by Music Director David Brown
Some of you know that I am “fake Irish.” Despite having no Celtic ancestry, I have been championing the music of Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, and Nova Scotia for over 20 years—simply because I love it. My sister, best friend, and I started a Celtic band, “The Stonehaven Minstrels,” during my freshman year of high school, and ever since I have been a certified hibernophile (Irish-lover). We supplanted the tradition of rock garage bands at West Chester East High School in the early 2000s, dominating school functions with jigs, reels, and hornpipes — and roving the halls on the most auspicious of Irish occasions: St. Patrick’s Day.
Celtic culture—the music, art, and history—became a huge facet of my identity. My hands were adorned with Celtic knot rings and bracelets, and a Celtic knot hung beside my UU chalice around my neck. For a time, I even wore a Celtic cross so I could lecture the curious about the pagan meaning of the symbol: the horizontal line representing the earthly, the vertical the intersecting mystical, and the knots the cyclical nature of eternity.
Celtic knots have always fascinated me for that reason. Beyond their beauty, they are deeply philosophical. “Beginnings” and “endings” are constructs of individual perception. History repeats itself. Celtic music reflects the shape of the knot—jigs and reels wind through shifting harmony, seamlessly connecting back to where they started. The cyclical nature of reality may be one of the most comforting reminders available to us right now: we will get through this because our return to wholeness is inevitable.
And so, I propose that we could all use a little St. Patrick’s Day right now.
The Brown Family Celtic Band is back this Saturday, March 14 at 7 p.m. for our annual St. Patrick’s Day Jam & Dance Party in the Main Meeting Room. I’ll have my fiddle, mandolin, and tenor banjo; my sister Carolyn will play flutes and whistles; Kaitlyn will sing and play bodhrán and guitar; and Jodie will be at the keys. Then join us Sunday morning for the 10 a.m. service, where we’ll bring the same spirit to hymn #298, “Wake, Now, My Senses,” and Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’.”
The times may be changing. But it is always darkest before the dawn — and the dawn is inevitable.
See you this weekend.