to take him out to dinner another night.
As for my Dad, his court case is at the end of this month.
In other news, my Aunt started chemo yesterday. She'll have 6 cycles -
one every three weeks. Hopefully this wont be too bad and hopefully
it'll work.
I have some good news - the person at work who really, really get's on
my nerves because of her over-competitiveness with me - is pregnant!
Yay! She'll be gone for a year and then will only be back part time.
How I rejoiced at the news of the imminent child.
(Yes I am really, really shallow but tis nice to be able to get rid of
the competition - it's been driving me nuts!)
I'm really enjoying choir at the moment.
Even though I've sung in various choirs for 20 years now and have sung
in Latin many times before, it's only now that I've really been hit
with the sheer beauty of the language and the music. We're currently
singing this Latin Mass and it's so majestic. For the first time it
made me think that in our efforts to make religion accessible, so much
can be lost - people my age don't have a clue about such music unless
we specifically study it. Even if we do go to church, we don't get to
hear such stuff unless we go special Mass - and such events have an
air of snobbery about it - I don't like that either - it should be for
everyone, it's not as inaccessible as people think.
The role of art, beauty and music in religion should never be underestimated.
Too often are "classic" hymns sung like a dying age cat crying out for
food - and too often are they replaced with cringe-worthy "happy
clappy" stuff aimed at the "young people". I hate to say it, but I
changed the time of Mass I attend to avoid the "youth Mass" because I
couldn't take the PowerPoint projector with lyrics to Shine, Jesus,
Shine and some 14 year old playing the guitar while everyone trying to
encourage the congregation to wave their hands in the air like they
just don't care. It sounds mean, but I don't want to sit through that
- it feels fake and it makes the baby Jesus cry.
What I never truly realise before though, is how powerful some pieces
of music can be in a religious sense. Widor's Mass sounds so
transcendental, so sacred and so commanding. I almost end up in tears
by the end as I feel it in my mind, my heart and my gut.
Singing this, being inside this music, is so amazing:
8 comments:
I'm with you... not much on the worship music. I don't like when they use an overhead project with just words on it b/c I can't see the music. If I don't know the song, I really have no clue as to how the tune will go. I really, really like traditional music for worship.
Bet your choir is fantastic!
Hey, I didn't know you were a singer. I'm so out of the loop.
All the best for your aunt, she will be fine :)
One of the main reasons why the mass was changed from the universal Latin mass to the vernacular was in an attempt to reach out to everybody so that everyone could understand.
My mom always told me as a child, though, that it saddened her because when all masses were Latin, they could go anywhere in the world and feel like they were home. To her, it presented a unifying presence rather than one that implied exclusivity. When I was little, I didn't get what she meant. Now I understand. And Latin hymns? Heck, so beautiful! But then again, as a medievalist who has studied Latin, I have an unnatural attraction to the stuff.
Shine, Jesus, shine / fill this land with the Father's glory... or something like that?
JPD - Yes- overheads without the music - how are you supposed to know what to sing?! I mean, you can tunelessly sing the words to random notes as plenty of people do, but that's no good!
kira - I know, but what I hate is the dumbing down of things in the interest of "accessibility" - and that goes beyond religion to all sorts of things - TV, books. I think people can learn and deal with much more than they're given credit for. But, I have to retract some of my words - we went to a children's mass last week and the music was terrible - I mean, they're 7 year olds, they're pretty crap really - but it was such an enjoyable mass because of the way the priest did the homily and explained things as he went so the children would understand. It was so nice. But more of that is actually needed for adults so that they can learn more about why things are done a certain way - it just seems you don't learn anything more about the Mass after you leave school - if you went to a church school - unless you actively pursue it.
deemacgee - kill me now. No, actually, I kind of like that song. Just don't tell anyone. *runs and hides*
Oh - I missed you tonch - hello! And thanks for dropping by - loved the Amy Walker video on your blog.
I am SO on the same page as you on this one. One of the reasons I go to worship services is to get a sense of something larger than myself, and the dumbed-down music doesn't do it for me.
Meh. Some people love it. I'm just not one of 'em.
it feels fake and it makes the baby Jesus cry
ROFL... I enjoyed that! ;)
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