Flashback Friday

As a little human toddling about, I was...

...attracted to books.
...convinced my baby sister was my personal living doll.
...fond of canned peaches.
...strangely capable of listing all 39 books of the old Testament through song.
...exceptionally chatty.

Not much has changed, except I'm no longer terribly enthused about canned peaches.

Perfectly Beautiful

Pretty.

Beautiful.

Perfect.


Are all of these the same?

Here is a four minute video challenging our perceptions of beauty.



(Set in Zurich, Switzerland)

The Sound of Silence

Pakistani refugees on an old carousal, National Geographic

This afternoon my sister and I jaunted over to a local public library to hear a program from three Celtic harp players. The musicians explained that their instruments and compositions were a revival of ancient Irish folk music. The lead musician narrated legends of roving Irish harpists whose instruments were dearer to them than lovers. As the three of them played together, I reflected on the ability of music to stir our spirit and emotions, accomplishing the minor miracle of transporting us out of both our bodies and minds. 

In a society where jingle jangle is constantly piped into both our homes and public places, I think we forget that much of history has been accompanied only by the music of nature. A musician friend recently spent two weeks walking the Camino in Northern Spain and remarked on how the silence in the small village squares seemed almost eerie to his American ears. The audiences of the Irish harpists would have lived in similar quiet, exposed to music primarily in the voice and the rhythms of wind and wave. The harp strings must have seemed magical to them. It would have been more than satisfying -- like water quenching deep thirst.

It seems that human beings value things more when they are rare. Historical luxuries are commonplace for Americans today, and we lack the instinct towards gratitude for beautiful things. We consider free time, choice, and variety our due, an extension of our basic human rights. Yes, we are, at times, grateful for the general plenty of our lives. Perhaps if we learn how to be grateful for each item that makes up the plenty, we will be content with less and generous with more. The gifts will seem greater and the burdens fewer. When we are satisfied with simple, "average" will become "abundant".