In this moment of “the strife of truth and falsehood,” the Notre Dame organ voices the assurance of hope spoken by James Russell Lowell in the hymn “Once to Every Man and Nation.” “Though the cause of evil prosper, Yet truth alone is strong. ”
Yesterday the children at Trinity Episcopal Church sang a beautiful rendering of “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me”. This morning, after posting “Seeing with the Ears” about Nicodemus’s night visit with Jesus, this soulful YouTube of “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me” sung by Larry Kinley struck a deep chord.
If you’re not into Jesus, you can still feel the song – listen to the saxophone and Larry Kinley’s baritone longing for companionship and hope in your times of trouble.
Last night the story of Nicodemus‘s night visit with Rabbi Jesus intersected with a quite unexpected introduction to Max Picard’s The World of Silence read aloud on Voetica.com. Click HERE for the audio of David Juda’s reading of Max Picard’s The World of Silence or watch and listen to the re-blogged sermon on Nicodemus,”Seeing with the Ears”for this time when words so often fail the longings of the heart.
Nicodemus and Jesus on a rooftop
He comes by night. He slips along the buildings of the city streets in hopes that no one will notice. He is a man of position and authority, a learned teacher with a Ph.D. in religion on his way to the kindergarten teacher. “Everything I need to know in life I learned in Kindergarten,” wrote Robert Fulghum. Nicodemus has a sense that he has lost a thing or two along the way, that he needs to start over again.
He’s sent a private message asking for a confidential meeting. The arrangements have been made for the time and place…under the cover of darkness… at Nicodemus’ request.
Dressed in a hooded sweatshirt pulled up around his face and wearing an old trench coat to blend in with displaced people who spend the night on the street, Nicodemus changes his normally stately gait on the way to his secret meeting.
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Be embraced, you millions!
This kiss is for the entire world!
Brothers! over the starry canopy
Must a loving Father dwell!.
– Beethoven’s 9th, Movement III.
Retired University of Pennsylvania music librarian and lifelong friend Carolyn brought Beethoven’s line to our attention in response to today’s earlier post, “Now (regretfully) I Know.”
“Hitler,” she said, “was purportedly extremely partial to Beethoven’s 9th,” especially to the lines above. Her comments remind me again that even beauty itself can become the source of ugliness. Good and evil lie next to each other in this world, just a breath away from the other.
It’s not just an idle mind that is the devil’s workshop. [H. G. Bohn, “Hand-Book of Proverbs,” 1855]. It’s also a lofty mind, propelled by the best in us.
High ideals – a world at one, a world at peace; feel the embrace, you millions, this kiss is for the entire world – are not just lofty. They are also the devil’s playground where light is turned into darkness, love into hate, hope into despair, hugs into gropings, and kisses into kisses of death.
Thank you, Carolyn, for the comment. The physically blind Beethoven surely would cherish the prospect that the world will not allow Hitler’s distortion to become the the last interpretation of the last movement of Beethoven’s 9th.
It is left to us to redeem the hug and the kiss with the spirit of hope and contrition we know by heart:
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.” (Just enough bread for one day.) “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
This All Saints Day —the first without Steve Shoemaker, a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan whose life ambition was to see the Cubs win the World Series –I took the liberty of re-writing a stanza of the signature hymn sung on All Saints Day, Sine Nomine, “For All the Saints Who from their Labors Rest”. Tonight the Cubs try to even the World Series at 3-3 in Cleveland, OH.
Oh, may Thy Cub-bies, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
With apologies. Go Cubs! Do it for Steve on All Saints Day.
Gordon C. Stewart, Nov. 1, 2016
“The Man Who Loved the Graves”
– Steve Shoemaker, April 24, 2012
When I was just a young and naive pastor,
an old man in the congregation
would always arrive long before the rest
of the people at the grave site. He’d shun
the funeral, but haunt the cemetery…
Standing by the open grave, he’d state
his opinion of the deceased and share
with me the type, style and brand of casket
he’d told his wife he wanted when he died.
As the morticians say, he “predeceased”
his spouse, and when we met to plan, she tried
to grant his wishes to the very last
She blessed their common gravestone with her tears,
but smiled through life for many happy years…
NOTE: Steve predeceased Nadja, the love of his life all the way back to high school.
Tonight at 7:00 p.m. CST, Nadja and a host of Shoemaker relatives and friends will gather at First Presbyterian Church of Champaign, Illinois for Steve’s memorial service followed by a dessert potluck to smile “for many happy years.”
Blessed are the dead who die in the LORD, for they rest from their labors, and their works follow them: A Sin a Week: Fifty-two Sins Are Described Here in Loving Detail for Folks With the Inclination and Ability to Do Wrong, but Who Have Run Out of Bad Ideas Order a copy in honor of Steve and for some good ideas!
-Gordon C. Stewart, Chaska, MN, October 15, 2016
Last night, the eve before today’s doctor’s appointment when he will learn whether, and to what extent, the chemo treatment for pancreatic cancer has prolonged his life, Steve attended a concert in a wheelchair. Moments after sending his verse “In Their 40s”, he suggested I post this instead. Too late!
This original composition by Momoh Freeman is inspired by Momoh’s fellow Liberian refugee who lost his entire family. Scroll down for what the lyrics and what inspired the song.
“It was the morning of August, 1995 in Liberia when my friend went out to look for some food for him and his family. When he got back, he met the bodies of his family laying there. They were killed by the rebels. He moved to the U.S. in 1997 still carrying the pain and suffering he saw that day. One day he called me and asked me if I could come visit him at the Mental Institution. I said yes. So I went there. He told me what was going on and that he hears voices in his head and all this stuff, so I wrote a song about it. Hope you like it and thanks for watching.” – Momoh Freeman
Lyrics (copyrighted)
V1. I’m hearing voices in my head.
They are telling me I’m not good enough.
I asked myself what’s going on…… I think my
mind is playing tricks on me… can it be I’m going
crazy…? don’t want to go near insanty.
Bridge: If I loose my mind, where does that leave me
will I be a shell of what I used to be?
send down the rain, and wash away my fear
send down the rain and set me free
V2. I don’t think that I can take this alone
I need some help from above
I can hear them getting louder
and these voices are driving me crazy.
V3. What can I do to get these voices out of my head
I can’t sleep, as if monsters under my bed….
I need some help to get me through the night…
what can I do not to be afraid anymore…..
PERSONAL NOTE:
Momoh’s works in a group home for mentally-challenged adults, serves as Music Director at Immanuel Lutheran Church in North Branch, MN, and performs in various venues on weekends.
Momoh and I served Shepherd of the Hill Presbyterian Church in Chaska for eight years. He defines for me “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” In his voiced response to his friend’s voices, I hear God. Thank you, Momoh, for the privilege.
Views from the Edge 