified by media attention, we are living is an age that is more peaceful than any in human history. The belief Read more

  • Saturday with Shakespeare

    I think it was Shakespeare who first transcribed the immortal question: You want a beer? Or maybe the question was only implied by the imploring eyes of his portrait. As if, on cracking open a cold bottle of beer and taking a healthful gulp, he thinks: Is this the last one? And, if so, the Read more

  • Silent Night

    I love Christmas music. Not that there aren’t plenty of reprehensible Christmas songs, and terrible versions of wonderful songs, but music has the power to transcend time and Christmas is the only time that some of us get to hear Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Joseph Mohr, and Franz Gruber. If you haven’t heard of Read more