Ten Songs of Worship and Praise for Our Tumultuous Times

Arthur is at a Shiva / Why Do I Bake Bread?
Synopsis: The protagonist elaborates on the reasons behind his recent interest in baking bread, providing a recipe for The Great Fractal Challah, while he speaks at length about his interaction with Jewish cooking and religion in general.

The Great Blue Heron (Song of Solomon) / The Great Blue Heron
The protagonist investigates the meaning behind the biblical book, Song of Solomon, providing his own interpretation of the book and describing an adventure in the Great American Outdoors with his husband, on their honeymoon.

Teenage Eyes / Dungeons and Dragons Story
The protagonist tells the story of his Dungeons and Dragons character, Alvin Plantinga, and pontificates on what happened to Alvin Plantinga when his regularly scheduled games were cancelled by COVID-19. He receives an invitation to play a new game, called Mothership, and proceeds to play with a similar character named Alvin Plantinga, with the hope that this will resurrect Alvin Plantinga in the new game.

What is it Like to Have Children / All God’s Creatures Great and Small
The protagonist imparts the story of his dog, Tummy, who he has recently re-acquired after leaving Tummy in Iowa with his parents while he went to school and worked in New York City. Expressing regret after having missed so many years of Tummy’s life, he commits to taking exemplary care of Tummy, detailing their time together, as well as his hope that Tummy may meet his future child.

Superkamiokande / Life is Even Bigger
The protagonist tells the story of his mental breakdown in college, having to do with the fear of death, and what he has learned since that time. To illustrate his new understanding, he imparts a story he learned on his visit to the site of a neutrino detection experiment in South Dakota, called the Homestake Experiment, which he visited on his honeymoon. The Homestake Experiment resulted in a sister neutrino detector in Japan called Superkamiokande.