Many, many kudos to Steven Kamenar for howing me these two awesome vids:
12.2.08
8.11.07
I'm finally bach
Forgive the corny pun ....
Well, it has been quite a while since regular postings! At long last, though, I am finally at that amazing point of being between the time when all the heavy assignments are due and the time to begin intense exam review ... in short, the eye of the storm. What better time to catch up on a few posts?
Hmm, what to write about?
Last week, in stark contrast to this week, was brutal - 16 hours a day jammed with homework, classes, preparation for Sunday, and work ... but there was one amazingly bright oasis, on Thursday night.
Thursday night, I went to Roy Thompson Hall (for the first time ever) to hear the TSO (for the first time ever) and Hermuth Rilling (Bach choral conductor extraordinaire) perform J.S. Bach's "St. John Passion" (which I heard for the first time ever) ... a stunning night.
First off, Roy Thompson Hall is incredible. An incredible mix of glass and silver and marble, it beautifully mixes a sense of the classic and romantic with sleek ultramodern. The ushers wear tuxedos. The water "bottles" are made of glass crystal. The "refreshment stand" (which in a Cineplex would sell popcorn and overpriced flat Coke), sold fancy snacks and wine. To be honest, I felt a bit out of place, but it was very cool nonetheless.
The Passion itself was excellent. It mixes a recitative narrative singing from the actual text in John's Gospel of Jesus' death with quiet instrumental music, every now and then breaking out into arias that provided meditations on what the text was saying. Bach also added verses from German hymns that he knew his hearers would be familiar with.
I love Bach's music, but I have to say it was his arrangement of the hymns that captivated me. Hearing a hundred voices in absolute four-part harmony singing through beautiful melodies and profound words ... there were a couple of hymns that brought tears to my eyes.
I also got to see a viola de gamba, which was pretty cool. My knowledge of instruments stinks, but to the best of my knowledge I think the viola de gamba is the earlier version of the cello - this one seemed more simple than the cellos. It had a fantastic sound, though, clear and crisp, similar to the cello yet different.
The soloists were very, very good ... there was one soprano that sang especially beautifully, probably because she was smiling as she sang. It made me think about how much it makes a difference if you do not just play or sing something - what is your attitude? your thoughts? who are you singing for? what are your emotions?
That was the fantastic part of the concert. It was musically extremely skillful, and beautifully composed and arranged, but these things were only ever what Bach intended them to be - a frame from which to display the words and message of the Gospel of John about the death of Jesus, and what that meant for the listeners. It was worship music, in a sense, written by a committed Christian, and performed (mostly) by people who don't believe a word of what they sing and play. Regardless, though, God used the St. John Passion to draw my gaze back to the cross, and encourage me through a tough week.
It made for a great Thursday night!
Well, it has been quite a while since regular postings! At long last, though, I am finally at that amazing point of being between the time when all the heavy assignments are due and the time to begin intense exam review ... in short, the eye of the storm. What better time to catch up on a few posts?
Hmm, what to write about?
Last week, in stark contrast to this week, was brutal - 16 hours a day jammed with homework, classes, preparation for Sunday, and work ... but there was one amazingly bright oasis, on Thursday night.
Thursday night, I went to Roy Thompson Hall (for the first time ever) to hear the TSO (for the first time ever) and Hermuth Rilling (Bach choral conductor extraordinaire) perform J.S. Bach's "St. John Passion" (which I heard for the first time ever) ... a stunning night.
First off, Roy Thompson Hall is incredible. An incredible mix of glass and silver and marble, it beautifully mixes a sense of the classic and romantic with sleek ultramodern. The ushers wear tuxedos. The water "bottles" are made of glass crystal. The "refreshment stand" (which in a Cineplex would sell popcorn and overpriced flat Coke), sold fancy snacks and wine. To be honest, I felt a bit out of place, but it was very cool nonetheless.
The Passion itself was excellent. It mixes a recitative narrative singing from the actual text in John's Gospel of Jesus' death with quiet instrumental music, every now and then breaking out into arias that provided meditations on what the text was saying. Bach also added verses from German hymns that he knew his hearers would be familiar with.
I love Bach's music, but I have to say it was his arrangement of the hymns that captivated me. Hearing a hundred voices in absolute four-part harmony singing through beautiful melodies and profound words ... there were a couple of hymns that brought tears to my eyes.
I also got to see a viola de gamba, which was pretty cool. My knowledge of instruments stinks, but to the best of my knowledge I think the viola de gamba is the earlier version of the cello - this one seemed more simple than the cellos. It had a fantastic sound, though, clear and crisp, similar to the cello yet different.
The soloists were very, very good ... there was one soprano that sang especially beautifully, probably because she was smiling as she sang. It made me think about how much it makes a difference if you do not just play or sing something - what is your attitude? your thoughts? who are you singing for? what are your emotions?
That was the fantastic part of the concert. It was musically extremely skillful, and beautifully composed and arranged, but these things were only ever what Bach intended them to be - a frame from which to display the words and message of the Gospel of John about the death of Jesus, and what that meant for the listeners. It was worship music, in a sense, written by a committed Christian, and performed (mostly) by people who don't believe a word of what they sing and play. Regardless, though, God used the St. John Passion to draw my gaze back to the cross, and encourage me through a tough week.
It made for a great Thursday night!
24.9.07
Having This Hope ...
The other day, I was working through some homework on I John (one of the projects of my second year of Greek is to compile an "exegetical notebook" in which I transcribe the Greek text, "phrase" it by breaking it down into smaller "thoughts," write grammatical notes on each word, with the final end of translating it into English) ... I had dreaded this project through the summer, but now that I'm into it I'm really loving it! Because it easily takes 20 minutes to completely finish each verse, I'm able to spend more time thinking and meditating on what the passage is saying ... its like devotions in the middle of homework!
I John seems absolutely packed full of fabulous truths. Every verse (literally!) is packed with meaning, and the beauty of the Bible is that you don't have to know the original Greek to understand what it's saying (unlike the Quran, which Muslims believe is composed in sacred Arabic, and which no translation could ever duplicate).
These verses really touched me:
"Behold what sort of love the Father has given out to us, that we might be called "children of God," as we are! On account of this, the world has not known us, because they did not comprehend Him. Beloved, we are children of God now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He has been revealed we shall be similar to Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And every person having this expectation (based on Him) purifies himself, just as He is pure."
Lately I have been struggling with the immense depth of my sin; I know and even want to do good, but I keep on choosing to follow after my own selfish desires. In fact, as I was working through these verses, I was struggling with the thoughts: "Will I do what I want? or what God wants? why? why can't I "take some time off of being holy" and pamper myself a bit?..."
These verses hit me hard.
First, the amazement of John as he reminds those whom he writes to about the depth of God's love. You can feel the humility, the amazement, the excitement of a man who marvels at the wonder that the Father could show this sort of love to people like us!
Then the reminder that we are NOW the children of God ... but there is more coming ... more love to be revealed ... what WE WILL BE has yet to appear. The following verses seem to say that the "what we will be" that John is talking about is our sinless state in heaven, of our becoming like Christ.
We KNOW that when we see Jesus face-to-face, we shall be "similar/like" Him ... BECAUSE we shall see Him as He is.
Do you see what John is saying? We will be like Him because we will be seeing Him as He is. In other words, seeing our Lord Jesus Christ in all His holiness and majesty and beauty and awesome glory ... this moves us to become like Him. And John is not necessarily talking about our "future glorification" in heaven, after we die, though that is certainly there. From the next verse, though, I think that John is wanting his readers to understand something more.
We will indeed be free of sin and completely pure when we see Jesus in heaven. But John tells us that we can become like Jesus on during our earthly lives, too ... we are able to look forward with hope and expectation to one day seeing Jesus as He truly is, and this hope and expectation causes us to "purify" ourselves in anticipation, because He is pure!
This is nothing new to most people, probably most who read this post. But it was profoundly powerful to remind me once again of precious truth.
I should not "try to be good" because of a sense of duty or debt. No, my obedience and holiness as a Christian should naturally flow from a hopeful vision of Jesus, in all his glory and majesty and beauty and purity, whom I will one day stand face-to-face with and talk "as a man talks with his friend." And even this hope and this Christ-centered vision do not come from me, but from the Holy Spirit. This is an amazing truth ... may we all see and anticipate Christ, and live our lives holy for that day when we meet Him!
I John seems absolutely packed full of fabulous truths. Every verse (literally!) is packed with meaning, and the beauty of the Bible is that you don't have to know the original Greek to understand what it's saying (unlike the Quran, which Muslims believe is composed in sacred Arabic, and which no translation could ever duplicate).
These verses really touched me:
"Behold what sort of love the Father has given out to us, that we might be called "children of God," as we are! On account of this, the world has not known us, because they did not comprehend Him. Beloved, we are children of God now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He has been revealed we shall be similar to Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And every person having this expectation (based on Him) purifies himself, just as He is pure."
Lately I have been struggling with the immense depth of my sin; I know and even want to do good, but I keep on choosing to follow after my own selfish desires. In fact, as I was working through these verses, I was struggling with the thoughts: "Will I do what I want? or what God wants? why? why can't I "take some time off of being holy" and pamper myself a bit?..."
These verses hit me hard.
First, the amazement of John as he reminds those whom he writes to about the depth of God's love. You can feel the humility, the amazement, the excitement of a man who marvels at the wonder that the Father could show this sort of love to people like us!
Then the reminder that we are NOW the children of God ... but there is more coming ... more love to be revealed ... what WE WILL BE has yet to appear. The following verses seem to say that the "what we will be" that John is talking about is our sinless state in heaven, of our becoming like Christ.
We KNOW that when we see Jesus face-to-face, we shall be "similar/like" Him ... BECAUSE we shall see Him as He is.
Do you see what John is saying? We will be like Him because we will be seeing Him as He is. In other words, seeing our Lord Jesus Christ in all His holiness and majesty and beauty and awesome glory ... this moves us to become like Him. And John is not necessarily talking about our "future glorification" in heaven, after we die, though that is certainly there. From the next verse, though, I think that John is wanting his readers to understand something more.
We will indeed be free of sin and completely pure when we see Jesus in heaven. But John tells us that we can become like Jesus on during our earthly lives, too ... we are able to look forward with hope and expectation to one day seeing Jesus as He truly is, and this hope and expectation causes us to "purify" ourselves in anticipation, because He is pure!
This is nothing new to most people, probably most who read this post. But it was profoundly powerful to remind me once again of precious truth.
I should not "try to be good" because of a sense of duty or debt. No, my obedience and holiness as a Christian should naturally flow from a hopeful vision of Jesus, in all his glory and majesty and beauty and purity, whom I will one day stand face-to-face with and talk "as a man talks with his friend." And even this hope and this Christ-centered vision do not come from me, but from the Holy Spirit. This is an amazing truth ... may we all see and anticipate Christ, and live our lives holy for that day when we meet Him!
14.8.07
Dear readers,
I have been writing this and my other blog rather consistently throughout the past few months of summer, even if my posts have been a bit sparse and far in between. Ah, well, that's summer.
Now I have but three more precious, precious weeks of summer before beginning the Fall semester as a second-year student. I am trying to take time for the next weeks to relax quite a bit more than I have been, and actually get rested and well-read before hitting Labor Day weekend.
Thus, I am temporarily suspending any more posts on either of my blogs until the cessation of the summer, to achieve the above goal.
See you at the start of the school year (in a cyber-metaphorical sort of way, of course)!
Andrew
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