I’m still high on my Scott Cairns encounter a couple of weeks ago. The “poem” below comes from his book, “Love’s Immensity” in which he translates and adapts the works of early church Christian mystics. I love this stuff…take this one slow and let it slide over you a few times before deciding what you “think” about it.
Beckoning Beauty
St. Denys the Areopagite (translated and adapted by Scott Cairns)
It is forever so-
unvarying, unchanging-
beautiful but not
as something
coming into birth
or falling into death,
and not as what
might grow or might
decay, nor is it
beautiful now and otherwise then.
It is in itself and of itself
the uniquely and eternally
beautiful, and the great creating
cause that bekons
all creation, and holds
all things in the pulse
of its existence,
bears them, keeps them
by the longing within them
to share in what it is- which is
to say, to share in what is beautiful.
For those of you who asked to hear the music to The Shore here ’tis. Please bear in mind the fact that I recorded it into my laptop without fancy equipment…seriously….and in fact, the whirring sound you hear in the background at some point is my computer’s hard drive. Nice touch, huh? I will also tell you that yes, that is my fine beginner guitar work there. It’s coming along.
One day, I will master this and I shall rule the world of technological things….either that or I will hire someone to do this for me.
I’m thinking a great deal this week about love and faith and even “religion” as I understand it…so…I thought it right and proper to put this out there and shine a little light on it.
There is this little book, “The Quotidian Mysteries” that was recommended to me long ago by my wonderful friend Karen. We both harbor a real love of Kathleen Norris’ work. This book was originally a lecture given by Ms Norris on Spirituality and it centers around the idea of embracing the “quotidian.” This is a delicious word, “quotidian” and I work it into blog posts and conversations as often as I am able.
The “quotidian” refers to what we would identify as the mundane, the ordinary, the everyday tasks. The word, however, is much much richer than we give it credit. Prayer, is quotidian…just as housework is quotidian. I’d go so far as to say that Love is quotidian. It must be revisited every day. It must have commitment every day.
This passage from the book puts it so well as it relates to my faith so I rest here for now: “Laundry, liturgy and women’s work all serve to ground us in the world, and they need not grind us down. Our daily tasks, whether we perceive them as drudgery or essential, life-supporting work, do not define who we are as women or as human beings. But they have a considerable spiritual import, and their significance for Christian theology, the way they come together in the fabric of faith, is not often appreciated. But it is daily tasks, daily acts of love and worship that serve to remind us that the religion is not strictly an intellectual pursuit, and these days it is easy to lose sight of that as, like our society itself, churches are becoming more politicized and polarized. Christian faith is a way of life, not an impregnable fortress made up of ideas; not a philosophy; not a grocery list of beliefs.”
Food for thought. Prepared lovingly. I shall be chewing on this as the week progresses.
I’m finding more and more that not only am I a “night person” I am also a “night parent.”
It’s hard to explain so I wrote it as a poem. (what a shock, right?)
Not my usual bag for poetry, this subject, but I’m branching out…
Late Night Parent
it is here
in these small hours
cicadas provide the soundtrack
the breeze
cool now
untouched by the sun
it is here
in this moment
of waking
with the cry
of the bad dream
or leg cramping
or croup coughing
it is here
the late night parent
finds her niche
calm and patient
the soothing voice
otherwise unavailable
during the day
over the din
it is here
that she is most at ease
engaged
and directed
and ready
to bring remedy
with no reservation
and it is here
that I,
while on night shift
thank God
with each forehead kiss
and each whispered assurance
that everything will be
alright
Whilst listening to the radio on my late night drive back from the airport recently I heard this artist performing a cover of a Massive Attack song that I like a whole lot. What struck me first though in this live performance was Newton Faulkner’s sense of humor. He’s hysterical in his banter and in some cases his choice of covers. During a 35 minute drive I heard him perform (in addition to his fabulous originals) “You spin me round” by Dead or Alive and even Queen’s ”Bohemian Rhapsody,” which was unfreakin’ believable…no lie. It was amazing.
Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” doesn’t suffer a bit from his treatment of it, I can tell you. The video is pretty cool too. Shall I draw the metaphor here? Nah. Just watch and listen…balm to the soul, people…balm to the soul.
A few days ago someone googled, “metaphor for kissing” and found me. I have no idea which post they found, probably it was “The Holy Kiss” but who knows. That got me to thinking though about kissing as metaphor and metaphors for kissing and of course that led me to thinking about the assignment I shall give this week while I’m at the Festival of Faith and Writing visiting my poet crush, Scott Cairns and soaking in the smell and feel of the written word.
So in light of that, it’s that time again…How long did you think it would take for us to roll around to the use of “euphemism” in our studies? Ok, ok…I know you are all excited about this one but let’s take a moment and just explore this a bit, shall we?
Some of us, when we think of the word, “euphemism” perhaps go straight to the gutter and think of words or phrases substituted for sex but in reality, according to the dictionary a euphemism is:”The act or an example of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive.”So you see? I’m not going to limit you to something as pedestrian as “sex” while creating or sharing your favorite euphemism. You can feel free to use any harsh, blunt or offensive subject.
Hey, you’re welcome…I know you’ve been itching to try this one.
I could model this for you but I’d rather share with you a website I stumbled upon recently. Be forewarned…it might get a little harsh, blunt or offensive, euphemistically but there were a couple that cracked me up pretty good and a few that made me blush.
…then I will introduce you to another fantastic loop-a-rific pair of performers. This vastly talented duo came to me through a series of friends recently and I am proud to say I was stealthy enough to woo them as friends myself via Facebook. God love Facebook.
This is Steve Lawson and Lobelia Sabo (whose voice, by the way, SLAYS me…SLAYS me, I say.) I hope you’ll dig their stuff. I know that I do.
As Steve says in his description:
“Bass ‘n’ voice looping and strangeness take on Pat Benatar’s 80s arena rock classic… enjoy, but be warned, it gets very odd towards the end!
All the loops and layers are live - there are no pre-recorded samples or backing tracks. the looper used is a looperlative. And that’s a 6 string fretless bass, not just a tiny guitarist… :o) ”
For more info about their duo live EP, see www.stevelawson.net or www.lobelia.net
I confess that I think one of my blogger friends may have posted this in the past but in my parenting stupor I just cannot rightly recall…so Aunt Barb gets the credit.
It’s been a while since we had a “radical thought” so here is an assignment for you. When you are next paid a compliment no matter how big or how small I want you to do something extraordinary. I want you to say, “Thank you” and leave it at that. No, “thank you buts” or attempts to play off the compliment in the name of false humility. Just say “Thank you.” Let me know how it goes.
