Lenten Sundays: The Second Sunday

A Sunday Morning Train...

...of Thought

It started on the way to church with the words of John Prine on the radio program, American Routes....

A Mocca man in a wigwam sitting on a Reservation.
With a big black hole in the belly of his soul
Waiting on an explanation
While the white man sits on his fat can
And takes pictures of the Navajo
Every time he clicks his Kodak pics
He steals a little bit of soul.
Every time he clicks his Kodak pics
He steals a little bit of soul.
-John Prine (Emphasis added)

There was that word soul. Having got to church earlier than usual since I drove with my wife today I picked up a hymnal and started thumbing through Lenten hymns as a way to get my spiritual side in place for worship. There I opened to the old American folk hymn, Wondrous Love:

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down
Beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul. (Emphasis added)

The juxtaposition of soul in those two incidents put the train on the track with a book I am currently reading, The Wolf at Twilight: An Indian Elder's Journey through a Land of Ghosts and Shadows by Kent Nerburn. It is a powerful and disturbing book about what the Christian theological worldview, mixed with western/European triumphalism did to many young Native American children.

I was struck as I thought through this mix of feelings how much our actions as Christians have so often been so anti-Christian. To kill people - women, children, old people, innocent bystanders - because they are different, because their God is explained differently, is anti-everything I believe Jesus stood for. Which is why He died, after all. He was different and the establishment of the day couldn't put up with that.

So God showed them. He brought Jesus back from the dead. The resurrection is as much about repudiating the culture of death and religious hatred as it is about defeating death itself.

Which then circled to the scripture that my pastor wife used this morning. The Good Samaritan. There they were again, the priest and Levite, those upstanding religious leaders ignoring the different thinking/different believing Samaritan. Somehow or another they might become infected, unclean. Let him lie there in his suffering. They didn't beat up the traveler, but their silence contributed to his pain. Just like so many others who stood around and did nothing while the others were doing the dirty work.

Under it all, my mind continued to wander, to the Nerburn book. It all came down to narrowing one's vision, trying to be right, having My Way be The Only Way. If it isn't, The Only Way, it might be wrong. The Native Elder, Dan, in Nerburn's book says at one place that each people is given a part of the great picture of The Creator. When we kill these others we are killing part of that picture.

Dan spoke of a great mystery. The Creator. God. If we can understand the mystery- it is no longer a mystery. Yet that is what we have tried to do for thousands of years- give The Explanation of The Mystery so that we can understand. We can conquer the mystery and be sure that we are right. We take control.

Which is right back to the Original Sin in the Garden. Wanting to know as much as God. Wanting to be as powerful as God. We want to know it all.

The train of thought then took a side trip back to one of those skits at camp- Mr. Know-It-All where several people are this one brain and they try to give improvised answers to questions. It is hilarious when done well, since each person can only say one word and then pass it on to the next person. They have to just make it up as they go along.

That's what happens when we people of faith, any people of faith, think we know it All. We can't and won't say, "I don't know. It's a mystery." As we realize how much we don't know, as we get deeper into knowing more and more about what lies beyond us we can do one of two things.

We can seek even greater control. We get more rigid. We grow in fear or anger seeking power and end up killing the others, or at least passing by on the other side of the street when we see them in pain.

Or we can be humble. We can stop and give thanks for what we have been given- and then be aware that we don't and won't ever have the final answers to the mystery.

That Good Samaritan out there on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho didn't care about those things of power. He simply knew that someone was in need. He stopped to help.

Which is what Jesus wanted us to know. If we do that we will help people keep their soul instead of snipping away at it piece by piece.

We might even find ours is growing stronger as well.

Amazing Books

It's been awhile since I have posted one from (The Customer is) Not Always Right. Two from recent weeks fit into the category of amazing books. The first one that caught me the other day is in the Books of the Prophets section, I am sure:

(Bookstore | United Kingdom)

Customer: “I want a book to complete the set for my grandson.”

Me: “Certainly, madam. Can I ask what you’re looking for?”

Customer: “Well, he’s interested in history. I want to encourage him, so he’s already got books on World War 1 and World War 2. I want to get him the next one so he can be prepared before they do it at school.”

Me: “Um, the next one?”

Customer: “Yes. Haven’t you got anything on World War 3? I’ve looked all over.”

Me: “I’m sorry, Madam. I’m pretty certain we don’t have anything on that subject at the moment.”

Customer: “Oh, never mind then. I’ll try a bigger bookshop.”

Or how about this one. Perhaps it's with the Egyptian Book of the Dead:

(Bookstore | Cincinnati, OH, USA)

Customer: “Can you help me find a book?”

Me: “Sure! What are you looking for?”

Customer: “It’s called The Scarlet Thread.”

Me: “I haven’t heard of that one. Let me look it up really quick.”

Customer: “It’s by Jane Austen if that helps.”

Me: “Um, I don’t think it is.”

Customer: “No, it’s by Jane Austen.”

Me: “I’m sorry ma’am, but I’m pretty sure Jane Austen never wrote a book called The Scarlet Thread.”

Customer: “Oh, well you probably haven’t heard of it because I think it’s one of her new books.”

Appreciate Life

From last week's Speaking of Faith on Public Radio.

Robi Damelin and Ali Abu Awwad, are part of a gathering network of Israelis and Palestinians who've lost loved ones in the crisis between their peoples. We speak this hour about their unlikely friendship, the difference between being right and being honest, and the human

Robi Damelin is an Israeli who lost her son to a Palestinian sniper. Ali Abu Awwad is a Palestinian who lost his brother to an Israeli soldier. But in their unlikely friendship and determination, these two defy headlines of despair. They are part of a citizen-led movement to turn pain into hope.

Toward the end of the program Ali Abu Awwad was reflecting on nations and war. He then had this amazing, mind-stopping comment:

And if people appreciate and if politicians appreciate the life as they appreciate the death, peace will be possible.

I was taken aback. Not to denigrate those who fight and lose their lives. Not in the least. But death seems to become the note of highest willingness. What about the possibilities of life? Abu Awwad is asking. What about how, when, and where we celebrate life and the many ways we can advance life instead of death? What about finding ways to work together for life instead of leading people into dying?

I am deeply moved, for example, by the Battle Hymn of the Republic. It is one of those truly inspiring songs, coming out of one of the great struggles for equality and life in our nation's history. But the end of the last verse has always begged to be changed. As written it says as Christ died for us, let us die to make others free. What if the verse were:

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

Wikipedia comments on that change which many have made. I, too, would ask us to consider the difference. It is about appreciating the ways we can affirm and encourage life.

Traveler or Tourist

I am not a traveler though I love to travel.

I am a tourist though I would love to be a traveler, at least from time to time.

Those have been the thoughts that have rambled in my mind as I have been reading Marco Polo Didn't Go There by Rolf Potts. It is a book that explores what it means to be a traveler, tourist, or backpacker in a postModern world. The postModern world, of course, is one where many of the old limits and boundaries have been shifted. We are more aware thanks to information systems, computers, etc. of a great many things. The different cultures of the world are being influenced in more ways more quickly than in previous eras.

As I have been reading the book during and after my recent vacation in Mexico it has helped raise some thoughts. Here are some quotes and thoughts to get started:

Potts sees postModern as describing

the increasing placelessness that accompanies ant information-age journey. (p. xvi).

In other words we know more about more places and bring a different set of expectations as a result. His themes include

the weird gap between expectations and reality; the challenge of identifying 'authenticity' in post-traditional settings; the realization that unexpected encounters help you better see the places for what they are." (p. xvi)

I thought of one of those "authenticity" questions that arises when you go to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico. The "stop" signs are in English on the grounds of the resort. Not one sign had STOP in Spanish. Or the restaurants were of many different styles. True, "authentic" Mexican food was not a significant part of the service.

Or one of our tour guides talked about a tourist on a previous tour (and he insists it was true) was upset that he was in Mexico and there were no real Mexican restaurants around. "Where's Taco Bell?" he asked.

Which leads to the next quote from Potts: In the information age, travel "angst" comes from

our own media-driven notions of hos these [places] should be in the first place. We cannot hike the Himalayas without drawing comparisons to the IMAX film we saw last summer... The expectation robs a bit of authenticity from the destinations we seek out. (pp. 17-18)

I'll have some more thoughts on this in the next week or so and then later in the spring when I get to put together a week of posts and pictures on the trip.

Quick Reflection

Sitting and listening to the Gospel lesson last Sunday this quote jumped out at me as never before:

Luke 4: 5-7 Then the devil led [Jesus] up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”[Emphasis added.]

All the kingdoms of the world have been given over to the devil. Think about that for a moment and it will call into question any attempt to make any "kingdom" (read: nation, government, etc.) into a realm of God. One way to see that is that any government will by nature be involved in things that are not of God.

A look at any nation's history would probably prove that point.

Don't Miss This Piece

Roger Ebert.

To anyone who loves movies and has been around for more than a few years that is a name that rings with joy and passion.

Esquire has a fantastic article about Ebert's life today after surgeries and cancer. Titled "Roger Ebert: The Essential Man" it is heart-warming and challenging. It may bring tears to your eyes but mostly it will make you smile and love the life we each have.

LINK to the HTML version
LINK to the "print this" version. (All in one continuous page.)

And a LINK to Roger's response on his blog.

I Always Knew There Were Many

Jonah Lehrer on his blog The Frontal Cortex says:

I believe our head holds a raucous parliament of cells that endlessly debate what sensations and feelings should become conscious. These neurons are distributed all across the brain, and their firing unfolds over time. This means that we are not a place: we are a process. As the influential philosopher Daniel Dennett wrote, our mind is made up "of multiple channels in which specialist circuits try, in parallel pandemoniums, to do their various things, creating Multiple Drafts as they go." What we call reality is merely the final draft. (Of course, the very next moment requires a whole new manuscript.)

Sitting around 12-Step or recovery meetings you will often hear people refer to "the committees" in their head. All those voices that pull you one way or another. Or you may hear others refer to "Slick" sitting there on one shoulder trying to get you to go back to your addictive ways with the wise and recovering voice on the other shoulder.

Perhaps there is truth in the metaphor. Everything we feel and know is electro-chemical with all those neurons and synapses firing all over the brain. Is there some kind of unheard background noise that these firings do? Are there combinations of those firings that lead us one way then another, imitating voices, urges, discussions?

It's too bad logic is actually so "illogical" and fleeting in its power. Or maybe not. If logic were truly so powerful and controlling we would probably end up as robots or automatons. I may not have the committee meetings in my head, but I might not be able to enjoy life either.

Ghost Leaves

On my way to church yesterday morning I wished I had brought my camera. It was a remarkable winter morning in southeastern Minnesota. It was about 5 degrees (F) and fog was hanging in different places. If you aren't aware of the results of fog at cold temps, it is called hoar or rime frost. To say it is beautiful is an understatement.

The first thing you notice is that the trees have grown fuzzy white. From a middle to close distance you can say it is like the trees have grown white leaves overnight. Then when the sun hits them you think they have become leaves of diamond.

The fog had no rhyme or reason to it. Some of it was in the valleys and some on the flat hilltops. At one spot it is close to the ground, thick enough that the church was invisible until I got to the parking lot entrance. At other spots you could look ahead and see the ground fog but the top of the radio transmitter tower was bright and clear.

Then, looking across the field toward the different clumps of trees emerging from the fog you had to look twice to make sure they weren't ghost leaves on the trees. The slight fog haze between me and the trees caused a fading of the dark tree trunks but the white leaves, ghostly and ephemeral, shimmered in reflection of the dim blue sky.

I realized that there was no way I could- in either words or pictures- capture all that I had seen. If you can capture it, you have lost it. Life like that, even still life like that, is its own world. It is part of what can make winter a wonderland.

A 30-Year Memory: Miracle of Miracles

February 22 – The United States Olympic Hockey Team defeats the Soviet Union in the semifinals of the Winter Olympics, in the Miracle on Ice.

Lenten Sundays: The First Sunday

Simon Bening
Flemish, Bruges, about 1525 - 1530 (Getty Museum)

The Temptation of Christ

If it's the First Sunday of Lent it must be the Temptation of Christ. The old devil there making promises he can't keep to the one who can prevent him from doing what he wants. The old devil making another feeble attempt at overcoming God.

Doesn't he ever learn?
Does he really think he can win?

If it's a day in which you can breathe and move and be up and take nourishment, then it must be a day of temptation.

Back there, at the pinnacle of the Temple promising supernatural power, jumping and letting angels catch you to prove once and for all that God is on your side- that is today. That is today.

How about there on the side on a high place looking out and seeing all the nations of the world that can be yours- unlimited power and adoration- that is today. That is today.

Or right there in front with those stones, so tempting in the midst of hunger, tiredness, loneliness. You have the power to do something with them. Do it. Just do it. That is today.

In my life, in your life, in the life of all who walk and talk. I like power. I like adoration. I like to test God. I like to find out how special I am. Somewhere I think we have missed the point of the story. We pay lip service today to these basic and base temptations and then go about condemning sin in others who are doing things we would never consider doing. But there, in that picture, there in Luke's words, there in Jesus Temptation we see sin.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Can Spring Be Far Behind?

It's a simple fact. Spring is here. Don't let the temps and snow fool you. Winter has lost its ultimate strength.

No, it's not global warming. It's far more important than that.

Pitchers and catchers report to spring training today.

There is a Difference

Listverse posted 10 Obscure Conspiracy Theories the other day. Here was one of them:

One of the many conspiracy theories relating to the Coca-Cola Company is that it intentionally changed to an inferior formula with New Coke with the intent of driving up demand for their classic product, later reintroducing it for their financial gain. Alternatively, people believe the switch was made to allow Coca-Cola to reintroduce “classic” Coke with a new formulation using less expensive corn syrup. Working against this theory is the fact that New Coke was introduced world-wide but it is only in North America that the re-established Classic Coke is made with corn-syrup (due to US government interventionist policies in the sugar industry); elsewhere, Classic Coke is made with sugar.

Actually I post this mostly for the second half of the post with its reference to the use of high-fructose corn syrup in Coke in the US as opposed to sugar. Recently in one of our local grocery stores I have seen "Classic" Coke in bottles with a sign stating that it's "Mexican" Coke with sugar. Pepsi has also been promoting an old-fashioned Pepsi made with sugar instead of corn syrups.

Recently we were in Mexico and the American Cola was Coke. It did have a different taste. I can't define it, but it was more flavorful. All it listed on the can was "sugars." I didn't try Coke Light so I don't know how that would have compared. But there was definitely a difference.

As to a conspiracy? I'll leave that for more suspicious or paranoid bloggers than I tend to be.

Filling In Some Blanks

A few things on my mind that don't rate a whole post, so might as well just ramble through a few of them:

• Sorry- no tickets. That was the gist of the email from the Twins. They had a lottery for tickets for the opening series at the new Target Field in April. But neither my daughter or I were chosen. It would have been fun to have been at the last game at the 'Dome and the first at Target, but so it goes. It will probably snow anyway.

• Watching Toyota fall apart before our very eyes is a scary experience. The first question that comes to mind is how could it happen like this to a company known for its safety and quality? The second question which really is just beginning is when did they know and what did they do about it? That one could bring some serious issues. In the end, though, no one is immune- no one is perfect. We have seen problems like this before with American companies. Hopefully, for the overall economy Toyota will be able to bounce back.

• I am way behind on movies for this Academy Awards season. I have a hunch I won't catch up before the Awards in March. While the idea of picking 10 Best Picture nominees instead of 5 made for some interest, it sure plays havoc with me seeing all of them before the ceremony.

• I am at the end of week four of a twelve week fitness program. So far it is working nicely, even with a week off when we were in Mexico. It has had some unique and surprising impacts. The most unusual is that I am now getting up earlier and actually working out before work. For this old gray-haired night-owl that is nothing short of the equivalent of the miracle of the century. Will bring you up to date in a few weeks.

A 40-Year Memory: Justice in Chicago

February 18 – A jury finds the Chicago Seven defendants not guilty of conspiring to incite a riot, in charges stemming from the violence at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Five of the defendants are found guilty on the lesser charge of crossing state lines to incite a riot.

Tiger Who?

A New Season

Lent [Old Eng. lencten,=spring], Latin Quadragesima (meaning 40; thus the 40 days of Lent). In Christianity, Lent is a time of penance, prayer, preparation for or recollection of baptism, and preparation for the celebration of Easter.

Observance of Lent is as old as the 4th cent. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, the 40th weekday before Easter. In Eastern churches it is reckoned as the six weeks before Palm Sunday.

Lent ends at midnight Holy Saturday.

From the 5th to 9th cent. strict fasting was required; only one meal was allowed per day, and meat and fish (and sometimes eggs and dairy) were forbidden. During and since the 9th cent. fasting restrictions were gradually loosened. By the 20th cent. meat was allowed, except on Fridays. Pope Paul VI began (1966) a trend toward penitential works (such as acts of charity) in conjunction with Lent. The Christian observance of Lent may have a parallel in the fasting practiced in Greco-Roman mystery religions, in which it was considered an aid to enlightenment and often preceded prophecy.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia® Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/

The Free Dictionary

I'm in the Wrong Part of the Country for These

Ah, yes. I look every year for Fasnachts and never find the real ones here in the midwest. (Admittedly not scouring every store in town.) I tried for a regular doughnut at lunch but they were all gone. So I had a big chocolate cookie instead.

A Fasnacht, sometimes spelled Fastnacht or Faschnacht, is a fatty doughnut treat served traditionally on Fastnacht Day (Shrove Tuesday), the day before Lent starts. Fasnachts were made as a way to empty the pantry of lard, sugar, fat, and butter, which were traditionally fasted from during Lent.

Basel, Switzerland conducts an annual fasnacht festival. The Pennsylvania Dutch territory surrounding Lancaster, Pennsylvania, celebrates the custom as well. Most chain supermarkets in the eastern Pennsylvania offer fasnachts.

In parts of Maryland, the treats are called Kinklings, and are only sold in bakeries on Shrove Tuesday. The German version is made from a yeast dough, deep fried, and coated or dusted in sugar or cinnamon sugar; they may be plain or filled with fruit jam. Pennsylvania Dutch fasnachts are often made from potato doughnuts, and may be uncoated, powdered with table sugar, or dusted with confectioner's sugar.

I think I'll give up Fasnachts for Lent.

Don'Worry About Facts

They only get in the way of opinions...

"Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by examining his wives' mouths."
--Bertrand Russell

On Entertainment

Yesterday was a day of entertainment. First I was entertained and then I helped provide entertainment. Both are activities which can feed the soul.

First we went to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis for their production of Shakespeare's Macbeth. I find it impossible to say bad things about the productions at the Guthrie- and this one, directed by uber-director Joe Dowling, is no exception. Shakespeare remains the epitome of timeless drama, of course. Macbeth is among the top class of the plays. It is a relentless play. From the opening death to the final one, it is a play that is impaled on humanity's greed, power-lust, and incredible tendency toward murder. Dowling and cast bring that to such a raw edge that one walks out as if torn apart themselves. What an achievement.

I guess entertainment in the "pop" sense of the word wouldn't apply to Macbeth. Of course, as WordNet defines it, entertainment is "an activity that is diverting and that holds the attention." Macbeth is sure that! Riveting is a good description. Thought-provoking and as contemporary as the latest news from just about anywhere in the world. Good drama that shakes your soul is entertainment in the fullest and most important sense of the word.

In the evening the Rochester Big Band played for a Valentine's Dance in nearby Pine Island. I play trumpet and am the announcer for the group and had a great evening playing the swing and big band hits while people danced, visited, and had a good time together. There was a wide range of ages, and all enjoyed jumping and dancing- fast or slow, swing, waltz, or hugging close to their partner.

It was obviously a lot lighter and more relaxing to be at a fun dance than being challenged by Shakespeare to examine my own human frailties. That also allowed me to decompress from the other experience (which also included getting a parking ticket at lunch. But that's another story.) I wasn't seeking to avoid- entertainment doesn't have to be that. I was seeking to let it settle in so that I could get the needed distance for the meaning to sink in.

Life is made up of all these different things. All work and no play makes one dull, said old Ben Franklin. But all play and no depth can make one quite frivolous. Balance in life needs both. I was glad to be "entertained" and to help provide it for others yesterday.

More Olympic Reflections

Not to dampen it all, but as I watched the Opening Ceremony last evening, I was also doing some of my web-surfing. I came across a link at Bene Diction Blogs On to artist John Santic's posting called "Stations of the Cost" a reflection to bring to mind the suffering of many in the face of the Olympics. I am not trying to be a killjoy. We need beauty and joy and art. The Opening Ceremony was certainly all of that. But I do think there is a prophetic place to challenge excess in culture when it removes us from the awareness of need.

Here is Santic's introduction to the post:

Welcome to ‘Stations of the Cost’. Below are fourteen images with poetic reflections on the social, economic, and environmental issues surrounding the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. In the pattern of the ancient Christian Liturgy, the ‘Stations of the Cross’, we want to help you recognize that many are suffering as a result of the Olympics as low cost housing disappears, government debt increases, the environment erodes, and the poor are criminalized. Our hope is to bring attention to these issues because we are inspired by a vision of equality, justice, healing, and well being for all people.

The ‘Stations of the Cross’ liturgy is intended to draw people into identification and reflection on the last hours and sufferings of Jesus. What was unique and central to the life and action of Jesus was his identification with the marginalized and his critique of oppressive powers. The ‘Stations of the Cost’ is intended to help people reflect on the suffering of the marginalized and the oppressiveness of powers at work in our world today.

We are not opposed to the Olympic vision to use sport as a tool to bring hope to the world, but what is concerning is the vivid inaccuracy of this aim in the efforts to bring these games to Vancouver. This inconsistency is worth pointing out in order to inform a more just approach to the Olympics. Our heart is to advocate for a games that seeks the betterment of all people, not just a privileged few.

Here's a link to the Flickr set of pictures.

The World is Watching

The Games Begin.

NBC has begun its coverage of the Winter Olympics. Their opening preview was filled with super-saturated colors, wonderful videography, smiling intense athletes, purple prose are the standards for this kind of show.

Tragedy struck first, though. The luge athlete killed as he flipped off the track and careened into a post. It couldn't be ignored, of course, but the news did it's job and now it's time to play the games.

But there were also the protesters. Money (lots of money) spent, incredible security and lots of homeless people brought out those who want to advocate for those who are the unseen.

It is, in other words, the world in some kind of microcosm. Sure, it is over-hyped. But it is fun. Sports becomes metaphor; athletes become heroes; victory and defeat become world-shaking. Again, it is fun. It is entertainment. It is Big Business. It is a great mid-winter escape.

I won't be watching all of it- too many other things going on. But it will be a good time.

Enjoy. Go for it.

A 20-Year Memory: Nelson Mandela

One of the amazing moments in world history was the release of Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990. What made it so amazing was what followed- a new and integrated South Africa, led by Mandela after his election, with no rancor or hatred.

See Invictus for a view of one of the ways he did it.

He is a world hero!

NOT a White-Headed Whale

Well, to prove I really did it, here is me at about 40 feet underwater on my first ever scuba dive. It was quite an experience. I thought the other day about the depth and all, then I realized it was less than 15 yards on a football field. All of a sudden I knew that it will take a bit of training if I ever want to really scuba.

In any case, I will be doing a week of posts about the trip with pictures and commentary sometime in late March or April. Until then, maybe a picture here or there will "wet" your appetite and keep me from going crazy in the rest of the winter.

Wow - This is Difficult

It's been harder than I thought to get back on track after a week in sunny Akumal, MX.

• First, it's cold.
• Second, it has snowed for 2 1/2 days.
• Third, my mind is still on the beach.
• Fourth, did I mention it was cold?

All I know is that if there was a groundhog or perhaps Tonio el Tejon in Mexico, he saw his shadow and there are still 6 weeks of winter, Yucatan style.

Bummer for me, because I'm not there.

Meanwhile, back to my virtual beach in Mexico.

One More To Finish

Over the past few days I have been posting music videos. The first two were part of a series of 15 that Stephen Worth guestblogged at Boing Boing

Below is his closing clip from the movie Stormy Weather. It features Cab Calloway, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Lena Horne and the Nicholas Brothers doing "My, My Ain't That Something." Here's part of what he said in the post:

I'm constantly amazed at the "pop culture amnesia" that seems to be an epidemic today. People have forgotten some of the greatest achievements of mankind... and what have they replaced it with? Infomercials, current events clowns, celebrity gossip and patently phony reality shows.

Take 10:52, sit back and revel in joy and talent.



Here's a link to the post where Worth lists all 15 episodes of his Adventures in Music guest series.

Football? What Football?

Oh, that's right. There's a game today.

Can't be that important. There's no "Brett Who?" or "Double-A Rod" in the game, is there?

I've been unplugged for the last week on a wonderful vacation in Mexico. All the posts were pre-published. I was gathering lots of fodder for posts and mucho pictures.

Football?

Out of this World Music

Might as well continue the music video trend of the week. This is a video from Japan of an orchestra performing Gustav Holst's Mars movement from The Planets. We are working on this piece in our community band and it is beginning to really grow on me. As you listen to it, remember this is long before Star Wars or John Williams. This is remarkable music composition.

The video production on this also adds a lot. The ending direction is stunning. Enjoy!!

Before There Was a Sesame Street

I mentioned in yesterday's post about Stephen Worth doing some guestblogging at Boing Boing a couple weeks ago. Here is another one that is a gem. This time it is an old clip from the Jimmy Dean Show. It was the first prime time country-western show and where the Muppets got their first national TV exposure. In this clip Jimmy and Rowlf discuss music- and friendship.



What is refreshing about this is it is so much fun to watch. Worth, in his post, had this to say:

Henson is a drop-dead genius. ... look at the brilliant feeling of ad-lib and give and take between Rowlf and Jimmy Dean in this clip. Also, keep in mind that the puppet is operated by two people- Henson operates the mouth and one hand and his wife operates the other hand. The complexity of co-ordinating that sort of co-operative performance is totally erased by the vivid performance.

Better Than Good- Satchmo and the Saints

A couple weeks ago Stephen Worth was guestblogging at Boing Boing and posting some remarkable music video. With this one from Louis Armstrong he said:

What do you say about a man who is the beginning and end of all things Jazz? I'm sure that even the most musically illiterate kids know who "Satchmo" is. But as much as I know about him, I keep discovering new things myself.

Armstrong makes it look so easy you have to pay attention to see what he is really doing. Amazing!!!

Spirituality and Imperfection

One of those books that I keep around for regular dipping into is the truly amazing book, The Spirituality of Imperfection: Modern Wisdom from Classic Stories by Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham (Bantam Books, 1992). Kurtz and Ketcham took the theme for the book from Alcoholics Anonymous that the first thing that needs to be done is to "stop playing God." In that admission of imperfection they show is the beginning of all wisdom.

One thing struck me recently when thumbing through the book- the difference between magic and miracle. Underlying the very concept of miracle

is the simple acceptance that we are not in ultimate, total control. This is also, of course, the inherent, eternal, fundamental of spirituality: you cannot control everything. You are a human being, and human beings make mistakes, and that's okay- because you are a human being, not a God. (Italics in original)

--p. 120

Magic, they say, is an attempt to fool and control (or perhaps control through fooling.) Addiction they say

represents the ultimate effort to control, the definitive demand for magic... and the final failure of spirituality. Turning to the "magic" of chemicals signifies the desperate (and doomed) attempt to fill a spiritual void with a material reality- to make "magica substitute for miracle.
--p. 120

I had a friend once who used to say that he doesn't believe in miracles, he depends on them. He understood the imperfection at the heart of humanity. Or perhaps the difference between willfulness and willingness. Kurtz and Ketcham go on:

Willfulness demands a kind of magical control over change and ... willingness creates an openness to being changed.

Quite some understanding. Is that why the modern mind was so overcome by a desire to explain in scientific and logical terms the idea of miracles? Coincidences were far better to see than something beyond control, like miracles. And the more we tried to take control for ourselves, the more we humans were looking for ways to do it ourselves. After all, magic is learned. It can be taught. Miracle? That's just not possible.

So today, take a look at what you cannot control. And don't need to control. In that place, I have a hunch, we will find miracle.

Singing A Sun Song Science Session

Today, in mid-winter I am grateful for the sun. Here is a good primer on our big fireball in the sky from NASAexplorer on YouTube and the Chromatics:



HT to The Awesomer

Groundhog? What Groundhog?

I am boycotting and ignoring the old ground-dwelling weather prognosticator this year.

Just so you knew and didn't think I was getting forgetful about posting on such earth-shattering topics.

A 20-Year Memory: A BIG Move

February 2 – Apartheid: In South Africa, President F.W. de Klerk allows the African National Congress to legally function again and promises to free Nelson Mandela.

Dropping Fast

Thanks to a Facebook App. I learned some real trivia about my name- and my parent's originality in naming me:

Barry's parents get a B+ for originality.
Ranking: 'Barry' was the 74th most popular boy's name in his birth year.
Rarity: 30% of boys had rarer names that year. (Grade: B+)
Peak year: 'Barry' peaked in popularity in 1962.
Current rank: 'Barry' isn't currently one of the top 1000 boy's names.
Current name: Barry's parents might name him 'Sebastian' today (current #74).

• Peaked in 1962?
• Not even in the top 1000?
• Sebastian?

Oh well!

A 50-Year Memory: The Sixties Begin

February 1 – In Greensboro, North Carolina, four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. Although they are refused service, they are allowed to stay at the counter. The event triggers many similar nonviolent protests throughout the Southern United States, and 6 months later the original 4 protesters are served lunch at the same counter.