I am not a fluent writer, and scraping out deeply held feelings from this very misshapen bottle requires a special brush and more time than I have. If the process of excavating my feelings takes too long, or I abandon it, I will miss the opportunity to say that you have changed my life with your posts. Thank you.
In my last year of music school I took several courses at the School of Theology, and wrote two papers that might be the only two papers I remember from all my years of schooling. One, on Augustine’s Confessions, the other comparing Bach’s St. John and St. Matthew Passions - to see if/how Bach’s music manifested the different perspectives of the two gospels. Still think about both papers whenever I play one of the Passions, of course. There is the revelation of Bach’s simple, powerful, faith. I say simple because it’s unencumbered - his life may have been complicated, but his faith animates the music like a warming fire. Bach's faith as revealed in his music is not the disruptive Augustinian or Pauline thunderbolt - he seems to have felt the presence of his God as a constant source of solace and inspiration. And though there are times when I have definitely sensed the presence of God, I don’t consider myself a Christian - during some very dark years I took solace in Buddhist practice. I lean upon goodness or metta - like Bach’s warming fire - simple. Indra’s net is my metaphor for our infinite connections. My faith is lived, not logical. I don’t argue about the legal intricacies of the 2nd Amendment controversy - I just feel that it not good that an exemplar of individual liberty is ownership of an assault rifle. Goodness is close enough to God for me. There’s a Venn diagram somewhere would put me safely within the comfort of grace.
Not sure why I went to this place in this note, except to say I feel your grace, and your faith and I am sorry for your suffering. I feel a profound joy and inspiration from your example, and I thank you for reminding me of the miracle of life.
Great, Bill. When most people talk about religion, they think about faith. That's all it is for them, just a thought. Thoughts alone will not sustain you in Cancer Land. What seems to sustain you is not just your thoughts about God, but your experience of God. Who could argue with that?
Exactly, Brad. The challenge is that you can't _decide_ to experience God; God reveals Godself, or not. You can look and listen for God and open your heart; this is what prayer is for.
This is really beautiful, Bill. (As is all of your writing.) I don’t want to add anything to your plate, but I’d love to have your writing up on the Faith+Lead blog. Maybe even just a cross post that links back to this? Could you email me at Jgoodall002 at luthersem dot edu? Thanks! -Joey
I am not a fluent writer, and scraping out deeply held feelings from this very misshapen bottle requires a special brush and more time than I have. If the process of excavating my feelings takes too long, or I abandon it, I will miss the opportunity to say that you have changed my life with your posts. Thank you.
In my last year of music school I took several courses at the School of Theology, and wrote two papers that might be the only two papers I remember from all my years of schooling. One, on Augustine’s Confessions, the other comparing Bach’s St. John and St. Matthew Passions - to see if/how Bach’s music manifested the different perspectives of the two gospels. Still think about both papers whenever I play one of the Passions, of course. There is the revelation of Bach’s simple, powerful, faith. I say simple because it’s unencumbered - his life may have been complicated, but his faith animates the music like a warming fire. Bach's faith as revealed in his music is not the disruptive Augustinian or Pauline thunderbolt - he seems to have felt the presence of his God as a constant source of solace and inspiration. And though there are times when I have definitely sensed the presence of God, I don’t consider myself a Christian - during some very dark years I took solace in Buddhist practice. I lean upon goodness or metta - like Bach’s warming fire - simple. Indra’s net is my metaphor for our infinite connections. My faith is lived, not logical. I don’t argue about the legal intricacies of the 2nd Amendment controversy - I just feel that it not good that an exemplar of individual liberty is ownership of an assault rifle. Goodness is close enough to God for me. There’s a Venn diagram somewhere would put me safely within the comfort of grace.
Not sure why I went to this place in this note, except to say I feel your grace, and your faith and I am sorry for your suffering. I feel a profound joy and inspiration from your example, and I thank you for reminding me of the miracle of life.
Great, Bill. When most people talk about religion, they think about faith. That's all it is for them, just a thought. Thoughts alone will not sustain you in Cancer Land. What seems to sustain you is not just your thoughts about God, but your experience of God. Who could argue with that?
Exactly, Brad. The challenge is that you can't _decide_ to experience God; God reveals Godself, or not. You can look and listen for God and open your heart; this is what prayer is for.
This is really beautiful, Bill. (As is all of your writing.) I don’t want to add anything to your plate, but I’d love to have your writing up on the Faith+Lead blog. Maybe even just a cross post that links back to this? Could you email me at Jgoodall002 at luthersem dot edu? Thanks! -Joey