Lent - Day 16

Praise

god or the gods, the unknown, 

that which imagined us, which stays 

our hand, 

our murderous hand,

                   and gives us

still,

in the shadow of death,

            our daily life,

            and the dream still 

of goodwill, of peace on earth. 

Praise

flow and change, night and 

the pulse of day.

An excerpt from "Mass for the Day of St. Thomas Didymus"
by Denise Levertov

The Hardening of Musical Arteries

I read something a while ago that said that people's musical taste harden around the time that they are 25 so what they listened to in university is what they will listen to the rest of their lives. I wonder if this is really true because it sure isn't for me. In university I listened to a lot of folk music and opera, the music I was raised on. If the theory was right that's what I'd still be listening to. Oh wait, I am still listening to them. (Check out Cranny Anie's band As the Crow Flies - they make some beautiful music) But since then I've also discovered a lot of rock and alternative music I like. I listened to very little rock growing up but now enjoy some a lot.

Last night I went to hear the Diesel Librarian's band play at the local folk pub, the Tongue 'n' Groove. The Darby and Joan Club are really fun - sort of a British pop sound with a caffeine edge. I really get a kick out of their music and hearing them live is always fun because Rob is particularly fun to watch. He gets really intense and does a lot of moving while he plays - not what you'd expect from a librarian at all :-). Last night I was sitting there feeling the percussion in my chest and wondering if my heart was beginning to beat to the same rhythm. I closed my eyes and everything around me disappeared. All I was aware of was the beat of my heart and the drum beat reverberating in my chest. It was a really neat sensation and I thought kind of a good opportunity to pray. While I can intellectually appreciate the Quaker tradition of stripping away everything that might distract the senses to allow the Spirit room to move it doesn't appeal to me much. I've always preferred times when my senses become so satiated that they are so busy that I'm not distracted by them anymore and can just sit and listen to the Spirit.

Now as I write this I'm listening to Charlie Haden. There was no jazz in my house growing up and while I discovered Ella and Billie while working on my MA thesis late at night listening to CBC it has only been recently that I've discovered more jazz. My cousin came for Christmas and gave me Charlie Haden and Hank Jones' album Steal Away and I fell in love. Right now I'm listening to Land of the Sun and it is beautiful too. So I'm glad to say that I don't suffer from the hardening of my musical arteries.

Lent - Day 15

"O Taste and See" by Denise Levertov

The world is
not with us enough.
O taste and see

the subway poster said,
meaning The Lord, meaning
if anything all that lives
to the imagination's tongue

grief, mercy, language,
tangerine, weather, to
breathe them, bite,
savior, chew, swallow, transform

into our flesh our
deaths, crossing the street, plum, quince,
living in the orchard and being

hungry, and plucking
the fruit.

Lent - Day 14

Psalm 71

1 In you, O LORD, have I taken refuge; *
let me never be ashamed.
2 In your righteousness, deliver me and set me free; *
incline your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe; *
you are my crag and my stronghold.
4 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, *
from of the clutches of the evildoer and the oppressor.
5 For you are my hope, O LORD God, *
my confidence since I was young.
6 I have been sustained by you ever since I was born;
from my mother's womb you have been my strength; *
my praise shall be always of you.

May it be so.....

Lent - Day 13

We are fallen like the trees,
our peace
Broken, and so we must
Love where we cannot trust,
Trust where we cannot know.

Wendell Berry

Lent - Day 12

ONE DAY AT A TIME, SWEET JESUS
(Marijohn Wilkins / Kris Kristofferson)


One day at a time sweet Jesus
That's all I'm asking from you.
Just give me the strength
To do everyday what I have to do.
Yesterday's gone sweet Jesus
And tomorrow may never be mine.
Lord help me today, show me the way
One day at a time.

Lent - Day 11

Only few 'happy endings' make us happy, but often someone's careful and honest articulation of the ambiguities, uncertainties, and painful conditions of life give us new hope. The paradox is indeed that new life is born out of the pains of the old.

Henri Nouwen