Saturday, July 26, 2014

A Tribute


Vermeer's The Concert, 1665


Our very dear friend Lois Nielson died two weeks ago.  She was 91.  She lived such a full and abundant life, committing herself unreservedly to her calling, touching so many with her love and dedication that despite the advanced age, it still felt like an untimely death to all who knew her.  She was musically and pedagogically gifted (training pianists for 71 of her 91 years, including our daughter Kathryn), possessed of a brilliant and curious mind, a sharp eye for things beautiful, and a magnanimous heart that beat passionately for her family, friends, students...and above all her God.

She was a woman who exuded beauty, and her memorial service aptly captured that beauty.  Hers was the kind of beauty that I can only describe as transcendent.  It is because she (and her memorial service) pointed to the ultimate Beauty, her Lord Jesus Christ.  The music at her memorial service lifted hearts heavenward, the eulogies and Scripture readings moved the mourners to seek more urgently the God who had  transformed her into the incredible, unforgettable woman that she was; it was a most suitable tribute to how she lived her life.  In death, as in life, Lois Nielson pointed and gave praise to her Lord and Redeemer!

Here is  Alex McDonald playing Chopin Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48, No. 1.  Alex was a student of Mrs. Nielson, a 2014 Van Cliburn Competition finalist; he lovingly performed this transcendent piece at her memorial service.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 
John 10: 10b

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
    and to inquire in his temple.
Psalm 27:4 



Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Class of 2014




“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art. . . . It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that gives value to survival.”  - CS Lewis

Our youngest graduated from Northwestern a week ago.  We had a lovely time celebrating.  The university did a fantastic job with the general commencement, the individual school convocations, and receptions. We even enjoyed listening to the commencement speeches, the main address being delivered by Ricardo Muti, renowned conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony.  He was amiable and funny at times, encouraging the graduates to make connections on a more personal basis.  I detect a thread running through the various talks from Muti, to President Shapiro, to Weinberg convocation speaker Daniel Pink, of spurring the graduates on to cherish and maintain personal connections.  These young people have grown up in the digital age, where "friends" are made through Facebook and "conversations" reduced to phrases by texting.

We are delighted that our daughter, though savvy of the ways of social media, has made many real and lasting friendships in her four years at Northwestern, the old-fashioned way.  We got to meet many of these friends.  She and her friends organized cookouts and get-togethers during commencement week for the families to get to know them.  We so enjoyed meeting these young people -- all of them warm, sincere, thoughtful and unpretentious -- which speaks well of our child.

I hope our daughter and her friends will not only strive to keep up their friendships but make the effort to establish new ones as they enter the next phase of their lives.  Friendship, after all, borrowing CS Lewis' sentiment, is what will give value to all that they venture out to do.


No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
John 15:16