Jack’s Winning Words  10/25/22

“Without music life would be a mistake.”  (Friedrich Nietzsche)   Nietzsche, like most of us, was a self-taught musician.  He did have the advantage of being friends with Richard Wagner. God was having a good day when He invented music.  I love the soft sound of a harp when it plays a Christmas lullaby, or the rousing sound of trumpets at Eastertime.  Bach’s  Toccata and Fugue in D Minor being played on a pipe organ brings me into another world.  I like the Beatles, and I like Hank Williams.  My hearing has diminished, but not my love for the language if music.  How about you?  What kinds of music make your world a happy place?  ;-)  Jack

FROM ME IN NEWPORT BEACH:  : Chuck Berry’s Nadine.  John Fogarty’s Centerfield.  Anne Murray’s Tennessee Waltz.  John Denver’s Rocky Mountain High and almost any Bocelli song are a start===JACK:  We attended a Bocelli Concert in Detroit last Christmas.  OUTSTANDIND!  By contrast, I like Tina Turner, too..

FROM WILLMAR REV:  I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever,  I will sing, I will sing, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever,  I will sing of the mercies of the Lord.   With my mouth will I make known   Thy faithfulness, Thy faithfulness,   With my mouth will I make known   Thy faithfulness to all generations,   I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever,   I will sing of the mercies of the Lord.  (I Will Sing Of The Mercies Of The Lord, James H. Fillmore, Public Domain) 0;-) ===JACK: Do you sing songs other than religious ones?  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but there is just so many kinds of music and so little time.  I can imagine that one of your favorites is: HOW GRETA THOU ART.===REV:  I have become so embedded with church hymns, choruses, and southern gospel quartet over the years, they naturally pop up to memory when thinking of a corresponding song for what might be called for or for a moment or two wanting to be consoled by prayerful song or praise song for any reason. I also have a little bit country appreciation for the CMA popular songs, old and new. 0;-)===JACK:  How about Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah?  Is there room in your mind for a Jewish person to sing a song such as that?  My mother-in-law was music director at a large church.  On an Easter Sunday they had a Jewish guest soloist sing, "I Know that My Redeemer Lives.  She wondered to me about that.===REV:  I believe I would be open somewhat to those kinds of opportunities . . . I remember using many prayers out of an old, discarded prayer book at Temple Kol Ami. 0;-(===JACK:  My point, exactly.  Our faith is a combination of beliefs.  It may not be perfect, but it gives a snapshot of where we are in search to know the unknowable.  You are a better person for where you have been and what you have experienced.

 FROM KK:  The harmonies of barbershop===JACK:  I imagine that you not only like the singing, but the social interaction, too.  Are you part of a quartet or just a member of the larger group?

FROM ST PAUL:  i like this phrase:  he who sings prays twice.===JACK:  The sermon hymn one Sunday was, I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY, and the congregation sang it as they usually sing old favorites.  There was a stranger in church that Sunday.  At the door, after the service, he introduced himself and said that he was so glad that we had sung, I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY, because it was written by his great grandmother,, Katherine Hankey.  What are the chances of that?===SP:  Fred N. was also an atheist.  i wonder how he "processed" all this marvelous Christian music over his lifetime?   a curiosity question for sure:):===JACK:  Don't be so hard on Fred.  He was an atheist toward way that religion was being presented in his time.  Perhaps he (and not the religious experts in his day) the right was of interpreting God. ===SP:  indeed,  God loves atheists every bit as much as he loves you and me...===JACK:  Perhaps you missed my point.  Everyone who calls himself an atheist or is labeled one is not necessarily one.  Given the kind of interpretation of God that those people received, you and I might be atheists, too.  Atheist is a term given by others, not necessarily by God.===SP:  i can accept your premise.   surely the human race has come up with all kinds of understandings of God over the centuries and many are not helpful at all. ===JACK:  I've talked with people who claim to be atheists who, upon deeper conversation, are not ungodly.  They simply reject the way that the Church presents God. 

FROM SR RD:  I didn't review what I had sent to you earlier today when I sent the little song as a response to someone's having sent me an inspiring quote of John Lewis and a tree full of light!, so let me try again  🙃  You are all we have;  You give us all we need;  Our lives are in your hands, Oh Lord;  Our lives are in your hands.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  I like 30's and 40's Big band music, and most classical pieces. Schehazade is a particular favorite, maybe because it tells a story. Not a rap or jazz fan.===JACK:  I like soft piano jazz combo.  BTW, whatever happened Rogers and Hart (style)...and people who can compose and play like George Gershwin?  Sooooo much good music in the past!

FROM GUSTIE: I agree with him.  I like all kinds of music but not the stuff they sing now that sounds like they are hoarse from the beginning—can’t understand the words or the tune.  ===JACK:  Not even Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen?

FROM SALON SUZY:  Amen to that! Just did the Grand old Opry tour🎶 ===JACK:  I'm an old, old Op'ry fan....even when it was held in the old Ryman Auditorium and Cousin Minnie Pearl was there.  When I was a teen I would listen to it every Saturday night on the radio.

FROM EMT SINGS IN TC:  You may recall that a harpist played at our wedding.  In fact we had a CD of hers.  I will have to find that.  So many  nice memories!===JACK:  You might look up Christa Grix.

FROM SNOWBIRD SUE:  I also love all types of music! Country, jazz, Pop, classic rock, new age, R&B, etc. (but maybe not opera).  Music makes me happy.  Sorry I didn’t get to say good bye. We left on the 20th and went to Nicole’s in Charlotte NC for 4 nights. So good to see our grandkids.  Hope you and Joan have a happy and healthy winter!===JACK:  I'd like to have a Hoe-Down Day sometime at the church....when we could play religious songs in the "country style."  Maybe it could be arranged when you fly north again.===FROM SBS:  That sounds like fun.===JACK:  It's not a sin to have fun in church.  Starts making a list of some sings.

 

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