I was reading today about the way music moves us, and some of the research into “why”. Music touches deep emotions in us.. the study found that “musicians read emotions better than non-musicians”, and that “brain regions stimulated by food, sex and love also light up when we listen to music”…
I enjoy watching footage of various flash mobs – groups of people suddenly acting out some sort of musical at your local train station/food court/shopping centre. They often start in a seemingly random manner, but are usually highly choreographed and rehearsed..
This was the first one I saw – it was actually put together for a commercial – but wonderful!
There would have been a lot of work put into that…
I posted one here a while back… and here’s another.
The looks on the children’s faces! 😀 Music and community together – smoothing out the differences, even if just for a few moments..
This one is not the most cohesive of them all… but see that random bloke? He apparently wasn’t connected to the group at all. He just saw a mob of people dancing and decided it looked like so much fun, he just had to join in. He seems a bit bewildered that everyone else knows the steps and he doesn’t… but he perseveres. I think he does quite well, really..
I LOVE LUNCH!! 😀
.. of course, it’s not all music..
Why not finish with the Hallelujah Chorus? 😀
In amongst all of these, there are glimpses of people taken out of the expected routine of their “everyday”… inspired to just step past self consciousness, and sing, or dance – even if it’s just jiggling on the spot..
Anzac Day – not a celebration of war, but a remembrance.. when we remember and honour those who went to war, and never returned.. We also honour those who came back, broken and torn, those who could no longer navigate the world with peace of mind.. those who saw friends fall, and felt the guilt of still being alive. We honour the families who waited, and who sometimes waited in vain… and we remember and honour those who are in war zones right now, or who are training in readiness.
We didn’t get to the march today, and I feel a little guilty about that, but today we pulled the curtains, stayed in our pyjamas, made popcorn, and spent the morning snuggled on the sofa watching DVDs.. Today we just wanted to spend together as a family, enjoying time together, remembering the good that can still be found in this world.
We watched Prince Caspian, from C.S.Lewis’ Narnia series.. here’s a montage, with the final song from the movie..
Why do we love to watch such fantasies – why do they tug at our hearts? Perhaps they tap into a place deep within us – a place where we have been given a memory, or a glimpse of eternity – that there’s something more..
I believe in a Saviour, who made a way for us to get back to God – to the place we were always meant to be.. I believe that when we watch movies, or read books, where good overcomes evil and all is right in the end, that those stories sound an echo in our hearts, that all will be well, and there is a way home.Even in the greatest darkness, there is still the capacity for light..
Lately, we’ve had just enough time between dropping off and picking up boys on Friday evening to have a cup of tea/coffee at Urban Pantry in town..
Tonight the oldest’s evening thing was earlier than normal, which meant we dropped them off one after the other, and had an hour before the first pick up. We started off by going to D’Arcy Doyle Place, where there was a “Prayer for the city” event, but we could only stay a half hour before we went back for coffee. We’ve been catching up with some people we met one Friday evening, and who have been there each Friday since… unfortunately they didn’t get there tonight 😦 but we enjoyed our evening, and saw some other people we knew..
There was a jazz type band playing while we sat outside the cafe (out of tune, says hubby… and, well, yes… but it didn’t matter..) I used to go to a cafe years ago after I finished work. There was always music playing somewhere or other. I miss doing that. There’s something about a dark sky, live music, and a good coffee…
This was sung as part of our Christmas services this year… there are quite a few beautiful songs from Mary’s perspective – they help me remember that she was a real, and quite young, woman, faced with a huge responsibility, and given a huge blessing…
Here’s another Christmas song, from a different perspective – by a “heathen, and a pagan… on the side of the rebel Jesus”
We’ve had this video at church for the last two weeks… Jesus’ story throughout the history of the world… a glimpse of what we celebrate in a few days 😀
I couldn’t figure out how to embed it, and couldn’t buy the download, so here’s the link to have a look at it… it’s well worth the effort!
The Olympics are coming up….
RBC Ministries (who publish the daily devotional I use) offered a free DVD a couple of months ago, on the life of Eric Liddell. You may recognise the name from the 1981 film “Chariots of Fire”, about two runners in the 1924 Paris Olympics. Liddell is remembered as the dedicated Christian who refused to run on Sunday, but still went on to win gold medals in events that were not his favoured races… what is less known is that he went on from there to become a missionary/teacher in China, where he had been born to missionary parents… He was still there when the Second World War broke out, and Japan invaded China. He was interned in a Japanese prison camp, where he died of a brain tumour in 1945.
The DVD covers his life story, with personal recollections from friends (colleagues and students), and quotes from his writings… what struck me was that here was a man who achieved great fame early in life, but was content to give it all up in service to God… he was not remembered for his Olympic glory, but for his love and commitment to God, and his love for his neighbours, whoever they were – person after person remembered his ability to inspire joy and hope, even in prison.. they spoke of him as someone who would go to great lengths to help others, and to give all that he could… He was a man who lived out the Sermon on the Mount..
Early in the war he wrote a discipleship manual for the Chinese Christians… here is a quote –
” Victory over all the circumstances of life comes not by might, nor by power, but by a practical confidence in God and by allowing His Spirit to dwell in our hearts and control our actions and emotions. Learn in the days of ease and comfort, to think in terms of the prayer that follows, so that when the days of hardship come you will be fully prepared and equipped to meet them. Father, I pray that no circumstance however bitter or however long drawn out, may cause me to break Thy law, the Law of Love to Thee and to my neighbor. That I may not become resentful, have hurt feelings, hate, or become embittered by life’s experiences, but that in and through all I may see Thy guiding hand and have a heart full of gratitude for Thy daily mercy, daily love, daily power, and daily presence. Help me in the day when I need it most to remember that:
All things work together for good to them that love the Lord.
I can do all things through Him that strengthened me.
My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.
‘Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever, Amen.”
Here was a man who lived as he believed. Although he was not to see his family again (they were evacuated earlier in the war, and he never saw his youngest daughter), he still knew that God was in control. There was a Salvation Army band in the camp, which played outside the hospital twice a week. A few days before he died, Eric Liddell sent a request for a hymn – Be Still My Soul
a bit of creativity, a bit of eco consciousness, a bit of inspiration.... hopefully not a lot of pompousness and blathering :D
i'm not entirely sure what's going on here... let's travel along and see...
