How will you celebrate Easter? Some will worship God, some will spend time with family, some will hunt Easter eggs with their children, and many will do all of these things. In addition to these things, I plan to spend a little bit of time listening to music. Great music--like great art, poetry, architecture, and literature--can be inspiring. At times I encounter God through the arts in a profound way, just as I sometimes do in a worship service or in nature. When state lawmakers remove music and art instruction from the schools so that the children will have more time to focus on "the basics," they're robbing your children and your neighbors' children of a part of their souls. As John Keating says in Dead Poets Society, "Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for." One could easily add music to this list of things that make life worth living, or perhaps more accurately, that remind us that life is already worth living. Jesus said, "I came that you might have life, and have it abundantly." If music can help us experience life to the fullest, then it is the gift of God. As I read the Easter readings in preparation for writing my comments, I thought of the themes of beauty, joy, triumph, and one more that might be described as a combination of melancholia, peace, and beauty. I then thought of four pieces of music that inspired each of these feelings in me. After a brief commentary on each passage, I'll share the music that the passages reminded me of. All the music I've listed is classical, but of course other genres of music can inspire similar thoughts. These work for me, others might for you, but if you get the chance, listen to at least one of the works I've listed below for each scripture lesson, then think of a piece of music that inspires you. You'll be rewarded with an experience that will be both memorable and meaningful.
At the end of the story of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden so that they cannot access the tree of life and live forever, doomed to wander the earth trying to eke out a living. An ancient Jewish writer elaborated on this tale in a work called The Life of Adam and Eve. At the end of Adam's life, as he drifted toward death, Eve sent her son Seth back to Eden to try to retrieve fruit from the tree of life. He was unable to enter the garden, however, and Adam died. Isaiah proclaims a day when the sorrow of death will be no more, and tears of sadness will be wiped away. The shroud of death that covers the earth will be removed, and all peoples will feast together and worship God together. The picture of God wiping tears from the faces of his children is beautiful, and it reminds me of one of the lesser-discussed characteristics of God, his beauty, a quality at the same time simple and profound.
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.John Keats, "Endymion"
When these seem like "the worst of times" rather than "the best of times," Psalm 118 can be a comfort. The psalmist describes a situation in which he was surrounded by enemies, and escape seemed impossible, yet somehow, God brought deliverance. The psalmist reacts to his unexpected victory by singing a song of joy. I've been to Rome a couple of times, and the site that brings joy to my heart more than any other is the Trevi Fountain. Situated in the midst of nondescript buildings, the beautiful sculptures and the uproarious water always seem to inspire the crowd that inevitably gathers there to toss coins into the fountain, the look at the statues, or just to rest and visit with friends.
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road, Healthy, free, the world before me, The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.Walt Whitman, "Song of the Open Road"
As Peter preached his sermon to Cornelius and his household, he touched on Jesus' ministry, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead. This story is interesting not so much because of Peter's sermon but because of the people to whom he was preaching. For the first time, according to the book of Acts, Gentiles heard the gospel and were invited to join the Jewish followers of Jesus as equals before God. This incident was the first of many triumphs over preconceptions and prejudice that Jesus inspired in his followers after his resurrection. Although prejudices certainly remain today, many have been overcome, and others are in the process of being overcome in our own time. Among the other triumphs represented by the resurrection of Jesus, certainly triumph over prejudice must rank as one of the greatest.
Tiger, Tiger, burning bright In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?William Blake, "The Tiger"
For another discussion of this passage, click here.
Some of the oldest and best witnesses to the Gospel of Mark end the account at verse 8, before any appearance by the resurrection Jesus. The ending of Mark was almost immediately recognized to be lacking, particularly in comparison with the other gospels that came to be accepted as canonical, and an ending derived from extracts of the others was created. Perhaps the inadequacy of the old ending (was it originally intended to end this way? was a page lost from the original manuscript?) tells us something about human nature, both past and present. The empty tomb is not enough for us; we want to see the risen Lord. If we can't see him, then at least someone we know should see him and tell us about the experience. In a scientific, post-modern, some would say post-Christian age, perhaps many believers today are like the women who went early Sunday morning to visit Jesus' tomb, only to find him missing. We want to believe that a miracle has occurred, but find ourselves doubting. Doesn't the resurrection violate all the laws of nature, laws that God himself instituted? Have we ever experienced anything even remotely similar in our own personal lives? Why do the reports of the resurrection in the gospels differ so greatly from one another? We no longer live in an age of faith, where it is sufficient to say "The Bible says, I believe it, and that settles it," or even "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." We want to believe, but we want more evidence as well. We're filled with hope and joy, but also apprehension and angst. What we really need is not the testimony of people who lived almost 2000 years ago, but a personal experience of the risen Lord, our own Damascus Road experience. This strange combination of feelings that I've described as combining melancholia, peace, and beauty is found is many songs, and listening to them comforts me, but the it also evokes a sense of longing for a new experience with the risen Lord, like others I've had in the past. And sometimes when I listen, I also experience Christ.
Vladimir: Let us not waste our time in idle discourse! (Pause. Vehemently.) Let us do something, while we have the chance! It is not every day that we are needed. Not indeed that we personally are needed. Others would meet the case equally well, if not better. To all mankind they were addressed, those cries for help still ringing in our ears! But at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not. Let us make the most of it, before it is too late! Let us represent worthily for once the foul brood to which a cruel fate consigned us! . . . We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment.
Samuel Beckett, "Waiting for Godot"