Thursday, February 28, 2013

Lenten reflection


Ah, we are almost mid-Lent already...
How time flies.

This is probably the most solemn part of the year.
And the most sombre.

In some parts of the Northern Hemisphere, winter still has a firm grip.
In others, spring is trying to emerge.
In yet other parts, spring has already made itself at home and is lounging about on the sofa :-)

There is a sense of 'new beginnings' in the air.
A sense of change.
Rather like at the turn of the year.

Aside from Nature's 'change of guard' that Lent represents, we also have a strange 'change of guard' that has been foisted upon The Catholic Church.

For today is Pope Benedict's last day in the office, so to speak.
Tomorrow, he no longer wears 'the red shoes'.


Tomorrow, we are leaderless.
No-one at the helm.

Yes, a group of around 100 very religious men will be doing their best to right this problem by Easter.
All hush-hush in a closed room.

But until then, we wait.

Lent is very much a time to wait.
We wait for Our Lord to emerge triumphant from the grave.
And this year, we also wait for his representative on Earth to emerge.


On a more personal note, we wait for other things in our daily lives.

We wait for news about a loved one who is ill.
We wait for the delivery of our mail.
We wait for the toast to pop out of the toaster.
We wait for the red light to turn green.

Life is but one long waiting-room...



Some things, however, make the wait a bit more pleasant.

Karl Jenkins was well-known for his 'Songs of Sanctuary' long before he composed 'The Mass for Peace'.
How approprately titled, I might add ;-)


One of my favourites is...
'Adiemus'.




The genius of this piece lies in its simplicity.
It doesn't even contain words.
The 'lyrics' of this piece are just 'empty syllables'. Made-up sounds that just fill the void.

Sometimes, words are not necessary.
Now, as a pretty wordy female (at least when I write :-), I can tell you, this is a pretty humbling truism for me...



Enjoy it.
I do.
All year round.
But it is absolutely perfect for Lent....







7 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're a hopeless romantic you know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rib9y4ddl9s

This Old Man said...

Non Habemus Papam


The 'lyrics' of this piece are just 'empty syllables'.

It is called Scat Singing

Spacetraveller said...

Marellus,

Wow, thank you! That was divine.
Oh to be 15 and at school again...
:-)

Hey Marellus, here's a little something for you...
It's nothing to do with Lent (except it does contain the word 'Lent', in this case to mean 'Spring'!) but not completely off-topic when it comes to the general theme of the blog...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoULCwPovPc

You may of course already know it, it being in your language :-)

TOM,

Non habemus Papam indeed :-(

Looking forward to the time when Habemus Papam.
Right now, it's a desperately Popeless situation.

:-)

Spacetraveller said...

Hey Marellus,

Did you call me a popeless Rome-antic?

LOL.

Anonymous said...

... en bring vir 'n Harlekyn nog wyn ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBcYJRbAWPY

popeless Rome-antic -> spitsvondig


Rather be a hopeless romantic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMjFQKd5fac

Anonymous said...

Paul Elam, A Voice for Men- the biggest conjob in the MRA and disinfo agent

http://www.crimesagainstfathers.com/australia/Forums/tabid/82/forumid/107/postid/4658/scope/posts/Default.aspx

A short commentary on MRA leaders
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ElZzB4P2D4

The so called "Leaders" of the MRA area are lying to you all. They are telling you that governments make legislation that you HAVE to obey and that they can FORCE you to obey using the police FORCE. This is a lie. They know it is a lie. And they are telling you lies that they know are lies.

The TRUTH is that legislation is NOT LAW and you do not have to obey ANY legislation. Here are links to videos that go into this in detail. This is not a new idea. Many people KNOW that legislation is not law and have been telling you so for a long time.

The excuse offered is usually "well the guvment can hurt you if you do not obey" is just that. An excuse. The only reason that guvments do hurt men who do not obey is because men have TOLERATED these crimes and not formed new courts to put criminals in guvment on trial. Men only have themselves to blame.

Spacetraveller said...

Marellus,

You are truly incorrigible!

Anonymous,

Um...did you really mean to post this comment on this particular post?
Perhaps there has been a mistake...