Keepsakes

Our basement had a major plumbing issue this past week. Getting things out of the way of the workers, I felt nostalgic for a couple of things on the laundry room wall: 

A little metal tag that I found in a Golconda, IL antique store in about 1983. I just thought it was cool, and I've kept it all these years. 

A Coke sign that I found on eBay several years ago. The seller said that it came from Vanderburgh County, Indiana, which I always associate with trips across Indiana to visit my parents. The US 41 exit from I-64, which was the northern part of that county, had a good group of restaurants at which to stop for a road trip break. 

 

And this was once a calendar for a store from my mom's hometown. She remembered Sam Wead (which she pronounced Wade). 

Robots, 100 Years Ago

The play that introduced the word "robot" into our language premiered 100 years ago today. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.U.R.

https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/the-origin-of-the-word-robot/ 

Happy 80th Birthday, Neil Diamond!

Neil Diamond was born on this day in 1941!  

A few years ago, I wrote about him: 

https://paulstroble.blogspot.com/2012/06/getting-through-school-via-neil-diamond.html

Verdi's Operas in 2021: Un giorno di regno

As I wrote in my November 26, 2020 post, I like to use this blog as a record of year-long “projects,” often beginning on the first Sunday of Advent. A composer about whom I’ve always felt curious is Verdi. When I began in parish ministry in the early 1980s, in a very rural area of southeastern Illinois, I liked to listen to classical music and opera at my lonesome little parsonage. Anytime I listen to an opera, something in me connects back to that time when I was starting out in ministry. 

So I decided to purchase the 2013 75-CD set of Verdi’s operas (and additional music), which I’ll listen to during the upcoming year. For reference I’ll study Charles Osborne, The Complete Operas of Verdi (New York: Knopf, 1979). 

I listened to Verdi’s second opera as I was taking down Christmas decorations. His first opera, Oberto, was well enough received that the impresario of La Scala placed Verdi under contract for three additional operas.                                                         

The first of those operas was Un giorno di regno, ossia Il finto Stanislao (A One-Day Reign, or The Pretend Stanislaus). Sometimes the title is translated King for a Day. The Polish monarch King Stanislaus had been in exile in France and regained his throne in 1733. He appointed a French officer, Belfiore, to impersonate him in France as he returned to Poland. The story concerns the difficulties of Belfiore maintaining the ruse, and two couples who don’t want to be married to each other. One of the women is in love with Belfiore who, of course, cannot reciprocate while in disguise. It all ends happily when Stanislaus returns and the lovers can be married to their respective true loves.  

The opera premiered in 1840. Tragically, Verdi’s wife (Margherita Barezzi, pictured) died during this time, at the age of only 26. Their two children also died, in 1838 and 1839. Having to compose during these devastating circumstances, Verdi nevertheless write a lively if uneven work, reminiscent (as critics point out) of Donizetti but not nearly at the level of that composer's famous operas. Un giorno di regno was a failure at La Scala and was quickly canceled. Although it was performed elsewhere during his lifetime, Verdi decided he didn’t want to write any more operas. Fortunately, he changed his mind—but he didn’t write another comedy until the end of his career.  

Weighed by Sorrow: Bach's Cantatas for the Second Sunday of Epiphany

Continuing my "journey" through J. S. Bach's sacred cantatas performed by the Monteverdi Choir and The English Baroque Soloist, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner…. On disc 5 of this set, the cantatas for the Second Sunday after Epiphany are “Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange?” (BWV 156, “My God, how long, ah! how long?”), “Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid” (BWV 3, “Ah, God, what deep affliction”), and “Meine Seufzer, meine Traenen” (BWV 13, “My sighs, my tears”). The Scriptures are Romans 12:6-16 and John 2:1-11. The cover photo (all of them likenesses of persons around the world, symbolizing the universality of Bach's music) is of a man (wearing a bright red hat) from Lhasa, Tibet.

I listened to the CD before I studied the notes, and I was taken by the overall somber quality of the cantatas after some of the joyful numbers of the previous Christmas and Epiphany pieces. Sure enough, Gardiner comments in the notes that even the sad titles of the cantatas seem out of place for the happy quality of the lessons and Epiphany season. But the texts describe journeys “from mourning to consolation.” Similarly, the Gospel text from the Cana wedding calls attention to the then-unfulfilled ministry of Jesus (“My hour has not yet come”), which connects to the not-yet-fulfilled journey of the believer, who still looks forward to faith’s fulfillment in Heaven. 

In the first cantata, for instance, the believer is assured that God does not delight in sending afflictions but that God wants the joys of Heaven to become all the more precious as we struggle through difficulties. In the second cantata, Jesus is most certainly the one who helps us bear our crosses and keeps our hearts in faith through “mortal fright and torment.” The third cantata is particularly filled with references to tears, sorrow, grief, distress, and bitterness, including feelings of abandonment from God. But all the while God promises to “turn bitterness into joyful wine” and to console us with the promises of Heaven.

Gardiner notes the music devices Bach uses, like the six notes in chromatic descent that symbolize grief in BWV 3, which Bach tranforms into chromatic harmonies that represent the movement from grief to hope. In that same cantata, in the soprano-alto aria connects the cross of Christ to the believer’s troubles, resulting in joy. But in the last cantata, in the fifth movement, Bach uses the bass soloist with recorders and violin to depict our present life as bleakly as possible.

"Hope" in the sense of Christian hope is not only anticipation that something will happen but also trust that it will---and trust in the promiser. I hope that we get a nice tax refund this year, but it would be foolish to trust that we will. I'll just have to get our taxes done and find out. I hope that the new presidential administration will accomplish great things. But--again--we'll have to see what happens. 

Christian hope, though, is confidence that God's promises of comfort and blessings are part of our lives now, as well as in the future. Heaven is in the future, but God has given us the divine life and the divine power today.

So we really live in two circumstances, so to speak, one temporary and one permanent. Our temporary circumstances are filled with things like distress, sorrow and uncertainty (as well as joy and accomplishment). But our permanent circumstance is the life with God which is already accomplished by Christ and is real and powerful. Looking to Christ's complete fulfillment, however, is that which helps us stay grounded in the divine promises while other things in our lives weigh us down--or nearly crush us.

English translations of the texts by Richard Stokes.

A Simple Way Forward

A Simple Way Forward

Galatians 5:13-26

Paul and Beth Stroble

When beginning this lesson, I (Paul) felt “stuck,” wondering what fresh approach to take to this scripture. Beth said, “What about all the bogus Covid remedies—when wearing a mask is the primary thing?” I had forgotten about the obvious illustration!

You’ve probably heard about various ways that supposedly prevent Covid. Vitamins C and D as well as zinc are essential for health, but they’re not cures. Neither is Hydroxychloroquine, which is beneficial for lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and malaria. Drinking bleach is fatal, but some people have tragically died trying it. The president suggested injecting disinfectant. That, too, is fatal! I also heard that a person should kick off shoes at the door in case you might track in Covid. You’ll track in dirt but not the virus.

The point (as Beth commented) is that there will always be new “rules” and guidelines. But the main things you should do is be considerate of others: keep social distance, and wear a mask! While the remedies are for yourself, a mask plus social distancing show that you’re also considerate of others.

In our scripture, Paul contrasts “works of the flesh” and “fruit of the Spirit.” “Flesh” is his word for human nature. He writes: “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. … Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.”

Some of these are extreme behaviors, while others are more typical. But they’re all behaviors that are focused on one’s self. They also do harm.

The Apostle Paul writes: “By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.” What he means is that rules and guidelines are not necessary. You are led by the Spirit and, consequently, you think about the well-being of others. That’s it!

It is very easy to think of religious faith as a set of rules. When I was little, I thought that Christians are people who didn’t curse, mowed their lawns on Sunday, drink, or play cards.

The problem with our childhood ideas about following the rules is that we are thinking about our faith life like moving on the spaces in a board game--avoid jail, keep moving through the requirements, and get heaven as the prize.   What we miss by the approach is that eternal life isn't a prize to achieve but is a gift that should motivate kindness and love for others.  The rule-following approach confuses cause and effect.  God's love and grace are already ours, not a goal to be gained.  

The theme of our lessons right now is “Strategy vs. Simplicity: Three Simple Rules.” “We've just closed out a year that will always be known for disorientation, unrest and division. It has left us trying to navigate a path forward but where is the map? What strategy could we embrace? What if the answer was simplicity instead of strategy?”

The Apostle Paul makes it very simple for us! “For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal. 5:14).

Prayer:

Dear Lord: help us to uncomplicate our faith! Help us to trust in your unfailing love. Help us to be openhearted and considerate of one another. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(A devotion written for our church for Sunday, January 17th) 

Verdi’s Operas in 2021: Oberto

As I wrote in my November 26, 2020 post, I like to use this blog as a record of year-long “projects,” often beginning on the first Sunday of Advent. A composer about whom I’ve always felt curious is Verdi. When I began in parish ministry in the early 1980s, in a very rural area of southeastern Illinois, I liked to listen to classical music and opera at my lonesome little parsonage. Anytime I listen to an opera, something in me connects back to that time when I was starting out in ministry. 

So I decided to purchase the 2013 75-CD set of Verdi’s operas (and additional music), which I’ll listen to during the upcoming year. For reference I’ll study Charles Osborne, The Complete Operas of Verdi (New York: Knopf, 1979). 

I listened to Verdi’s first opera a few weeks ago. Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio premiered at La Scala in November 1839, when Verdi was 26. It was well enough received that the Scala impresario placed Verdi under contract for three additional operas. Set in 1228 in Northern Italy, the story concerns Count Oberto, who has lost a battle with the Salinguerra, led by Ezzelino da Romano. Consequently, Oberto is in retreat in Mantua. Meanwhile, Oberto’s daughter Leonora has been seduced and abandoned by the Count of Salinguerra, Riccardo, who is anyway about to marry the sister of Ezzelino, Cuniza. Leonora aimed to contront Riccardo on his wedding day. , led by Ezzelino da Romano. Oberto has lost and has retreated to Mantua. Meanwhile, his daughter Leonora has been seduced and abandoned by Riccardo, Count of Salinguerra, and Riccardo is about to marry Cuniza, Ezzelino's sister. Leonora makes her way to Bassano on Riccardo's wedding day, intent on confronting him. The two-act story ends with Oberto killed by Riccardo, who in remorse flees Italy but bequeaths his property to the sorrowful Leonora.  

I enjoyed listening to it! Osborne comments that although it is certainly not among Verdi’s great operas, it is a good beginning to the composer’s long career. Even with an unsatisfactory libretto, Verdi had excellent instincts from the start: how to set a story with economy and memorable music. 

Osborne notes that Verdi wrote a previous opera, Rocester. That opera was completed in 1836 but was never performed and apparently no longer exists. Rocester is not the character in the novel Jane Eyre, which wasn’t published until 1847, but details about the opera are now few. Verdi may have used some of its music in Oberto. 

Losing the Lord: Bach's Cantatas for the First Sunday After Epiphany

I've spent this past week getting ready for the new school year and (like everyone else) processing the events last week in D.C. 

This past weekend I listed to Bach’s cantatas for the Sunday after Epiphany, which is CD 4 in the box set of Bach's sacred cantatas. These three cantatas are: “Mein liebster Jesus ist verloren” (BWV 154, “My dearest Jesus is lost”), “Meinen Jesum lass ich nicht,” (124, “I shall not forsake my Jesus”), and “Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen” (32, “Beloved Jesus, my desire”). The lessons for this Sunday are Romans 12:1-6 and Luke 2:41-52.

All three cantatas surround the Luke passage wherein Jesus was accidentally left behind at the temple, and his family backtracks to find him. In these cantatas, the distressed believer speaks for the family: I am a sinner, I am in distress and grief and pain, and I need to be with Jesus. But Jesus is lost!  

As Gardiner writes in the notes, Bach’s skill makes his cantatas more dramatic than operas of his time; for instance, “in the bass recitative (No. 4) Bach forms a chain of seven successive notes of the chromatic scale in the continue line to emphasize the question, ‘Will not my sore-offended breast become a wilderness and den of suffering for the cruellest loss of Jesus?’” In contrast, though, the subsequent soprano-alto duet is “constructed as a gigue with a joyful abandon... that celerates release from all things worldly.”

When I feel “meh” or lost, I tend to go to the psalms, several of which express anxiety when God seems missing. Most of these psalms proceed into thanks and praise as the psalmist recovers a sense of closeness to God. The Luke story is also a wonderful scripture when one feels spiritually lost and distressed.

Have you ever felt spiritually panicked? The Luke story (and Bach’s cantatas) reminds you of a spiritual feeling that you might also sense in the psalms: that feeling of agitated distress and disorientation at losing God, as Jesus’ family panicked when they couldn’t find him. 

Jesus was not really lost, of course. God is really never far away at all.  But at our own spiritual and emotional levels, we may have little or no sense of God. It might take us some time to feel close to God again. What a good reminder of the happiness that await us when we get to that place.

All We Have in Life: Bach’s Cantatas for Sunday After New Year and for Epiphany

I’m listening to Disc 3 of the 56-CD set, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner, of all of Bach's extant sacred cantatas. This CD (featuring a photo of a Kabul man with frost in his hair, eyebrows and eye lashes and beard) features two cantatas for each day. Disc 4 will be cantatas for the Sunday after Epiphany.

The first two, for the Sunday after New Year, are “Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind” (BWV 153, “Behold, dear God, how mine enemies”) and “Ach, Gott, wie manches Herzeleid” (BWV 58, “Ah God, what deep affliction”). “Schau, lieber Gott” begins and continues through several anguished pleas for help. By the second choral piece, "Und ob gleich alle Teufel", with familiar tune “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” the piece lyrically turns to hope: “even though all the evils were to oppose you, there would be no question of God retreating.” Like several of the biblical psalms, the first half of the piece is all anguish and pain while the second half affirms God’s faithful care even in very difficult circumstances. 

“Ach, God,” a dialogue between the soprano and bass, is a dialogue between a troubled and beleaguered soul and an assuring angel. By the end, the soul (the soprano) declares assurance in an upbeat final aria: “Be consoled, consoled, Oh hearts, to reach Thee in heaven’s paradice... the joy of that day for which Thou hast shed Thy blood outweighs all pain.”

Then the next two cantatas on this disc are those for Epiphany: “Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen” (BWV 65, “All they from Sheba shall come”), and “Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen” (BWV 123, “Dearest Emmanuel, Lord of the righteous”). As Gardiner indicates in his notes, the first cantata opens with a sense of procession, antiquity, and Near Eastern ambiance to depict the arrival, not of the Queen of Sheba, but of the Magi who brings the Christ child gifts. A theme familiar to this holiday--what gifts can we figuratively bring the Christ?---is answered: “Jesus would have your heart. Officer this, O Christian throng, to Jesus at the New Year!” Christ, in turn, gives to us more precious gifts than the Magi’s: Christ gives us the gift of himself, and with him the “wealth” of promised Heaven.

“Liebster Immanuel” has dance-like rhythms as it, at first, urges Jesus to return quickly, for Jesus is the believer’s delight and most dear gift through life’s “bitter nourishment of tears.” Gardinar comments that the bass aria “Lass, o Welt,” is one of Bach’s most lonely pieces, as the singer declares, “Leae me, O scornful world, to sadness and loneliness!  Jesus...shall stay with me for all my days.” Yet, in one of Bach’s many wonderful techniques, lets a solo flute accompany the lonely singer with more assuring music, as if the flute were the singer’s consoling angel.

I'm struck by the sorrowfulness of some of the pieces. I don't know if people in Bach's time made "New Year's resolutions," but now that the new year has gotten started, people are back into the difficulties and challenges of life.

But the cantatas are psalm-like in their honesty of pain, loneliness, and people's scorn, contrasted with the promise of God's unfailing love, power, and eternal promises. Something I want to keep thinking about this coming year, is the theme of several cantatas so far: God in Christ is, really, all we have in life, the only permanent reality, the only sure promise. All other things, both good and bad, are ephemeral. It can be challenging to "feel" that promise as one goes about daily life. 

English translations by Richard Stokes

New Year Hope: Bach's Cantatas for New Year's Day

Continuing my listening to Bach's sacred cantatas, performed by the Monteverdi Choir and The English Baroque Soloist, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner … This weekend I listened to the Christmas Season cantatas for New Years Day (disc 2 in this 56-CD set). The cover photo (all of them likenesses of persons around the world, symbolizing the universality of Bach's music) is of a child in Amdo, Tibet, wearing an appropriately warm-looking hat. 

All these cantatas contrast the year's ending and the new year's start: we praise God for the protection and blessings of the past, and we trust in God's care amid life's uncertainties and the devil's traps. The first cantata, “Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele” (BWV 143, “Praise the Lord, O my soul”) is (according to Gardiner, in his commentary notes) of questionable authenticity; it may be a much earlier piece of Bach’s own reused at a later date, or a student’s work composed under Bach’s direction. The piece has an aria that considers grace amid life’s troubles:

Thousandfold misfortune, terror,

sadness, fear and sudden death,

enemies littering the land,

cares and even more distress

are what other countries see---

we, instead, a year of grace.

But the believer still must trust in Jesus as “our refuge in the future, that this year may bring us good fortune.” The believer knows to remain watchful everywhere for the Lord’s guidance. The music itself, composed (as Gardiner writes) when horrors of war and death pale in comparison to the 20th century’s, inspire in us a universal longing for blessing and care amid the particular distresses of our times and places.

A more mature work (according to Gardiner) than 143, the next cantata, “Jesu, nun sei gepreiset” (BWV 41, “Jesus, now be praised”) seeks the same favors from Christ: that Christ’s goodness that has kept us safe through the outgoing year may keep us protected in the new year, since “the foe both day and night lies awake to harm us.” 

“Herr Gott, dich loben wir” (BWV 16, “Lord God, we give Thee praise”) is (as Gardiner puts it) ebullient and concise compared to the more expansive 41. As the previous cantata had beseeched Christ’s care in both “town and country” (Stadt und Land), this cantata request blessing for both “church and school” (Kirch und Schule), because Satan’s wickedness lies in wait there, too. 

"Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm" (BWV 171, “According to thy Name, O God, so is Thy praise") asks the believer to complete the year in praise of God, with the name of Jesus being the new year’s first word and the believer’s final word. 

Probably many people wonder, as do I, what a new year will bring. Think of how differently the world looked at the beginning of 2001 than it did at year’s end. 1914 is another year of that sort. Think of years in your own experience when some event changed the character of the whole year and beyond. 1999 and 2012, when my parents died, are personal examples. I also think of a Facebook friend who lost a loved one on January 1; this friend’s year changed dramatically on the very first day.

Now, we're beginning 2021, after what is often called a "dumpster fire" of a year 2020. Bach’s cantatas give us lovely experiences of hope. We are human and recognize the perils and capricious qualities of life, but we place our trust and hope in God to guide us through. For Bach and his lyricists, God is really the sole source for confidence and happiness. In today's cantatas, Christ’s is the overarching name that begins a calendar year, ends it, begins the next.... and finally closes our lives as we are ushered into everlasting life. 

English translations by Richard Stokes