M is for Music ~ a one word message that soothes my soul

Lettering and treble clef by Wayne Stratz
Background by Margaret Almon

Those of you who followed my blog before the A to Z challenge know that I gave up news for Lent, especially while commuting to work.  Since Easter, I have turned the news on but not everyday. So with a decision to go with news, I drove home getting the earliest news reports of the explosions in Boston.

For as long as I can remember I have turned to music to soothe my soul. Nothing moves me in the same way. 

Recently we went to see Kurt Elling in concert. He told the story of wanting to find words for a tune by Duke Ellington.  Then he was inspired by an improvised melody by Von Freeman.  Finally he read a poem by Rumi and it all came together.

I offer this up on this long night.

I like the sunrise cause it brings a new day

I like a new day. It brings new hope thet say

I like the sunrise  blazing in the new sky

Nightime is weary.  Oh, and so am I

This year's Watch ~ foiling and praying

I am not so hot with sitting still and so I entered my studio at 10:00 this morning. At that time seven pieces had been foiled. By 11:05, all were done.
Near the beginning I read a reflection by Fr. James Martin, SJ. It asked us to consider the human side of Jesus pondering a failure as he suffered. Had his ministry been for nothing? Where do we see ourselves failing? Some students came to mind. But no matter the journey they have taken this school year, I'll have hope for their future. Maybe that hope is what has allowed me to continue on as a special education teacher for 26 years.

I also took a break from the foiling to browse scripture, this passage from Matthew struck me ~

"Go and learn the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice. And indeed I came to call not the upright, but sinners."

Ironic. Sad. To come with a message of saying sacrifice is not what God wants, then to be asked to sacrifice his life. Can we be grateful? Can we experience the joy of Easter?

And surely jazz was flowing as I prayed and foiled. A few years back a friend gave me a CD, Jazz Meets Hymns by Juju Song. Wish I could have found a video of Were You There When They Crucified My Lord, but I did find this ~

May our prayers take us into deeper places.

Mystical Mondays ~ Darkness causes a deep ache

Translations by Daniel Ladinsky

Here is to the light of God...

Otherwise The Darkness

I 
have a cause.
We need those don't we?
Otherwise the darkness and the cold gets in
and everything starts to ache.


My Soul has a purpose
to love;


if I
do not fulfill
my heart's vocation
I suffer.

Meister Eckhart