A Letter To The Members of the American Muslim Association in Oklahoma

Dear members of the American Muslim Association of Oklahoma,

I would like to take a moment and apologize for the unwise and ignorant actions of our fellow Oklahomans who defaced the exterior of the Grand Mosque this past weekend.

In Christianity, the church is a community of persons united by certain principles.  This is distinguished from the church building.   Therefore no ignorant action, perpetuating dislike and misunderstanding, one can ever truly deface your community.   

I will keep you in my thoughts, and please know that so many of us treasure the variety of different practices and traditions you bring to our city and our state.  

I know that we serve a common purpose.  I hope that we can continue to work together - as it says on your website - “towards the goal of spirituality, betterment of humanity, and performing charity.”

“Our ardent prayer and hope is that peace prevail throughout the world.”

I hope to see you soon.   

Your neighbor,   

Steven Stark  (a member of Mayflower Congregational UCC)

Janos Starker Playing Bartok

Thanks for being an interesting character, Janos Starker - and an amazing cellist.

Cavatina

In my previous post, I mentioned the "Cavatina" movement from Beethoven's string quartet No. 13 in Bb Opus 130, as performed by the Emerson String Quartet.

I cannot just mention it though.  I listened to this most celebrated, most intimate, most holy music again after my previous post, and I don’t mind saying that I cried like a child.

This movement is a spacious contemplation of the point of it all.   But it is what happens after the fire and the fury.  After our impassioned “Why?!!” has run its course.  After the drunkenness has begun to fade.

It is the clear-eyed moment right before dawn.

The middle portion of the piece, which begins at the 2:22 mark (once again, as performed by the Emerson quartet here) is the center.  The sublime.    It is the moment when the ALL, of which I am an infinitesimally small part, touches my arm and says, in the words of Julian of Norwich, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

The speaking continues,  “Remember.   This life, this existence, this creation, this crucible - of pain, of sorrow, of awe, of joy, of terror and of beauty -  this crucible of creation is the one we chose - do you remember?  We chose it.  We created it.  We wanted to forget, for a while, and therefore to really live."

"But all will be well."

And at the 2:50 mark this still, small voice then swells in glory - a tiny peek through the veil.

And then, in utter generosity,  at the 3:22 mark these reminding phrases are repeated again, in different voicing - another reminder of the variety in the unity - the choice of creation.  

And one last peak at 3:50.  One last peek for now.

Then we are gently led back.  Back to a moment of rest before this life beings anew.

But remember.   All will be well.

Cheese Doodles and Beethoven

First!   

When cheese doodles leads to a moment of pure bliss!

From the amazing Radiolab episode:

"On day 86 of a 3-month trek to and from the South Pole, adventurer Aleksander Gamme discovered something he'd stashed (and forgotten) under the ice at the start of his trip (3 months earlier). He wasn't expecting such a rush of happiness in that cold..."

And now!

Please listen to the "Alla Dansa Tedesca" and "Cavatina" movements from Beethoven's string quartet No. 13 in Bb Opus 130.  I like the Emerson String Quartet’s performance (as usual!).  These ten minutes of music are just a slice from Beethoven’s mesmerizing late quartets.

The first time you hear it, it is quite beautiful. By the 5th or 6th time it sounds like the music that should play at the end of the world.

Badass Fugue

This is the last movement of the F minor quartet from Haydn's Op. 20 set. What's this? Not the jaunty classical Haydn you are used to? That's right. This is a double fugue. The 2nd violin presents the first subject, then the viola follows up with the second one. It's incredibly intellectual and exciting music.

In a "regular" fugue, each instrument enters with the melody (called the subject) one at a time.  A series of episodes and returns to the subject follow, through different keys and variations.  In this double fugue, there are two subjects - just to make it even cooler.

It’s only about three minutes, so be sure to listen to the whole thing! 

Slogans

I realize that we live in an age of sound bytes and bumper stickers, and what we need is more reasoned discussion.

But I love expressing ideas compactly!   Perhaps catchy phrases, at their best, can stimulate thought and conversation?   Plus they are fun to work on, like a poem or a musical phrase.

Here are a few that I have collected over the last year.  Many of them are somewhat similar, as I have tried different approaches to similar ideas.   You may or may not agree with all of them, but I hope you enjoy some of my slogans!

Yelling “Tyranny!” feels more effective than “I disagree with your position because it is incrementally different than mine!”

True justice is an expression of love, not its counterweight. 

If you want to learn it quickly, practice it slowly.

Your work is what you make.  Your income is what you take.

Nothing produces libertarians faster than the other guy winning.  

For your family, your income is what you make.  For your society, your income is what you take.

The only true revenge is rehabilitation.

It is amazing that people can think on the one hand that government is incompetent and on the other hand that it is perpetrating vast conspiracies.

Symbols convey truths that cannot be adequately expressed with vernacular language.

Labels, like nets, are useful at capturing ideas, but they miss a lot through their holes.

Common sense is only useful when one understands the context.

Efficiency is only worthwhile if it leads to greater well-being.

Sometimes freedom is more a product of your perspective than of your circumstance.

Faith is not the same as belief.  

Our understanding relates to our experience as a part to a whole.

“Living within our means” is ultimately a question of our resources, not our finances.  (with apologies to the economists at www.neweconomicperspectives.com

Love is looking at another and seeing yourself.

There is always room for a reasonable leap of faith.

In a society of conformity, we focus on difference.  In a society of diversity, we focus on commonality.

Hope + Trust = Faith

Faith is not our problem.  The abuse of faith is our problem.

Closing our eyes to empirical reality is an abuse of faith.

Severin's Favorite Music These Days

Severin calls this "Velociraptor Music" and usually provides the following narration - "The Velociraptors are chasing tiny mammals, and the tiny mammals are too fast for the velociraptors catch them!"

This is known as "Triceratops Music" and at the 1:40 mark"the Triceratops turn a corner and find a huge herd of Giganotosauruses!"

Severin loves the show "Chased By Dinosaurs" with Nigel Marven, and he calls this piece "the music that's the same as when Nigel Marven sees the T-Rexes".  (It's not the same, but apparently it sounds similar).   The music at 1:25 is the start of a vicious T-Rex dance!

Other recent favorites (back in the fall especially) have been Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Bach (which Severin calls "Ghost Engine Music"), The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky, and Danse Macabre by Saint Saens (a HUGE favorite known as "Skeleton Music").

Wolfgang mostly goes with the flow these days, but his opinions are quickly becoming more pronounced.    For the record, his favorite dinosaur is Triceratops ("Tops!").