tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120755123134887404.post5482537596911465269..comments2015-03-16T05:32:56.170-05:00Comments on A Common Fire: "Elation. Elegance. Exaltation."Gale Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09051295784299114920noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120755123134887404.post-74198745402819607952009-11-03T08:32:28.156-06:002009-11-03T08:32:28.156-06:00Fabulous post, Gale. The cathedral in Boston now h...Fabulous post, Gale. The cathedral in Boston now has a musician who does Coltrane - he plays the organ, too - he's not Eric, of course, but he is a jazz musician. It's quite enlivening - but does not build a congregation. Should that be the goal? If there is no congregation in the Episcopal Church, just spiritual, aesthetic, musical experiences, can the church sustain itself, as the upper class ignores church attendance and pledging? I think this musician at the cathedral in Boston is also part of their "emerging church" scene, which although innovative is also struggling. It is a function of its location, both its neighborhood in Boston, and its location in religion-averse New England. It's hard for folks here to get over the 19th century -- in Texas the sky is the limit!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10721901796026122787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120755123134887404.post-12658111141394224702009-11-02T12:32:11.179-06:002009-11-02T12:32:11.179-06:00The quotation comes from the end of the poem, and ...The quotation comes from the end of the poem, and I thought it entirely fit. I was a bit surprised by "elegance," but it's perfect.Gale Kennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09051295784299114920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120755123134887404.post-50232111810410163512009-11-02T12:27:12.200-06:002009-11-02T12:27:12.200-06:00As we say in Hyde Park, Amen!
By the way I discov...As we say in Hyde Park, Amen!<br /><br />By the way I discovered that your jazz mass is based on "The World According to John Coltrane."<br /><br />Jazz is the ordre du jour: it is loved by white Americans, black Americans, Episcopalians and Protestants, French existentialists, Japanese students, Germans... Jazz IS the American music par excellence in my opinion.<br /><br />I saw a glimpse of this ecumenical musical feast in Eric Budzynski's music program in St. Paul the Redeemer (HP, Chicago), where Latin plain songs, English hymnals, and Negro Spirituals are sung side by side. Alas, we lost the great Eric.<br /><br />Elation, elegance, exaltation - indeed! Well put, Gale (it does sound like the title of a conference paper...) But that's the point. Jazz shows that "setting our heart on fire" does not have to mean demagogy, mass hysteria, etc. Instead it means the joy of crossing REAL boundaries (race, gender, age, ethnicity) and being together.Joyce Chenghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02352934552525664628noreply@blogger.com