Monday, September 26, 2005

How Christianity might want to resemble a symphony orchestra: first, there's a larger purpose (musicmaking, for an orchestra--). Second, no one would want to attack fellow members even if they sit across the orchestra and have nothing in common, lest the argument derail, frustrate or destroy the larger purpose. Third, even if people disagree about certain elements of the purpose, everyone agrees to work for the music and follow the conductor because at some point, the higher calling can, or even should, overwhelm lesser frustrations.

Actually, I know of some orchestras which have suffered from having their higher purpose overwhelmed by internal nastiness. Ministers write of similar travails with their churches. Why don't we know better?

Denominations are, scholars agree, a necessary evil. But for denominational concerns to interfere with anyone's "mere" Christianity (for which term I'm indebted to C. S. Lewis book of essays entitled "Mere Christianity")--in fact, for any concerns doctrinal, legislative, personal or material to interfere with the basic understanding that Christianity is larger than any denomination--seems dicey to me.

Lately, this new Renovare movement seems to promise amelioration for the pains of conflict. I await developments with interest--

Saturday, September 24, 2005

The connection between music and spiritual development continues to intrigue me. Reading various musicians' letters and biographies, I notice their spiritual evolution as time passes and their musical work grows on them, as it were. Examples include conductor Michael Tilson Thomas: raised as a secular Jew, he talks of praying and connecting with the Infinite before conducting a concert; Johann Sebastian Bach seemed to grow into being a committed Christian from being a sort of default Lutheran; and I could go on at length with specific details about Aaron Copland, Daniel Barenboim, Felix Mendelssohn, Gustav Holst--just to name a few musicians, randomly chosen from the crowd on my mind right now.

I wonder why this connection is, and why it flowers so vigorously, at least in some lives.

When reading "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might," I feel a truth hovering behind the words. Committing total energy to some creative endeavor elevates the soul, and maybe brings it closer to God, who waits for us all to realize his presence.

Today's quote: Ask me who my family is and I must answer: the family of mankind.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Music is the conduit of the spirit, in my experience. Music of Brahms, Mahler, Holst, Stravinsky, Mendelssohn, Bach, puts me in touch with the universe. Then too, there's my experience, always present in the background of my life, of when I was saved out of despair at age 12 by the touch of the Lord on my soul. The despair came because my mother had just died of cancer, and the Spirit reached me through a piece of music which accidentally landed on our doorstep in a sort of poor-box, a cardboard carton from some neighbors, full of clothes for us kids, along with a few books and a record.

My dad was struggling, due to medical bills and grief, so the neighbors reached out to help us. The LP record that arrived in that box along with the clothes had no cover, and the label listed sample tracks from classical albums: the Promenade from Pictures at an Exposition, a string quintet Allegro by Boccherini, Handel's Largo from Xerxes, Traumerei for piano by Liszt. As the only one in our suffering family who listened to music, I played the record on our stereo in the living room. The first cut, the Promenade, stayed with me. I heard it in my head at various times. So I have in my head an image of my younger self wandering along a hot sidewalk, during one of those October heatwaves that Los Angeles sometimes has, tasting the acrid smog with every breath and feeling despair of loss in my twelve-year-old heart. And then came the touch of the Spirit to the rescue, and I could remember the sound of the music as a sign of hope.

This memory is evanescent, a mere fragment, a whiff of the past. Who knows how reliable the details are? Except for the music (which I have since heard countless times, live and on disc, and played, and conducted) the memory is fraying around the edges, as some memories do with the passage of time. But no memory linked to music can entirely fade, in my experience, and when the Spirit sends a wordless hand of comfort to my soul, music often flowers in its wake.

Today's quote: "I am the resurrection and the life, and whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies..." (John 11:25)

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Today's quote: Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue. (from Eugene O'Neill)

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

I get flak for being a Christian. Recent remarks include "Christians have given themselves a bad reputation," "No one I know respects Christians" and then there was a fiery exchange of posts on a blog between two Christians in which the warring parties called one another names: "wacko" and "doomed evildoer" to cite only two.

The irony is that, during my long desert spell when I quarrelled with God, I was virulent against churches. And I wouldn't be surprised if some who hurl flak are similarly injured, either by some church in their past, or some less-than-perfect Christian, or some falling-out with the Lord. The further irony is that, when people who quarrel with the Lord can manage to talk (or write) about how that happened, they usually admit (as I did) that those years of rupture were miserable, and that the rupture in the relationship started on their end. And they marvel (as I do) at God's lovingkindness in fetching us back, even after we've raged and injured ourselves.

So I'll take the flak, and try not to judge. But I'm wondering about what I can do to make things better, and the only answer I've received to that question is to live a witness. This makes sense to me as an answer, when it came into my mind last night, because I was reminded that someone who didn't even intend a witness and who never uttered a word was responsible for starting my path back to this improved relationship with God.

Today's quote: Judge not, that ye be not judged. (Jesus)

Monday, September 19, 2005

Welcome! The name of this blog alludes to the Platonic theory of heavens governed by a music, in an order mathematically generated. Also, I like the implicit connection to spheres of endeavor, spheres of influence, worlds of meaning, and music's wordless power. And to top it off, there's the allusion to an old hymn tune, "This Is My Father's World."

Today's quote: Better an attempt to create than an attempt to destroy.