Music of the Soul
Music has always been a part of most of my life, but it hasn't always been the most enjoyable part. I started playing piano when I was 9 because my parents told me to. I never really connected very much with it. I started playing guitar when I turned 14 and really enjoyed it, but I mainly picked up so that I would be cool. As I have grown older and played more I have come to enjoy music at a different level, but sometimes I still think that I want to learn new techniques and methods just so that I can get better and people will think that I am a better musician.
But something seems to be lacking in that way of thinking. When I think of truly great musicians, they made sure that what they played reflected themselves, their experiences, and their souls. They changed the genres around them and made the music conform to them, almost making the instruments and music extensions of themselves. What if I were to think of it that way with the way I play music? Not that I want to become famous, but I do have a desire to make music a true art form and form of expression in my life, not just a way to boost people's opinion of me. What will happen when playing becomes a mirror for my soul?
Monday, February 12, 2007
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas
Recently I have become very interested in reading literary short stories and I came across a very interesting one. The story is The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin and and is a very interesting story about a Utopian society, their joys and flaws, and how we can relate to it in our own lives. In the process of telling the story of this society, she brings up some very interesting issues and makes some really good points. *Warning: if you plan to read the story before reading the rest, do not continue until you have read it!*
Essentially, the narrator describes a society that lives in perfect harmony and is always happy. The have the freedom to think, philosophize, create, and live in happiness. The countryside and all their people are beautiful, all their science is poiniant, their literature profound, and their music profound. The only condition they need to fill in order to maintain their perfect society is that a single has to live a wretched, lonely life, locked away in a cellar in one of the buildings. All of the citizens of Omelas know about the child and accept it as a necessary evil, but some are disgusted by it and decide to leave and live a life without this guilt. They are the ones who walk away from Omelas.
In my mind, Le Guin presents two very interesting points about these people and about us. First, she shows that if we lived in Omelas, we probably would not leave. If we had grown up in this society, we would probably accept it as part of life and not question what was wrong about living a life without guilt. We would simply file it away and move on with our lives and try to direct our anxiety elsewhere. In the same way, we often do this in our own society and lives, taking too much for granted and shufffling away the things that bother us so that we can continue to live complacent lives.
The second point that Le Guin makes, and one that I truly believe in, is that those that leave Omelast don't have the correct response either. By leaving Omelas, they are merely removing themselves from guilt and doing nothing to help the child. What good are they doing if they simply isolate themselves and don't respond to what they know is right? For us, it would be very easy to simply denounce our society and isolate ourselves from it and not seek to make things right.
So, what are we to do with the problems in our society? I believe that we are called to not only open our eyes to the problems around us that we may take for granted, but we should also seek out what God has planned to right these things, rather than either trying to be ignorant of them or run away and save only ourselves from that guilt. How can we see things around us, but not be tempted to merely walk away from Omelas?
Recently I have become very interested in reading literary short stories and I came across a very interesting one. The story is The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin and and is a very interesting story about a Utopian society, their joys and flaws, and how we can relate to it in our own lives. In the process of telling the story of this society, she brings up some very interesting issues and makes some really good points. *Warning: if you plan to read the story before reading the rest, do not continue until you have read it!*
Essentially, the narrator describes a society that lives in perfect harmony and is always happy. The have the freedom to think, philosophize, create, and live in happiness. The countryside and all their people are beautiful, all their science is poiniant, their literature profound, and their music profound. The only condition they need to fill in order to maintain their perfect society is that a single has to live a wretched, lonely life, locked away in a cellar in one of the buildings. All of the citizens of Omelas know about the child and accept it as a necessary evil, but some are disgusted by it and decide to leave and live a life without this guilt. They are the ones who walk away from Omelas.
In my mind, Le Guin presents two very interesting points about these people and about us. First, she shows that if we lived in Omelas, we probably would not leave. If we had grown up in this society, we would probably accept it as part of life and not question what was wrong about living a life without guilt. We would simply file it away and move on with our lives and try to direct our anxiety elsewhere. In the same way, we often do this in our own society and lives, taking too much for granted and shufffling away the things that bother us so that we can continue to live complacent lives.
The second point that Le Guin makes, and one that I truly believe in, is that those that leave Omelast don't have the correct response either. By leaving Omelas, they are merely removing themselves from guilt and doing nothing to help the child. What good are they doing if they simply isolate themselves and don't respond to what they know is right? For us, it would be very easy to simply denounce our society and isolate ourselves from it and not seek to make things right.
So, what are we to do with the problems in our society? I believe that we are called to not only open our eyes to the problems around us that we may take for granted, but we should also seek out what God has planned to right these things, rather than either trying to be ignorant of them or run away and save only ourselves from that guilt. How can we see things around us, but not be tempted to merely walk away from Omelas?
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Monday, February 05, 2007
The Leadership of Martin Luther King Jr.
As I continue to study the Civil Rights Movement in my history of the 1960's class, I am continually astounded and disturbed by not only violence and intolerance that occurred in the United States at that time, but also by the leadership and vision of the blacks and whites involved in the movement. One obvious stand-out of the movement was Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and the more that I see what he did and how he led, I am continuing to get a clearer picture of what it means to be a strong and Christian leader.
One key element about King was that he had profound vision. When he looked around he saw injustice and a world counter to what God invisioned. He realized that the segregation of white and black was wrong at its core and he had the courage to act. Also, through his actions, he was able to witness to the world the moral, not just the political, importance of the movement. By teaching and advocating non-violent protest, he encouraged those around him to rise above the actions of their persecutors and demonstrate that this was not a political movement, but that it was a just movement, a movement that would not be justified through the injustice of violence.
King also showed his strong leadership by acting on his vision, even when he wasn't clear on what he could do. One example of this comes from the demonstrations in Birmingham against discriminatory employment in 1963 (the Birmingham protests are where we get the images of protestors being attacked with dogs, cattle prods, and firehoses). When King arrived in Birmingham and didn't how to act in response to these obstacles, he was reported to have said, "I don't know what to do, but I know I need to do something." He then went out and protested with other demonstrators and was promptly arrested. This was perceived as one of his strongest demonstrations of leadership and he subsequently wrote the famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" in solitary confinement.
But I think King's greatest leadership attribute was his pursuit of a greater vision. King specifically fought for injustice in the specific area of white/black equality and desegregation, but he also pursued a greater of vision. King did not just pursue a vision of whites and blacks having equal rights, but that all ethnicities would be reconciled to each other and live together in peace and harmony (it is actually believed that this idea, and not so much his stance on the civil rights movement, was what eventually led to his assassination in 1968). It was this greater vision that guided his actions and allowed him to lead effectively.
As I continue through my journey through learning about effective christian leadership I am learning more and more about the importance of having a greater vision and letting that dictate my actions rather than stabbing at leading others without any solid direction. Through learning more about other leaders, in this case the leadership of MLK, I am continuing to learn more about the leadership that God is placing me in now.
As I continue to study the Civil Rights Movement in my history of the 1960's class, I am continually astounded and disturbed by not only violence and intolerance that occurred in the United States at that time, but also by the leadership and vision of the blacks and whites involved in the movement. One obvious stand-out of the movement was Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and the more that I see what he did and how he led, I am continuing to get a clearer picture of what it means to be a strong and Christian leader.
One key element about King was that he had profound vision. When he looked around he saw injustice and a world counter to what God invisioned. He realized that the segregation of white and black was wrong at its core and he had the courage to act. Also, through his actions, he was able to witness to the world the moral, not just the political, importance of the movement. By teaching and advocating non-violent protest, he encouraged those around him to rise above the actions of their persecutors and demonstrate that this was not a political movement, but that it was a just movement, a movement that would not be justified through the injustice of violence.
King also showed his strong leadership by acting on his vision, even when he wasn't clear on what he could do. One example of this comes from the demonstrations in Birmingham against discriminatory employment in 1963 (the Birmingham protests are where we get the images of protestors being attacked with dogs, cattle prods, and firehoses). When King arrived in Birmingham and didn't how to act in response to these obstacles, he was reported to have said, "I don't know what to do, but I know I need to do something." He then went out and protested with other demonstrators and was promptly arrested. This was perceived as one of his strongest demonstrations of leadership and he subsequently wrote the famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" in solitary confinement.
But I think King's greatest leadership attribute was his pursuit of a greater vision. King specifically fought for injustice in the specific area of white/black equality and desegregation, but he also pursued a greater of vision. King did not just pursue a vision of whites and blacks having equal rights, but that all ethnicities would be reconciled to each other and live together in peace and harmony (it is actually believed that this idea, and not so much his stance on the civil rights movement, was what eventually led to his assassination in 1968). It was this greater vision that guided his actions and allowed him to lead effectively.
As I continue through my journey through learning about effective christian leadership I am learning more and more about the importance of having a greater vision and letting that dictate my actions rather than stabbing at leading others without any solid direction. Through learning more about other leaders, in this case the leadership of MLK, I am continuing to learn more about the leadership that God is placing me in now.
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