War

WAR

Thurs. Aug. 20th, 2014, Wed. Feb. 18th, 2015; posted Wed. July 8th, 2015

During peace, people learn life lessons very, very slowly.  During war, people learn life lessons very, very quickly, but on the other hand, a lot more people die young.

The reason I am in favor of peace is that I want to have time to think.

As a romantic liberal, which I am, I believe that even people who are not very good at thinking and don't care for thinking deserve a chance to think -- and the rest of us, a fortiori.

Have you ever thought to yourself, a military recruiter might look at a person and say, "That person evidently doesn't like to think, so there certainly wouldn't be any harm in asking them to agree to put themselves in harm's way, and in worse case scenario to die for their country" ?

Well, as I say, I believe that even people who don't like to think deserve a chance to think.

It is unrealistic to think that our species can eliminate war.  But on the other hand, it is not unrealistic to think that we can make wars less common if we put our minds and our hearts into the task.

There is usually no way to measure whether a war has been postponed by taking a particular course of action.  I walk by faith in this matter.  I can't prove to anybody's satisfaction that a certain course of political action has postponed the next war; but I believe that certain things the United States is doing, or could be doing, will postpone the next war.  That's a criterion which I bring into play, when I figure whether I'm in favor of a particular foreign policy.

An Infinite Number of Commentaries

AN INFINITE NUMBER OF COMMENTARIES

Mon. July 6th, 2015

If you put an infinite number of white men in front of typewriters, typing commentaries on the Book of Joshua, eventually one of them will write that Joshua misheard the word of the Lord, and God didn't want him to order the killing of all the people of Jericho.

With the Gardner-Webb Composers

WITH THE GARDNER-WEBB COMPOSERS

Thurs. 4-30-2015

A program of pieces composed by Gardner-Webb music students and faculty was performed last Thursday April 23rd, 8 p.m. to enthusiastic applause in Dover Theater.  Featuring works by four current students, a recent alumnus, and two members of the music faculty, the program opened with Christian Jessup's rapturously melodic Falling for Her, a piano duet which practically sang, propelled (as noted in the program notes) by a sixteenth-note ostinato, the piece bouncily executed by the composer and Dr. Bruce Moser.

Next up, two of the three movements of Nathaniel Parks' Three Portraits of Nature -- the second duet movement (Beneath the Trees), for piano and what?  For piano and a marimba on steroids, my audience-neighbor described it -- performed by the composer and Christian Jessup -- and the third movement for solo piano (Rain), performed by Dr. Moser.  The program notes for Rain evoke (without naming it) the atmosphere of the fourth movement of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony.

Parks' piece segued to Dr. Moser's piece, entitled Isaiah 43:1-3.  Your reviewer's ear did not  identify the Bible version set, but here at random is the Holman Christian Standard version: Now this is what the Lord says -- the One who created you, Jacob, and the One who formed you, Israel -- "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.  I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and [when you pass] through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you.  You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you.  For I the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel and your Savior, give Egypt a ransom for you, Cush and Seba in your place."  Dedicated to the composer's grandmother, this evocative piece is for tenor (Matthew Lineberger, with some impressive sustained notes), 'cello (Greg Weneck), and piano (the composer).

As suggested by its German title, Dr. Matt Whitfield's Nicht so Schnell, Mein Freund was a pensive Lento-Largo-Lento for clarinet (the composer) and piano (Dr. Moser) on a tone row paying homage to Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg, with the clarinet contributing an unexpected and graceful sweetness to the austere technique of composition.

"Not So Fast, My Friend" was followed by Tyler Scruggs' Starlight, scored for three flutes (Katie Duncan, Natasha Puplichhuisen, and Omar Wingo) and harp (Hannah Blalock), with composer conducting.  This was a party in the top end of the scale.  The unexpected instrumentation was a treat, with the quiet but authoritative harp balancing the pulsing sound of the flutes.

Colt Cooper's "No. 1" brought the largest ensemble to the stage, a septet consisting of alto saxophone (Paul Singh) and flute (Katie Duncan) with string quintet continuo (2 violins, viola, 'cello, double bass: Mallory Moore, Chrysalis Bridges, Matthew Wyatt, Bruce Moser, and Mason Beam), conducted by the composer.  Over the sustained and glittering spookiness emanating from the string quintet's long-held legato notes, Paul Singh and Katie Duncan alternated solos, combining at the end.  This reviewer felt the composer loved the saxophone best, feeding it the sweetest bits.  Anyway, this piece was one of my favorites.

The program concluded with two settings by Roger Lowe from a song cycle he composed to poems by Sara Jordan Caldwell.  The two songs we heard were sung by Dr. Jondra Harmon with a string quartet consisting of the top four fifths of Cooper's string ensemble remaining after Mason Beam toddled his upright bass offstage.  Caldwell's poems are the ironic and bittersweet musings of an inward-gazing lover walking, as it were, underwater, "paralyzed," two parts maesta (Latin sad) to one part maestosa (Italian majestic).  Lowe responds with a minor tone palette in a tentative, wistful hesitation-melody, executed coolly but intensely by Dr. Harmon.  Words and music ironically displayed the teamwork sadly lacking in the unrequited love that produced, working solo, the words.

Allowing for overlap, the performers included at least two Acafelons (Matthew W. and Nathaniel) and two of the propellers of Handel's lush tenor parts in the selections from The Messiah sung and played Sunday the 19th under Paul Etter's baton (Matthews L. and W.).  Seen in the audience: chair of the music faculty Patricia Sparti -- choirmaster Paul Etter -- the recently retired piano professor Carolyn Billings -- Tracy, Teresa, and Anna Jessup -- Will and Ruth Partain -- Tyler Scruggs' father -- Linda Greene, wife of composer Roger Lowe -- the mathematical Olga Poliakova, coming specially to hear her student Chrysalis Bridges -- poet Sara Jordan Caldwell -- a receptive group of students -- and other folks unnamable what with your reviewer's imperfect knowledge of our music scene.  The concert was a musical treat; it brought back very happy memories of the premiere of Seth Huber's Beowulf in '08.  Your reviewer regretted failing to show up for the similar program put on last spring -- a schedule conflict, or an irritating Alzheimer's moment?  I don't recall now -- but I look forward to a heapin' helpin' >nod to Flatt & Scruggs< again next year!!

Devotional for Brotherhood Meeting

DEVOTIONAL FOR BROTHERHOOD MEETING

Wed. 3-4-2015

My Bible passage is Psalm 1 verses 1-2.   In the Holman Christian Standard version it is -- How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path of sinners, or join a group of mockers!  2  Instead, his delight is in the Lord's instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.

(The King James Version* refers to "sitting in the seat of the scornful."  That might be a reference to a particular bench in the classroom, or to a particular table in the cafeteria.)

My devotional is on the Christian meaning of the word meditate.  I think here in the Bible to meditate simply means to think about something, in this case to think about the words of the Bible.  Or -- if we read the King James Version "his delight is in the law of the LORD" -- perhaps the psalmist is thinking day and night about the five books of Moses in particular, at the beginning of the Bible.

So I come before you to praise what I call your "thinker" -- that is, your mind, your brain -- which God gave you.

On this subject, I have a parable to share with you that I came up with.  Jesus did not name the characters in his parables, so I didn't name the characters in my parable either.

A man had two sons.  He said to his sons "An idle mind is the devil's playground."  His sons nodded, and they tried to please their father so as to honor him, but here are the thoughts that came to the two of them.  The elder son thought "My father is right.  If I have too much time to think about what my elders have told me, I would just use that time to plan robberies and other crimes.  It is best for me to keep busy."  But the younger son thought, "But I enjoy thinking, and it seems wholesome to me.  I think about how to work the farm more profitably.  I think about what my teachers have taught me."

Was the father's advice right?  Could it be that it was right for one son, but not the other?  Maybe the elder son's thought came to him because he had looked in his own heart, and the discipline of not allowing himself too much time to think was the best thing for him. Maybe the younger son's conviction that his thoughts were wholesome was the truth, and he could safely think because he was guarding his heart.

What about you?  If you are like me, your thoughts might sometimes be unwholesome -- President Carter admitted to having that problem -- but more often wholesome and useful, and if we pray to God and lean on him, he will lead us away from putting any unwhole­some thoughts which squirm into our brains into action.

So, part of my encouragement which I bring to you tonight, is the reminder that God gave you your thinker.  It is like a muscle waiting to be used, and you can use it in your Christian life, to examine how the suggestions and ideas you get from your supervisor, from your friends, from a man on the television, from political leaders, and so on, agree with or disagree with God's words.

(Of course, commands demand much less thought than suggestions, but life does not consist completely of commands.  I receive a lot of suggestions and advice in addition to commands, and I expect you do too.)

While we consider our minds and the possible applications our minds can have in our Christian walk, let's hark back to school for a minute.  I'm the son of a teacher (the son of a professor to be more exact), and when I read about people voting against school bonds and referendums to provide more money for our public schools -- money to reduce the student-teacher ratio, to buy more computers and photocopiers, to provide more help to reluctant readers, or a bigger lunch to the sons and daughters of poor people, and on and on -- I wonder: is that voter opposed to pouring money into public education because of an insulting remark which a teacher made about their brain, when they were younger?  That's not always the explanation, but it is a great sadness, and I suppose nothing can be done about it in some ways, in the sense that it's frightful­ly difficult to change other people's opinions.  Also, I did not come here tonight to urge anybody to forgive a teacher they had years ago.  BUT, I did come here to urge all of you to think kindly of your own thinkers!  Here's an example thought along that line: "My thinker doesn't always come up with a solution to a problem as quickly as my boss's thinker does, but it has stood me in good stead over the years and I'm glad God gave it to me."  The way I see it, we don't always need to forgive some teacher -- at least, we don't need to forgive them RIGHT NOW -- who had a fussy word on the subject of our brain many years ago, but we do need to love up on our own thinkers!  Nobody's thinker is batting 1.000 (a thousand of a thousand), but everybody's thinker has useful and wholesome applications in whatever situations God puts us in.

Let me end with an example of meditating on God's word: the fourth commandment, at Exodus 20 verse 8 (also Deuteronomy 5:12-15).  We are commanded to remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.  And the commandment continues "you must not do any work -- you, your son or daughter," -- and there's more after that.  So here's a meditation about this commandment: a scenario.  On a Sunday morning a father goes to church -- but his son, who has passed the age of sixteen, says "I will stay home today, because I am sick."  His father comes home after preaching is over.  His son is up and about, and he says, "I felt better, so I got up. See, I have done this work and that chore and this task while you were out worshiping God."  The fourth commandment has many ingredients -- things that feed into it, corollaries that come out of it, gray areas that arise because of changes in the institutions of the world -- for example, we are blessed that we no longer have the slaves which that commandment refers to, but on the other hand we have many, many stores which stay open on Sunday -- but here is one ingredient of the fourth commandment.  It is disrespect to God if one member of the family says to another "Look at all I have accomplished while you were out worshiping God."  So, that's an example of a thought which can come to you when you meditate on God's word: the reflection that one of the purposes of the fourth commandment is to prevent this scenario from occurring.

Don't say "My thinker can't come up with that kind of stuff."  Just read or listen to the news, and relate it to the Bible.  Many of you are already doing that, and any adult Christian can.

Notes

* Psalm 1 verses 1-2 in the King James Version -- Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  2  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

[I have the impression that the Holman Christian Standard version uses the word law and also the word commandment less often than the King James Version, but that doesn't really matter.  Here the Holman Christian Standard puts instruction (which means teaching) in the place where the word law is in the older translation.]