A twelfth-century piper from the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, which I photographed on a visit last year. Unlike most museums, this one cheerfully allows photos unless you make a pest of yourself.
In 1867, Matthew Arnold wrote "Dover Beach", a haunting poem evoking the "melancholy, long, withdrawing roar" of the Sea of Faith. As a boomer who finished Catholic elementary school in 1964 and then watched my Church falter, I've found the roar all too audible. So here I wait, listening for the whispers of that Sea's invincible return.
