Friday, January 22, 2016

my teaching philosophy is found here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13mA70RtJEGU3268_I3BiAu-K9Qj0LsKbx2UJdXwhBa4/pub

Oh dang, I can no longer access this note. BIG CHANGE has come through some great studies! Easter Eggs have NOTHING TO DO WITH ASHTEROTH. What joy. Any day is a good day for a decorated egg. Yay!

A Ukrainian epiphany:

לּמּ Pattern & Praise לּמּ


Drifting off to sleep, finally, after some hours at the 
Ukrainian Egg tray, I saw beautiful swirls, dots, curves 
and dashes arrayed like a sunset – somewhere. Is it 
inside my eyelids &/or on the screen of the inner eye? 
Somewhere where that other place lingers after exerting 
creative endeavor. An epiphany came at the crossroads 
of this mysterious inner encounter, like a reward or a 
happy invitation to come partake in the love of friends 
mingling together, celebrating life. Maybe this is why 
pattern is so important to God! He gave so much detail 
about His preferences to good ole faithful Moses, the 
man of God, the servant of God. His Word records 
much delightful detail, all embodied in the Holy Spirit, 
in His Son, our Savior, in our utterances of 
His very Name.


As I merrily canoed along this stream so effortlessly, 
I saw people, I felt their hearts. I pray for them at once, 
naturally! My patterns are a shimmering weaving of our 
lives! Each mark stitches an intersect because of prayer 
in my own spirit, where the Holy Spirit is ever invited to 
dwell. It is a happy place amidst the chaos of the world. 
Paris, the New York Twin Towers, the Pentagon, 
individual griefs all around the world. So much! 
Somewhere, somehow in the midst of 
woundedness springs forth new life, hope, 
vitality and Shalom. He is Shalom. Whatsoever we 
would do to the glory of God honors Him; it invokes 
the Spirit's going forth to bless, to bring His presence. 
Our work is the action side of the contemplative. Our 
awareness of Him brings forth great windfalls of fruit. 
We should be more creative in these episodes 
together. The church, especially, needs more of the 
action side of our contemplative worship, thought & 
praise. His touch is in the pattern, as we might have 
suspected, with the delight that comes here, there, 
and everywhere. Thank you, Father, for giving us so 
much counter balance, springs of living waters, and 
joyful fun. Let your rivers of mercy, faithfulness and 
truth flood the nations. The world should know that it 
is OK to rejoice in You. II Chronicles 8

Friday, January 8, 2016

Zuill!!!

The greater the artist, the humbler the person!
Chatting with pianist Alon Goldstein after the concert by the Chamber Music Festival at Western Hills tonight, I hadn’t wanted to ask these questions publicly because they are so personal in the moment:


Is/are the artistic spirit(s) of your great composers present with you? (Bernstein, Beethoven & Dvorak). Does the trio work in harmony to keep that spirit in check and not your own egos? Or, as you master their work, do you take over at some point. And is the listener a fifth party to the marriage between the trio and the composer, as Tolkien suggested regarding the work of visual art, which he declared carries the artistic spirit of the artist to the viewer. I kind of asked all of these at once. His answers were surprising and very interesting.


"It is the music that takes over. The self disappears! So does the composer!" Oh wow.

This reminded me of Michael Cardew’s response to a question at a Ghost Ranch workshop. He was asked if a great pot by an artist breaks, does it die. He said no, the spirit lives on without the piece. Mr. Goldstein loved that because as we agreed,  music is so temporal to begin with.
 
And the cellist, Amit Peled reminded me of Roger Federer - same amazing zeal & grace. But, we learned that he was born in Yisrael, and not Switzerland. Susi E got over it, OK.
  I enjoyed the music and the people this evening!