Something Beautiful

Fritz Wunderlich: "Granada"

The opening is just beyond belief -- Granada, sung by the late Fritz Wunderlich. If you've never heard it, you'll be amazed.

The Cliffs Of Dooneen - Christy Moore

via www.youtube.com

Every day

"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see fine pictures, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Okay, that's four things.  Maybe I'll use this blog to track my efforts to do them.   Or at least one of the first three and the fourth. 

Goethe is, of course, the author of this wonderful reminder: 

The useful may be trusted to further itself, for many produce it and no one can do without it; but the beautiful must be specially encouraged, for few can present it, while yet all have need of it.

Forty-some years I've lived

From Daily Zen Meditation, by Shih-wu (1252-1352):

    Forty-some years I've
    Lived in the mountains,
    Ignorant of the world's
    Rise and fall.
    Warmed at night by a stove
    Full of pine needles;
    Satisfied at noon by a bowl
    Of wild plants;
    Sitting on rocks
    Watching clouds and empty thoughts;
    Patching my robe in sunlight;
    Practicing silence
    Till someone asks
    Why Bodhidharma came east,
    And I hang out my wash.

Canaletto

It's been too long since I linked to a work by the Italian artist Giovanni Antonio Canal (Canaletto). Here's one at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.: The Square of Saint Mark's, Venice (1742/1744).

Fruits of the Holy Spirit

Continuing in my present search for a better balanced and more meaningful life, I take up the expression "the fruits of the Holy Spirit."  These are twelve in number and, according to my sources, are "works that we can perform only with the aid of the Holy Spirit."  The performance of such works is, then, an indication that the Holy Spirit dwells in the person performing said works. 

The twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit are:

- charity (or love)
- joy,
- peace
- patience
- benignity (or kindness)
- goodness
- longanimity (or long suffering),
- mildness
- faith
- modesty
- continency, and
- chastity.

Hmmm.  There are some problems here, or so it seems to me. 

Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Although I do not practice any particular religion, I was brought up as a Roman Catholic.  The language of Roman Catholicism is thus, you could say, my "native language" so far as spiritual matters are concerned.  

At the moment, I'm experiencing some depression and some burn-out, and am generally in need of a different approach to my daily life.   Toward that end, I've once again opened up the last novels of Susan Howatch, in which she describes an approach to Christianity that I find very appealing and life-enhancing.

For the moment, I want to focus on how her protagonists begin their days by attempting to tune into God and His wishes.   For my purposes, I think that a good way of thinking about this is that one is seeking the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are: 

• Wisdom
• Understanding
• Counsel (right judgment)
• Fortitude (courage)
• Knowledge
• Piety(reverence)
• Fear of the Lord (wonder and awe)

della Robbia

There's just something about this Virgin adoring the Christ Child, c. 1483, a sculpture in glazed terracotta by Andrea della Robbia. It's at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland.