Monday, August 10, 2009

If there is a future wave of wellness...

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

Dear Readers,

I want to call your attention to an article that was sent to me by Teresa Wilbur, long time friend of St. John's Center. It is called Music: Essential for Life however the title does not begin to do justice to the power of the piece which is really an address to parents of incoming students at The Boston Conservatory.

I've always known that my years and years of training and professional work as a musician prepared me more than anything else possibly could have for my spiritual vocation. In fact, I have long been aware that the vocation is one. This brief piece by Dr. Karl Paulnack puts words to why that is true more eloquently than I have ever before experienced. And so I'm posting this on all three blogs today.

I will share only three sentences here:

If there is a future wave of wellness on this planet, of harmony, of peace, of an end to war, of mutual understanding, of equality, of fairness, I don't expect it will come from a government, a military force or a corporation. I no longer even expect it to come from the religions of the world, which together seem to have brought us as much war as they have peace. If there is a future of peace for humankind, if there is to be an understanding of how these invisible, internal things should fit together, I expect it will come from the artists, because that's what we do.

Please go read the whole thing. I promise you, you'll be glad you did.

And then listen to some good music today. Something beautiful. Something meaningful to you.

You'll be glad you did that too.
~~~

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:43 PM

    I totally agree with the sentiments expressed by Dr. Paulnack. Thank you for sharing this.

    annie

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm glad you liked it Annie. It just blew me away!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10:01 PM

    I would like to send this to Mike to use as an opening devotional when his program begins again.

    There are strong winds blowing tonight. I'm blown!

    Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes, by all means send this to Mike. Isn't it powerful?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Absolutely, and Amen.

    Thanks, Ellie.

    ReplyDelete
  6. And thanks to you too, Jaliya. I'm glad this was meaningful to you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It sure is, Ellie ... Music's up there with oxygen, water, and food ... Today it's Diana Krall ... Yesterday it was Supertramp ... Last week it was Sinatra ...

    ReplyDelete

New policy: Anonymous posts must be signed or they will be deleted. Pick a name, any name (it could be Paperclip or Doorknob), but identify yourself in some way. Thank you.