The Process is Not Yet Finished...

"This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health, but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is the road."

Martin Luther, Defense and Explanation of All the Articles of Dr. Martin Luther which were Unjustly Condemned by the Roman Bull (1521)

The True Opium of the People

"Religion, opium for the people!  To those suffering pain, humiliation, illness, and serfdom, it promised a reward in afterlife.  And now we are witnessing a transformation.  A true opium of the people is a belief in nothingness after death, the huge solace of thinking that for our betrayals, cowardice, murders we are not going to be judged.  The Marxist creed has now been inverted.  The true opium of modernity is the belief that there is no God, so that humans are free to do precisely as they please."

~ excerpt from The Discreet Charm of Nihilism by Czeslaw Milosz, Polish poet and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

As Plain As I Beheld It Then

I posted this poem last Christmas, but I like it very much, so I'm reposting it again this year:

“It’s queer,” she said; “I see the light

As plain as I beheld it then,
All silver-like and calm and bright-
We’ve not had stars like that again!

“And she was such a gentle thing
To birth a baby in the cold.
The barn was dark and frightening-
This new one’s better than the old.

“I mind my eyes were full of tears,
For I was young, and quick distressed,
But she was less than me in years
That held a son against her breast.

“I never saw a sweeter child-
The little one, the darling one!-
I mind I told her, when he smiled
You’d know he was his mother’s son.

“It’s queer that I should see them so-
The time they came to Bethlehem
Was more than thirty years ago;
I’ve prayed that all is well with them.”

~Dorothy Parker, The Maid-Servant at the Inn

I hope you've had a wonderful Christmas.  I had hoped to write some of my thoughts, but I'm tired and ready for bed.  I do hope your holidays have been special, and I hope you've had time to stop and reflect on Jesus, whose birthday we celebrate today.

M E R R Y  C H R I S T M A S !

May We Suggest?

I thought these little "scrapbooks" of what to wear when traveling were too cute.  Via Anthropologie.

One Blade of Grass

"There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice." 

~John Calvin

Ludwig van Beethoven, hubba hubba

This is really fun for me.  Somehow word got out at the community orchestra I play with that I like to dabble in graphic design (okay, so I probably said some not-so-nice things about previous attempts at fliers which were thrown together in Word for heaven sakes!  After my complaining, they told me to put my money where my mouth is).  So far, I've designed the last three concert "posters" for our group (including the one for the chamber concert from the last post), and a few ads that have run in the local paper.  I'm a big believer in presentation-- I remember years ago hearing one friend tell another, "Listen, tell people you're amazing, and they'll believe it."  I think that's really true, and as far as our orchestra is concerned, I thought it needed more polishing done in the presentation department.  We are, after all, a community orchestra that goes after the professional orchestra crowd.  We needed to send the message that we're contenders.

That said, as a non-profit with major expenses, we need to rely on local talent, so to speak.  And so, I got my day in the limelight.  I'm having so much fun designing these-- sitting down in front of my computer for a few hours with the help of Photoshop Elements (and my newly downloaded vector graphics editing software, Inkscape).  I sometimes feel limited by my tools-- I learned Photoshop and Illustrator in college-- but overall, I'm happy to be able to flex my creative muscles a bit.  It's so much fun to play!

In other news, in case you didn't notice, we have another concert coming up.  Hurricane Sandy and other events (aka life) happening mean that I've missed more than a few rehearsals, but I think I'm going to try and play this concert.  I mean, it's not every day that gal gets a chance to perform Beethoven, right?  He's definitely a man to get my little classical-music-loving heart beating. 

Warlock and Handel and Haydn, oh my!

It's concert time again!  This time I'm playing in a chamber orchestra (there's only six violins! plus the other instruments) and the setting is in a small church in the heart of my town.  So far, I've only played with our larger symphony, so this time will be really special for me.  Usually we play in a large auditorium to a 500-person audience, but this time it'll be for the enjoyment of just the lucky few.  I'm a little nervous because I can't hide in the back of the string section as I am wont to do, but honored that I was included in this group.

If you're in Delaware and feel like a little chamber music, by all means, get thee to our concert.  Handel's Organ Concerto is a lovely piece of baroque (perfect for the church setting), and Haydn's Symphony 104 (his last and also known at the "London" symphony) is immediately recognizable.

Timeless Advice from a Mother to a Father

Immer bist du doch, Vater, so ungerecht gegen den Sohn! und so wird am wenigsten dir dein Wunsch des Guten erfüllet.  Denn wir können die Kinder nach unserem Sinne nicht formen; So wie Gott sie uns gab, so muß man sie haben und lieben, Sie erziehen aufs beste und jeglichen lassen gewähren.  Denn der eine hat die, die anderen andere Gaben; Jeder braucht sie, und jeder ist doch nur auf eigene Wesie Gut und glücklich.

Why will you always, father, do our son such injustice?  That least of all is the way to bring your wish to fulfillment.  We have no power to fashion our children as it suits our will; As they are given by God, so we must have them and love them; teach them as best we can, and let each of them follow his nature.  One will have talents of one sort, and different talents another.  Every one uses his own; in his own individual fashion, each must be happy and good.

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, parental advice from Goethe's epic poem, Hermann and Dorothea