Poetry
See Essays Below
A good amount of MR's non-music writing has been essays and poetry. He tends to write his verse under the influences of Ogden Nash, who was known mostly for his humorous poetry with outrageous rhyme schemes.
Mind your Z's and X's.
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Keats never wrote no dadgum ode like this'n!
Apologies to Christmas lovers.
Just because you're an invited dinner guest doesn't mean you can't feel pain.
For logophiles everywhere.
When your wife turns into the Grinch.
Essays
Essays on Chruch Life and Christian Ethics
The following essays are related to the joys and travails of life in the church, including administering a church music program. They could cumulatively be called Tips on Sanctified Survival - 101.
The 21st c. church thinks they have figured out why the world isn't exactly banging down the doors: nobody digs choirs anymore. Solution? Fire the choir.
The pastor favors this kind of music, but the elders want that kind. Congregants chime in with other choices. How does one satisfy the personal tastes of a multitude of people, all with a different and earnest definition of "good music"?
As we soberly realize time and again, the church is not always a haven of rest. Many times the waters are deep and dangerous. Matthew 18 is cited as the way to resolve personal conflicts in the church.
The second phase of the healing process of Matthew 18 is delineated: we are admonished to "go," and all things will be "just between the two of you."
The third phase may have to leave the sanctity of "just two" people, as no consensus is reached between the two. Checks and balances are in play and work to verify the case for invoking Matt. 18.
The fourth phase sees the esculation from "just two" to "three or four." Witnesses are recruited. New rules of engagement come into play, and the process heads toward some conclusion.
Hypocrisy has been misdefined, and thereby reduced in its true dark power. We look at the sin anew to identify its component parts.
Essays on Philosophical and Theological Topics
Pascal's Wager, with all of its logical flaws, can yet shed some light on one question: Who will get the last boastful word in the Great Beyond?
Nothing isn't what it used to be, if in fact there ever was one. However, we're fairly sure there's something now, so where did it come from?
The Psalmist was (seemingly) at a loss about this nasty stuff, rage.
Is there a place for you in the "marketplace of ideas"? Only if the intolerant let you set up shop,. and you better be hawking their wares.
Atheists and skeptics love to topple over gods as they rant at the heavens. Setting up some wobbly deities that will easily fall down makes that iconoclastic pursuit a breeze.
There are a good list of Scripture references in Holy Writ that provide the reader with a delineating "either - or." Here's some of the best.
A fish out of water tale that started out shakily but turned out good.
A chronological history of Michael Roy's career in music that includes his touring days, undergaduate work in theory/composition at the U of Miami, the international travels with the Singing the pro studio recording days, the Michael Roy Singers, his graduate career in music, and his choral years with the great choirs featured on this site.
Essays on Musical Topics
A short discourse on the philosophy of the concert series.
The various techniques used for both in-studio and remote recording is discussed. Photos of the vintage equipment is also displayed. There's a rundown on how the concerts were mic-ed and recorded.
A brief history of the emergence of a distinctly American style of Gospel music. There are also audio files on this page.