Black Friday at EDI
The Joy of Poetry (and Sales Resistance) - W. H. Auden's For the Time Being
Feast of St James the Great Martyr of PersiaAnno Domini 2019, November 27
ON FRIDAY
29 November 2019 - this year’s “Black Friday” - you are invited to an act of delayed gratification; a sit-in of slow media; an extended moment of patient, delectable resistance to the frenzied consumerism that secular society indulges in to inaugurate the Christmas season.
Come to The Ladder at 7:30 pm and enjoy a collaborative reading of W. H. Auden’s For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio. It may take awhile, but you can drop in and/or depart when you like. After all, by the time Black Friday rolls around, Advent has long since started, and Christians have been waiting for their Lord's arrival with eager patience for over two weeks.
Auden’s For the Time Being
(written in 1941-1942) reframes the Gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke with extra dialogue from biblical characters and pointed reflections about how we in modern society deflect holy-days for our own purposes, whether political, economic, or otherwise. What better way to feel “the joy of sales resistance” (Wendell Berry) and to properly await our coming Messiah than to engage in that most outdated yet pleasing and humane act: poetry. After all, as Auden's Third Shepherd puts it, “What is real / About us all is that each of us is waiting.”
For those of you who don't live close enough to Wichita to join us, consider organizing your own sit-in of slow media.
Contribute to Cultural Renewal by Sharing on Your Preferred Platform
In an isolating secularized culture where the Church's voice is muffled through her many divisions, Christians need all the help they can get to strengthen their faith in God and love toward their neighbor. Eighth Day Institute offers hope to all Christians through our adherence to the Nicene faith, our ecumenical dialogues of love and truth, and our many events and publications to strengthen faith, grow in wisdom, and foster Christian friendships of love. Will you join us in our efforts to renew soul & city? Donate today and join the community of Eighth Day Members who are working together to renew culture through faith & learning.
by Jason M. Baxter Commemoration of St Lucian the Martyr of Antioch Anno Domini 2024, October 15
by Pseudo-Dionysios Commemoration of St Malachi the Prophet Anno Domini 2024, January 3
by Evagrios the Solitary Commemoration of St Sylvester, Pope of Rome Anno Domini 2024, January 2
by Eric Peterson Commemoration of St Cosmas, Archbishop of Constantinople Anno Domini 2024, January 2
by Jaraslov Pelikan Commemoration of the Circumcision of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Anno Domini 2024, January 1
by St John of Damascus Commemoration of St Melania the Younger, Nun of Rome Anno Domini 2023, December 31
by Erin Doom Commemoration of St Anysia the Virgin-Martyr of Thessaloniki Anno Domini 2023, December 30
by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis Commemoration of the 14,000 Infants (Holy Innocents) Slain by Herod in Bethlehem Anno Domini 2023, December 29
by Fr. Thomas Hopko Commemoration of the 20,000 Martyrs Burned in Nicomedia Anno Domini 2023, December 28
by a Monk of the Eastern Church Feast of St Stephen the Archdeacon & First Martyr Third Day of Christmas Anno Domini 2023, December 27