Monday, June 24, 2013

The Pianist of Willesden Lane


August Renoir:  Two Young Girls at the Piano, 1892


Our daughter Lauren treated us to the play "The Pianist of Willesden Lane" at the Royal George Theatre in Chicago this past week.  It was a moving one-woman poignant tribute by concert pianist Mona Golebek to her mother's harrowing experience during WWII.  It traces the life of Lisa Jura as a young talented, aspiring musician as she played the piano through the turmoil and adversity of the Holocaust.  Golebek interspersed her theatrical  performance with her own stirring piano performances of well-loved music by Grieg, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Beethoven and Debussy. 

As I sat mesmerized by the exquisite music as it weaved through the tale of survival, I was once again reminded of the crucial role fine arts plays in our humanity.  In this case, music helped Lisa Jura survive the darkest of times as she sought to carry out her own mother's parting charge to hold on to her music as she was swept up in the Kindertransport to London.  (Her parents later perished in Auschwitz.)

I don't think my father was trying to be high-brow when he guided my brothers and me to appreciate the fine arts, for it is in the realm of great music, art, and literary works that we are catapulted from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

Here's a little preview of "The Pianist of Willesden Lane".


Psalm 71: 22-23
22 I will also praise you with the harp
    for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
    O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy,
    when I sing praises to you;
    my soul also, which you have redeemed.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

I Am His Favorite


Painting by Claude Monet


My husband and I walked by a florist shop recently and there was this little plaque with the inscription:  Jesus loves you but I am his favorite.  My husband said he thought those were my exact sentiments.  We laughed.  My first thought was how silly and how theologically unsound.  But the little saying kept nagging at me.  As silly as the saying goes, I do feel like I'm God's favorite in the sense that He loves me most intimately and exclusively.  It reminds me of how the Apostle John described himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.   I don't think that in so describing himself,  John was implying that Jesus did not love the other disciples or that He did not love them as much, but that in his mind and heart, he knew without a doubt that the Lord Jesus loved him immensely and exclusively.  I think everyone of us who loves our Lord would feel that way; God loves the world but He also most definitely loves each one of us exclusively!

Do you feel that you are the one whom Jesus loved?  And if not, why not?  May I venture to say that if you do not feel like you are His favorite, that perhaps it's because He is not your favorite. 

John 20:2
So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

John 21:20
[ Jesus and the Beloved Apostle ] Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Memento Mori


Painting by Edouard Vuillard


Memento mori means "remember that you must die" in Latin.  Some say it serves to remind us of our mortality, of our mistakes and failures, and of the inevitable transformation of life into death.  It that sense, it is quite a morbid reminder.

But I like to think that as much as it reminds us of our mortality, Memento mori can be a freeing and positive life transformation reminder.  Instead of living our lives without much thought  about death, we should remind ourselves frequently that this is the fate awaiting us all, young and old, rich or poor.  There is no greater certainty in life, no greater equalizer than that we will die.  The Bible tells us that it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all humankind, and in this way, the living will take it to heart (Ecclesiastes 7:2).  If we allow ourselves to remember that death awaits us all, I think we who trust God would  live life more purposefully, with more compassion and humility, with greater generosity, and with less resentment toward the injustices of this world.

Memento mori, how then shall we live? 


Psalm 90:12, 17
12 So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
    and establish the work of our hands upon us;
    yes, establish the work of our hands!

Luke 12:16-21
And [Jesus] told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Psalm 73:23-28
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
    you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
    I have made the Lord God my refuge,
    that I may tell of all your works.

Hebrews 9:27-28
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. 

Psalm 37: 7-11
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
    fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
    over the man who carries out evil devices!
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
    Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
For the evildoers shall be cut off,
    but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
10 In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
    though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
11 But the meek shall inherit the land
    and delight themselves in abundant peace.