Power of His Resurrection
Philippians 3:10
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death; (ASV)
On Saturday, Lina and I went to the Allegro Concert. I am not much of a Classical music buff. My parents did not listen to it and didn't compel me to practice the piano after school. Thus, I never really developed an appreciation for it. Or, a lasting hatred. It seems like the reaction can go either extreme way.
I am now mildly ambivalent towards classical music with some historical notes of animosity as I always perceived playing an instrument classically as elitist. This is now tempered with an increased understanding and even undertones of appreciation for classical music because it is complex and requires years of devotion and talent to become proficient in playing an instrument. Call it maturity, I suppose.
Still, about as classic I go with music is Jimi Hendrix....and if I want to get real fancy, maybe throw on some Yes (all classically-trained rock musicians). BTW, Yes, and bands like it, fall under the category of Progressive Rock.
But, a good friend of ours was playing the French Horn at the Allegro Concern in a duet. So, we went. My wife Lina plays the violin so she is more of an insider. However, I do really like Brass, and in particular, the French Horn. Must be the Presbyterian in me. I found this on a web site:
Brass type instruments originally appeared as a crude animal horn cut off at the small end. The first historic record of one comes from the Eastern Civilization. It was the Hebrew instrument Schofar. This was made from a ram's horn. The Schofar is still used today in various Jewish festivals.
Never really thought about why "horns" were called horns. Pretty obvious. The best use of the French Horn in rock music? The intro to the Beach Boys "God Only Knows. "
The audience at the Allegro Concert was decidedly aged and elderly. It is not often these days that I feel like the kid in a group. I am pushing 50. But, in comparison, I was a boy. There was a lot of sweetness to see how the older folks came out together, enjoyed the concert, and walked out slowly together to their cars. One older gentleman was using his walker to hobble away.
It does not bode well for the future of classical music that its audience is passing away. Allegro is trying to make classical music less pretentious and more accessible. But, in an age, where musical mediocrity is mainstream, there is not much of a hope that the waves of time will not erode the structure of such works.
Old age will come to us all...I am well on my way. Yet, in walking to our car, I was reminded on the devastating power of sin upon our frail frames. It is not just physical entropy that cause us to stoop, it is also the spiritual consequences of the moral Fall on man. I am not looking forward necessarily to the descent of my physical functioning, to becoming old. I recognize, at best, that I can prolong health to a degree but that my hands, at some point in the future, will slowly lose their strength to clasp the cliffs of time and I will drop into death.
It is really a comfort, truly the greatest comfort imaginable, to know that the resurrection of Christ is a reality. There are two resurrections noted by Jesus in John. It is both a blessing and a horror to recognize that either the best or worst is to come...eternal life or eternal damnation. Here is site about judgment and the schofar. Whether or not we will like the sounding of these horns hinges on whether we know Jesus.
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death; (ASV)
On Saturday, Lina and I went to the Allegro Concert. I am not much of a Classical music buff. My parents did not listen to it and didn't compel me to practice the piano after school. Thus, I never really developed an appreciation for it. Or, a lasting hatred. It seems like the reaction can go either extreme way.
I am now mildly ambivalent towards classical music with some historical notes of animosity as I always perceived playing an instrument classically as elitist. This is now tempered with an increased understanding and even undertones of appreciation for classical music because it is complex and requires years of devotion and talent to become proficient in playing an instrument. Call it maturity, I suppose.
Still, about as classic I go with music is Jimi Hendrix....and if I want to get real fancy, maybe throw on some Yes (all classically-trained rock musicians). BTW, Yes, and bands like it, fall under the category of Progressive Rock.
But, a good friend of ours was playing the French Horn at the Allegro Concern in a duet. So, we went. My wife Lina plays the violin so she is more of an insider. However, I do really like Brass, and in particular, the French Horn. Must be the Presbyterian in me. I found this on a web site:
Brass type instruments originally appeared as a crude animal horn cut off at the small end. The first historic record of one comes from the Eastern Civilization. It was the Hebrew instrument Schofar. This was made from a ram's horn. The Schofar is still used today in various Jewish festivals.
Never really thought about why "horns" were called horns. Pretty obvious. The best use of the French Horn in rock music? The intro to the Beach Boys "God Only Knows. "
The audience at the Allegro Concert was decidedly aged and elderly. It is not often these days that I feel like the kid in a group. I am pushing 50. But, in comparison, I was a boy. There was a lot of sweetness to see how the older folks came out together, enjoyed the concert, and walked out slowly together to their cars. One older gentleman was using his walker to hobble away.
It does not bode well for the future of classical music that its audience is passing away. Allegro is trying to make classical music less pretentious and more accessible. But, in an age, where musical mediocrity is mainstream, there is not much of a hope that the waves of time will not erode the structure of such works.
Old age will come to us all...I am well on my way. Yet, in walking to our car, I was reminded on the devastating power of sin upon our frail frames. It is not just physical entropy that cause us to stoop, it is also the spiritual consequences of the moral Fall on man. I am not looking forward necessarily to the descent of my physical functioning, to becoming old. I recognize, at best, that I can prolong health to a degree but that my hands, at some point in the future, will slowly lose their strength to clasp the cliffs of time and I will drop into death.
It is really a comfort, truly the greatest comfort imaginable, to know that the resurrection of Christ is a reality. There are two resurrections noted by Jesus in John. It is both a blessing and a horror to recognize that either the best or worst is to come...eternal life or eternal damnation. Here is site about judgment and the schofar. Whether or not we will like the sounding of these horns hinges on whether we know Jesus.
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