Be Bold

This month we attempt to be as bold as a Texas barbecue.  But guess what, we're at a loss of what to do!  Give us some feedback, put on your crazy thinking caps.

The catch with being bold is that we don't want to be reckless (with our lives or money), but want to fully and fearlessly engage life.

There are a few things that I have not done and would like to.  I'll keep those under wraps until I actually get a chance to do them, but that still leaves a few more.

We'll keep you posted as we ferret out the enticing opportunities to boldly go.

(June 25th - awesome Anniversary celebration planned at C-House Restaurant, Chicago.)

May I?

So, it's May.  Well, it's more like halfway through may.  It's our just say no to media ecology month.
Taking our lead from the original 12, we've scrapped it, tossed it, indulged, and generally beset ourselves with media mayhem.  That is to say, I fold bulletins- lots of bulletins - and while I'm folding these bulletins I watch Julia Child, Community, Top Chef, Masterpiece Theatre, and other generally entertaining things.

But props to us because we have not watched youtube and we canceled our Netflix membership.  It counts for something, though I'm sure I don't know what.
Excuse us, we have to go join J & R for a tiger hunt...

To Whom it May Concern

We're all familiar with the idea of the dreaded cover letter; a professional representation of the choicest parts of our character unmarred by foibles, mistakes, or anything bordering on real life.  But many have, I believe, lost the delicate and beautiful art of personal correspondence.  When it comes to the flesh and blood (or should I say wood pulp and ink) world of honest to goodness pen to paper letter writing we often opt for the insta-obsession of our age and "shoot you an email."
I will be the last one to say that technology is all bad, I love being able to quickly communicate or talk face to face with people in different states or continents.  But my thinly veiled inner Luddite rests just below the surface to remind me that I was and am a hopeless Romantic.  There will always be something nearly magical in knowing that someone took time to write a real letter.
I'm setting myself up for a bit of failure here.  While I love many people and would love to provide for them the aforementioned nearly-magical experience I am quite horrid at regularly corresponding in the idyllic manner I describe.  But this month, the challenge is set: 4 very real letters a week.  And off we go!
I've done some research on the history of letters and plan to post my results on Repeat the Sounding Joy.
~ALB

Hospitality -March guests #1

Wednesday, March 9th:
We "hospitablized" the W's from downstairs.  It was a rousing good time and we think they enjoyed themselves (though we haven't seen or heard from them since).

Hospitality

   Considering this month's theme I've been thinking a lot lately about what constitutes hospitality.  In doing so I was reminded of a book I read last year, The Hidden Art (of Homemaking) by Edith Schaeffer.
   I've never had a hard time with the idea of a woman staying at home, but for some reason I've always had a hard time with the term "homemaker."  To me its connotation instantly jogs up some idea of joyless drudgery amid country blue and kitsch with foreign smells wafting across kitchen linoleum and through a home's interior.  Schaeffer, however, talks about homemaking in much more artistic terms than I would have expected from my fabricated notion of the past.  To her, homemaking is a creative endeavor.  Indeed, by its very name you are described as making a home.  Schaeffer goes on to discuss throughout the book what it looks like to make a home.
    One passage I particularly liked was on (shocker) food.  Here Schaeffer mentions a string of hobos that dropped by her door for some food.  Though of course not safe to invite them in, Schaeffer notes that "It would have been wrong to send them away with nothing."  She prepared a large sandwich and arranged it on a tray complete with bud vase and blossom.  Her actions reflected true hospitality: the fact that generosity to the needy ought never be withheld and that everyone can enjoy and benefit from beauty.
Hospitality has less to do with the extravagance of an occasion or even the quality of victual provision.  Rather it is in taking time to think about something enough to make it nice for someone else (which means that hospitality can then be as varied as individual creativity).  Taking effort on the behalf of others, that is hospitality.

Listening final thoughts

     Last night, on the last day of our listening resolution month, Adam and I went to a lecture on theology and art: “The Future of Theology Amidst the Arts: Why Reformed Protestants Needn't Be Embarrassed”
     The lecture itself was fascinating though a little confusing and inconclusive I felt.  It began with an examination of historical Christian perspectives of and relations to the arts and concluded with a report on the contemporary state of Christianity and the arts.  Particularly it addressed questions of beauty (is it relegated merely to the arts), a sacramental view of art (can one represent the infinite by the finite), and an idea he called "logophobia" (meaning a tendency to elevate the experiential -specifically experience of the arts- above the words of scripture.)   The lecturer synthesized these ideas somewhat in a discussion of relation between word, The Word, and art (visual and audible) reaching, I think, something of a conclusion that we ought not dismiss art's capacity for expression nor should we elevate art to the point where we pigeonhole God by relegating Him to the ability of art's expressiveness.

       Given by Jeremy Begbie, the lecture was bound to include some musical performance (Begbie has been said to never give a lecture without a piano in the room).  He of course did not disappoint and played a large portion of Liszt's "Les jeux d'eau à la Villa d'Este" (The Fountains of Villa d'Este).  Liszt wrote this piece in the midst of a length bout of depression while in Italy.  He observed daily the fountains of the Villa d'Este and began to dwell on the nature of the water and the analogy of Christ's life-giving water.  In the midst of the manuscript, Liszt inscribed "John 4" on the top of the manuscript.  The fountains were visual truth that reminded Liszt of a metaphysical truth and inspired him to write Les jeux and also the aforementioned citation on the piece.  I think it is clear that Liszt, a strong Christian, understood an integrated view of the physical and metaphysical: expressed by music and explained by word.
     Begbie's conclusion from the story of this piece is that there are times when we must express ourselves, and only can express ourselves, in a realm beyond words.  "The arts," Begbie said, "cannot express as definitely as words [ie. this is a chair], but might that not be their greatest attribute?"
~ALB

Listening Week 3

For our third week of listening, we did this; ___________ (previous bar) --------------  (new bar) (that is my best attempt at raising a digital bar.)

We went to the ballet at the Auditorium Theater, home of the Joffrey Ballet.  Wait a minute.  For the week of listening you went and experienced the music?  You saw and smelled the music?  Even tasted it?  Yes, you read that correctly.  The bar has been raised.  The gauntlet has been thrown down. 

We were able to witness a production of the Merry Widow by Franz Lehar.  The original operetta was first performed in 1905, while the ballet was first performed in 1975.

I believe that the ballet is always an enlightening experience for me and perhaps many guys in general.  You sit there for a few hours watching guys in tights jump around performing incredible acts of physical strength and agility, while you simultaneously ponder two things.  One, you remember that while growing up, ballet was always something that girls did.  Two, while thinking that these guys are doing something that girls do, you realize that anyone of them could seriously mess you up had you run into them in a back alley.

The ballet itself was very good overall.  I am forced to give this ballet experience a rating of very good as opposed to excellent when considering three categories.  First, let's start with what the production did well (I apologize if this sounds too much like a parent teacher conference).  The dancing was incredible.  The lead male and the two lead women were simply phenomenal (the other lead guy was also very good, but in comparison to the primary lead, he was overshadowed).  They were able to perform feats of strength and agility that only come with years of dedication to their art.  The abilities of the dancers was perfectly captured by the choreographer.

When we look at the second criteria, we start to lose points.  The music of the ballet was very good, but not excellent.  It was not excellent for one primary reason; it did not necessarily coordinate with the mood of the story.  One of the most powerful weapons in the arsenal of music is the ability to captivate an audience and draw them into a story.  Think for a moment of an excellent film.  Whether you realize it or not, I would wager that the excellent film of which you are thinking is accompanied by an excellent musical score.  If it is done well, the score will draw you into the story of the film and make you feel the emotion that you are supposed to feel.  The music in the ballet shares a similar function.  If the main purpose of a ballet is the dancers telling a story, then the music should serve that purpose.  Yet in the Merry Widow, there were a few times when this synchronization was not happening.  For example. at the end of second act, the two lovers fall out of favor with each other as the widow temporarily chooses another man.  Yet while this emotional scene was taking place, the audience was treated to a lovely up tempo melody with a lot of gaiety on stage.  If it were not for knowledge of the plot, I don't think that the audience would fully understand what was going on (at the very least it could have been communicated better).  While overall the music was very good, there were a few key places where it did not support the plot.

Lastly, the story of the ballet itself did not amaze.  The plot focused on a simple story of girl knows boy, boy falls in love with girl, boy's aristocratic parents don't approve of peasant girl.  Boy and girl grow up.  Girl marries rich man.  Rich man dies.  Girl is suddenly now rich and single.  Enter boy #1.  Boy and girl are introduced at ball and fall in love again.  Girl toys with boy's emotions to prove his love.  Girl, for a time, chooses boy #2.  Boy gets mad and challenges boy #2.  Boys get over it.  All is forgiven.  Boy #1 and girl end up together.  Call me a cynic, but I just don't love that story line...

~ ABB