This is post number 101 and I'll be glad when I'm through with it because I hate the number 1. If I look at a digital clock to see the time and it's 'something - oh - one', I feel it's bad luck and I have to wait till 'oh - three' before I can break the spell. If it's on the hour when I look at the time, that's good luck.
So let's get on with this post and get it out of the way.
I have had three pleasures this weekend.
One was going to The Proms at the Royal Albert Hall with that culture vulture of a sister of mine. A Russian orchestra played Russian music and, by golly it were good (and I had a swivel chair on row 1 of the stalls - quite the best thing ever - a swivel chair!!!). This, in particular, was quite the best piece of orchestral music I've ever listened to: Sibelius, Violin Concerto in D minor (33 mins). It was pure wellie from start to finish and the violin soloist had to bow like billeo, but in doing so he produced, along with the orchestral accompaniment, quite the most exquisit piece of music I've ever heard. It was frantic and yet profound all at the same time, and so melodic, soooo soooooo melodic, - and we were off to a fine start thanks to the woman right next to me (presumably Russian) who SHOUTED OUT, just as the conductor lifted his hands to commence the magic: "PLAY, MAESTRO, AND REMIND US OF WHY THOSE DEAD RUSSIANS ARE ALL IMMORTAL". (You see they also played Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 in B flat minor, 'Babi Yar', a harrowing choral symphony inspired by the Nazi-led massacre of Jews at Babi Yar in September 1941 - a work which implicitly also questioned the ethics of the Soviet state.
It was shown on BBC2 - you may have seen me clapping my head off on the front row there....
Two: visiting said sister in new and gorgeous little flat just off Goodge Street, a stone's throw from Telecom Tower, Oxford Circus and a cluster of the most diverse and gorgeous looking restaurants I've seen in a long time, if ever. Oh yes - what a pad, what a location!
Three: and I'm going to whisper this because I'd planned to steer off religion on my blog for a little while - I read Rowan Williams "Silence and Honey Cakes". Desert Fathers and Mothers spent years in solitude in Egypt, comtemplating life and God - and we can glean some of the wisdom they derived from this (which is still very much applicable to us today) via the lucid and highly acclaimed theologian and ABC, Rowan Williams. A gem from start to finish (it ends with some very illuminating Q and As). I'd been meaning to read it for ages and thanks in part to my blog mates who feed my desire to know more about theology (even if it's an uncomfortable ride sometimes), I read it yesterday.
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6 comments:
(Whispering) So (embarrassed cough) - ABC's Silence and Honey Cakes is gathering dust somewhere under my side of the bed. How readable is it? (The title is great, but I'm worried about my attention sp.. ooh look - a knitting pattern...
Oh - and I'm soooooooo sooooooo jealous of you going to the proms. The last time John and I went to a concert (= last time I went to a concert) was BR (Before Ruth) - and I got so excited by it all that I couldn't sleep a wink. It was suggested then that I need to get out more...
Oh it's readable, really it is. You can kind of skim certain paragraphs and wake up again when you get to a bit that particularly interests you without losing the thread too, but please don't tell anyone I said that! It's also (as you will know if you already have it) quite a small book. If I can read it and understand it in 24 hours, then believe me, you'll manage to do so whilst knitting with one hand and cooking with the other!! It's a book that I shall perhaps re-read because there's quite a lot to it.
I'm glad to hear of your pleasures!
I'm embarrassed to say that "The Proms" doesn't quite translate. But I'm glad you enjoyed the concert! Like Anne, I haven't been to a concert in awhile. The last one I went to was at least three years ago, to hear the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It was fantastic. Mmmm, I love Sibelius. I haven't heard nearly all of his work, but what I have heard has all been exquisite. Babi Yar is also quite profound, although I'm a sucker for most any Russian composer. They're so brooding and aggressive.
Do you think a non-Anglican might enjoy "Silence and Honey Cakes?" Not that I don't have about ten other books on my "Must Read" list, but I'm always looking for more.
Hi Mary Beth
I think that a non-Anglican would enjoy the book as much as an Anglican, and even an Atheist. Put simply, it's a collection of 'pearls of wisdom' taken from writings and experiences recorded by the Desert Fathers. A lot of them are very profound and all are remarkably pertinent to us today.
And here are some of the questions that RW answers at the end of the book (as the whole book is a record of a lecture he gave in 2003)
How do we discern the will of God?
Where is the church going?
Where is the line between sacred and profane?
What were you leaving when you became a bishop?
What does religious education mean in our modern cultural desert?
(His response to this one begins... At root the answer has to be about whether we believe religion is first about fullness of life or about duty and control...)
Actually I loved the QAs and although they appear at the end of the book, I don't see why they can't be a good place to start!
Searching for this on some time fashionable - i dare say destiny is more advanced than search engines
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