Theology

Now, i am what is termed a "marginal' Christian. I believe in Jesus, and not a whole lot of the historical ecretion that has taken hold for 2000 years. I do still go to church on occasion,and my children are /catholic/christian. Upon reading a theologian who I admire , Stanley Hauerwas, I was suddenly struck at the utter bullshit that is theology. Not scripture study,theology. It is almost akin to astrology. To take something that was uttered 2 millenia ago and extropolate that into dogma and rules is absurd. To fight and disect where only certain people can comprehend is so far from the message of Jesus that I shake my head. And Laugh at the cosmic joke. Theology is Jean Vanier and Larch`e, theology is The Catholic Worker houses,theology is every person who bends over to help instead of harm by apathy,to work to create that community, that beloved community,which is our charge. The rest, as another said, is commentary.

Stockhausen

Karlheinz Stockhausen, musical visionary creator of great music and utter bullshit, has died. His electronic music was brilliant, new, life affiming stuff. Later, he assumed the mantle of the prophet sage, selling his own music and work amid his hexagon shaped house, surrounded by acolytes. His final opera saga if you will, LICHT runs somewhere between 29 and 31 hours, a feat of endurance that would dwarf even Wagnerians. Still, at his best, his music was beautiful and strange and wonderful. His pronouncements[and I do not mean his allged WTT comments} were self indulgent bordering on preposterous, though, his childhood would have scarred anyone. So rest in peace, Brother , and thank you for the Licht you brought to all.

Music and color

Music often projects color,as does the sense of smell. I do not have synthesia,yet often I can associate smells with colors. I think this is what Olivier Messiaen attempted to do with his music,the tonal scales producing such sensations. While listening to the various works of Messiaen,his density is followed,often it seems, by quiet.His love,obsession,with birdsong finds its way on to almost all of his post 1950's work. I think in his birdsong is the key to Messiaen, trying to if not imitate the pure sound,to reproduce it for those of us who could not hear it. Interesting, actually, is Messiaens view of color and sound, crossed with Ken Kesey's,both looking for God ,their muses differing,yet their lives color soaked ,in bright vivid neon{Kesey wore ,maybe helped bring along tie-dye, Messiaen favored loud,brightly colored Hawaiian shirts.}While not attempting a false synthesis, both remind me ,often, of the ending 15 minutes of Kubriks masterpiece,2001,A Space Odyssey,when the astronaut David Bowman,peers into the vastness and says[in the book,anyway} "My God, it's full of stars!" then flies through color never before seen. That, to me is Messiaen and Kesey{ and Arthur C. Clarke}, all of us, standing on the abyss where God is...

Tragedy

A NYC Firefighter lost his life yesterday, a few days after many did in South Carolina.There are no Words,just prayers for their families . In South Carolina:Capt. William "Billy" Hutchinson, 48; Capt. Mike Benke, 49; Capt. Louis Mulkey, 34; Mark Kelsey, 40; Bradford "Brad" Baity, 37; Michael French, 27; James "Earl" Drayton, 56; Brandon Thompson, 27; and Melvin Champaign, 46. And in Brooklyn, Daniel Pudjak,23. Rest In peace,all...

on watching the news

My son insisted on watching the re-run of Charlie Rose yesterday afternoon, and there he was,no not Chuck[who has the coolest job on Tv, and is a terrible interviewer} but henry Kissinger, the old war criminal himself, having found a new lease on life[as it were] with the current adminstration. If you though the usurper in the White House could not reach any lower,ponder that K is a welcomed guest at the white House,and is CONSULTED ON IRAQ!!!!! My God, how terribly frightening that is...I am loathe to discuss politics,simply because it is ultimately a dead end,a plague on both of their houses,gutless,compassionless cowards,masquerading as tough guys.Ugh...
Well,the Mets finally won again last night, the absurd ridiculous inter-league nonsense, brainchild of Bud Selig[OXYMORON}, continues. So instead of seeing the cubs or pirates or Giants we get the Twins and A"s?sigh.anyway, here is John Maine, pitching a fine game a shutout, 4 hits through 7 and 1/3, and Willie pulls him, almost shooting himself in the foot again.This is the Tony La Russa school of managing, which insists you use the closer for one inning only, and a setup man in the 8th.etc. overmanaging,trying to prove how 'smart' you are.sigh.another reason, besides the ever diminishing strike zone,that games last forever.They continue to try to ruin perfection.Baseball is perfect,yet, they contiue to tinker...am reading Flannery O'Connor's Spiritual writings, put out by the good folks at Orbis books.Terrific book, great writer[The Modern Spiritual Masters series by Orbis is an excellent resource. I have and have read theAlfred Delp.SJ, Perdro arrupe,S. J., Simone Weil, Clarence Jordan,Oscar Romero,Mother Maria Skobotsova and Teilhard De Chardin volumes, and am waiting to read Swami Abishkitananada. A superb series}...The infamous Photograph by the late Kevin Carter is below the cost of war running total for the obvious reason that that IS the cost of war.Only when we view that child as our own child will it cease.

Remembering Fr. Doug Brown

As I get older, I retain memories that grow more evocative.Odd,no, how a piece of music, a smell,color, can bring forth such things. It was a Bach Cantata that brought with it memories of Doug Brown.Doug tailored the cursillo retreat and turned it into the Christian Awakening,which held forth, in its salad days, at St Pauls retreat center on Humboldt street in Greenpoint,Brooklyn.Literally thousands of young men, full of oats as it were passed through the doors, and left at least slightly the better for it. Brown was stern at times but gracious,fair, kind and generous, one of the two or three finest human beings I have met. His influence is still felt, though muted and anonymously, with the many adaptations of the movement he helped usher in.He was that rarity, an excellent Catholic preacher, was a dear good friend. I still miss him, though, as is oft said, there is no such thing as a Christian tragedy.In the late 1960's and through the middle of the 70's, St Paul's center was a hub of activity.You could FEEL the spirit working. Now, those days are long gone, idealism replaced with certitude.Sigh. I wish we had 1/5 of Doug Brown's vision and 1/10th of his courage around now...

Morning raga

Listening to Nikhil Banerjee this morning, I got to thinking about India, that extraordinary country made up of hundreds of thousands of villages,a billion people,literally hundreds of dialects, and many many faiths. Listening to a Christian missionary talk about converts in India, made me think of what my dad always said"people are happy as they are, doesn't God love people as they are?" That would effectively end mission work. Now people like Maryknoll, the New Friar Movement and some others, really live the Gospel, in Gospel poverty as a WITNESS. Unlike the "electronic soul molesters"{ to quote brother will Campbell}they seem willing to learn as well as teach.Where Im going is here: so much of what is said and done in the Lords name is horrible,a soul disturbing confidence scam, a game of three-card-monte, a shell game playing with peoples emotions[and most importantly, their purse strings} I would think that maybe, just maybe, we as a people, should mind our own business, and thank God Almigthty for people like Ole anthony and the folks at Trinity foundation,who expose these venal theives....
an a less esoteric note, My Mets seem to be taking on water.and Fast. Time for wille Randoplh to show that he can actually, uhm, manage. Managing that Mets team last year was not exactly difficult.Losing 12 out of 14 is not the mark of a good team, and , eventually the manager has to actually DO SOMETHING.

Music for Higher Purposes...

The glut of woeful sounds that are alleged to be"religious"[or its odious acronymCCM} cause a reflex against what is geuninely beautiful music,that praises Jesus. I am thinking of Woven Hand, of Ruth Naomi Floyd,of Current 93,of Bach[I know its an obvious statement, but I feel St Matthew's passion to be the height of European music}Of Inez andrews, the Luminous Arvo Part. Have you ever heard the songs, all 8 of them ,of Kentucky hill preacher Alfred G . Karnes? the Kingdom isn't far from that music.Or the amazing Olivier Messiaen,the quiet devout Catholic who was his church organist for 50 years,who wrote some of the most sonically dense, luxurious music of the 20th century,replete with birdsong and elements of Hindu ragas?Or Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers?How can I keep from singing...my point is music that praises God need not be either tedious or simply bad,nor 300+ years old.Like beautiful architecture or excellent poetry,praising the Lord God can envelop us in Wonder AND Glory. From Ralph Stanley to Bessie Smith, from Duke Ellington to Francis Poulnec,perhaps, as the oft attributed[and never verified} Dostoyevsky quote rings true:"The World will be saved by Beauty." Amen...

Impressions

The first Andrei Tarkovsky movie I saw was the bastardised cut of SOLARIS in 1976. I was completely,totally baffled.The print was poor,the subtitles were clumsy. Later, I saw the improved version on a two tape VCR,then, on the beautiful Criterion Collection print now available on DVD. Tarkovsky has been called the poet of cinema,though perhaps simply a poet will suffice[the medium is not always the message}.When I first saw Andrei Rublev, especially the Bell casting scene, I was deeply ,almost profoundly moved.The final images, when Tarkovsky switches to Color film, delicately, deliberately scanning the Trinity Icon is shockingly gorgeous. Of his films, I love Nostalghia and Solaris,with their attendent sublime poetry perhaps most,though each of his 7 films[just seven, taken so young at 54] builds on the previous. There are few films I can return to now ,Tarkovsky's are always welcome fare
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Words
Often sound of late ice cracking
The spill of laughter
Echoing through a childs
Genes
Taut lives wound round
Hopeless hollers filled with
Dreams
Muffled groans ecstatic ecstasy?
Are lightly covered
In something like snow
down
it

Seems
Smoke laced dawn shrugs
The cold clean darkness
Leaves Prayers forced through squinted eyes
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Another day of war dead. Another day of lies emanating from the government.Auden once wrote the epitaph for this most foul of governments"...The truth is not whatever lie you choose to believe"
Where are the people of vision,the statesmen and women?Are they running for political cover?Hillary?Obama?.Wanting to be president is not a good enough reason . Where,O Lord, where is the person of courage? enough
Listen to Messiaen, to ali Akbar Khan, to Emmylou Harris, to the Grateful Dead, to Bach,to Wilco, to the amazing Woven Hand,to Slim Cessna,to Ruth Naomi Floyd,to Duke Ellington at Fargo, to the second sacred concert. That is hope!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More...

...left out some influences. Howard Thurman,Primo Levi, Thomas Merton,Nelson Mandela,Tom Paine,June Jordan,Ceasar Chavez,Olivier Messiaen, Hans Urs Von Balthasar,James K Baxter,Kenneth Kaunda,Anna Akhmatova,Pasternak,Czeslaw Milosz,Seamus Heaney,Blind Willie Johnson,Rabbi Nachman, Rep. John Lewis,the sanest man in washington,and the finest,Martin Buber,Robert Coles,Camus...
I see the Mets are white hot approaching the Selig-inspired[is that an oxymoron?} inter-league play. The same people who like interleague play like the DH and World series games at night.Sigh. I simply loathe interleague play, who cares if the mets play the A's or Tigers [or vice versa}but only see the Dodgers,Cubs and Giants once each year! Lack of vision is everywhere,not just in politics.
Is it any wonder that kids numb themselves with caffeine and mindless,destructive,absurdly violent video games? Don't do drugs, kids, do this instead...heavy sigh...

Beginnings...

A t-shirt arrived in the mail recently, bearing the legend"Who would Jesus Bomb?" Certainly provovative,still it is instructive. So many professed Christians seriously support violence that the question is NOT a non-sequitur. Jesus is not a republican.Jesus is not a democrat,either.It is difficult to imagine a scenario where the Lord God Almighty would be pleased with the relentless bombing of women and children in His name.I've been informed that this is naive`. I don't believe that Jesus' message was to be easy.nor something to be contained in a neat box,to be opened ,like a fire extinguisher,only in emergency.What would Jesus do,indeed...
some influences:The Gospels,my bride Annie and kinder,the films of Andrei Tarkovsky,Rublev's icon,Abbe` Pierre,William Blake,Gerard Manley Hopkins,Bach,Martin Luther King,Jr.,William Byrd,the late Father Joesph Buckley,humble parish priest and saint,Dorothy Day,the novels of Dosteyevsky,Duke Ellington,Dylan,the paintings of Nolde, Edward Hopper, Van Gogh,Kandinsky,and William Congdon,Marion Williams,living what she sang like no other,the astonishing music of David Eugene Edwards, of the lamented 16 Horsepower and Woven Hand,Sr. Flora Miranelli, long time spiritual advisor,George Bernanos novels,Flannery O'Connor,Rev. Gardner Taylor,the epitome of what a Pastor should be,the finest preacher I have ever heard, or for that matter, am likely to hear,Desmond Tutu,a man whom I always wanted to have dinner with after Mass,Rev Daniel BerriganS.J.,poet,prophet,kind ,good great man, my hero,Henri Nouwen,the late great Father Alexander Men,the shining example of a priest,Sam Cooke and the soul stirrers,teachers of the handicapped everywher,Catholic workers one and all...