Dr. Sandra Glahn

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Bono + Eugene Peterson on the Psalms

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My introduction to the rock star Bono came when I was working in downtown Dallas in the 1980s for a financial services company with offices that shared space with a large hotel chain. My friend's hubby, Jim, was a huge Bono fan, and he spotted the singer and his cap-wearing friend entering through the hotel's revolving doors. I was in the lobby talking with Jim and his wife when this happened, and he ran over to meet them. Finding them to be quite friendly, Jim came back and asked if I wanted him to introduce me. I said, "Naw." Never heard of the guy. Seriously. I did that.My next encounter happened at the Grammy Awards ceremony in 1994. I was a publicist for the music producer for Barney and Friends, who was nominated for an award for an album that had gone double platinum. Bono, who accompanied Frank Sinatra that night, dropped so many f-bombs that my client had to go to a pay phone to call the babysitter to tell her he didn't want his kids watching any more of the broadcast.But in the past ten years I've actually paid attention to U2's lyrics, attended a concert, and become a fan.Meanwhile, I've been a huge Eugene Peterson fan since I first heard about him. My introduction to his work happened when I read his book Under the Unpredictable Plant at a time when I was grieving a bunch of pregnancy losses. Although it was a book about Jonah, it introduced me to biblical lament. Plus, Peterson's a poet. If you do a search on this blog for his name, you'll find numerous posts. I interviewed Peterson around 1996, and that conversation yielded great info that I turned into articles on three topics—lament, gender, and Sabbath. What he told me about rest changed my life.Imagine my delight, then, when I heard that Fuller Theological Seminary had created a video with Bono and Peterson in the same room talking on psalms and lament. Get ready for 25 minutes of time well spent.