January 7, 2009 by David Baer
As the old saw used to put it, ‘Children are to be seen and not heard.’
Jesus’ teaching on righteous behavior is even more severe. Good deeds ought to be neither seen nor heart, at least not in a way that reflects creditably upon their practitioner:
Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Jesus tackles both the horizontal and the vertical axes of piety with this potent offensive against religiosity. That horizontal sharing of resources with one’s human neighbor is to be carried out unnoticed. It’s objective is the mere application of mercy and allocation of resources where they are needed. No referendum on the actor’s stature is to figure in the equation. Continue Reading »
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January 4, 2009 by David Baer
If I did not hold Sting’s 2006 Deutsche Grammophon recording of the 16-17th centuries’ John Dowland’s lute-accompanied music in my hands, I would not believe that the British rock star had truly attempted to pull this one off.
But I do, and he has.
And not to bad effect, either. Unlike may Sting critics who seem to think the man should stay in his rut, I admire his constant rebellion against the artistic expectations to which we admirers of his art may want to hold him. I like his audacious impertinence.
I just didn’t expect this. Continue Reading »
Posted in reseña | Tagged music, reseña, Sting | Leave a Comment »
January 4, 2009 by David Baer
It is possible even through the centuries of transmission and the editorial layers of the gospels themselves to discern the deep affection that Jesus’ earliest followers had for their ‘master’ and friend. Some of them would choose to die for him rather than renounce his memory. Continue Reading »
Posted in textures | Tagged biblical reflection, Matthew, textures | 1 Comment »
January 3, 2009 by David Baer
One of the great 2008 musical stories is the resurrection tale involving a bunch of college dudes of yore (well, actually, not that many years ago) who reunited their Indiana University combo long enough to grab the attention of a record executive who offered them a multi-album deal that, fortunately, began with this Christmas sendoff.
Simply put, Straight No Chaser is sensational a cappella music which the boys clearly have fun making. Continue Reading »
Posted in reseña | Tagged music, reseña, Straight No Chaser | Leave a Comment »
January 3, 2009 by David Baer
This eclectic compilation is worth acquiring for Aretha Franklin’s opening track (‘Yield Not to Temptation’) alone. And that’s before you hit the aesthetic roller coaster of the remaining eleven titles.
Unfortunately, as one of the gems that emerged under the 1990s Sunday Times Music Collection rubric it is not widely available. The artists tagged in this post, however, are widely available under their own names.
1994 sounded good.
Posted in reseña | Tagged Aaron Neville, Aretha Franklin, Chi-Lites, Curtis Mayfield, Etta James, Impressions, Jackie WIlson, James Brown, Joe Tex, Lee Dorsey, Mary Wells, music, Percy Sledge, Sunday Times Music Collection | Leave a Comment »
January 3, 2009 by David Baer
The Sunday Times Music Collection of the mid-1990s produced some fabulous compilations, of which Sax Appeal must rate as one of the best.
Twelve pieces, recorded by front-list bands between 1929 and 1944, are splashed across 35 minutes of play time.
This is quintessentially American music played by orchestras who usually had the conductor’s name in their title. Sadly, this 1995 CD appears not to be readily available.
Posted in reseña | Tagged Adrian Rollini & His Orchestra, Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Bud Freeman & His Summa Cum Laude Orchestra, Cab Calloway & His Orchestra, Chu Berry, Coleman Hawkiins Quartet, Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra, Freddy Gardner, jazz, Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra, Jimmy Dorsey, Johnny Hodges & Orchestra, Lester Young Quintet, music, reseña, Sindey Bechet, Sunday Times Music Collection, Willie Smith | Leave a Comment »
January 3, 2009 by David Baer
In the midst of one of its less inspiring genealogies, the Bible offers us a brief glimpse at the remote fringe of what must have been a remarkable story. As it is wont to do, rabbinical tradition would fill in the absence of detail regarding a certain Enoch. The biblical text presents this man in its most sparing voice:
When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him. When Methuselah had lived one hundred eighty-seven years, he became the father of Lamech.
The comment about Enoch ‘walking with God’ and about God taking him—whatever these things might mean—stands out against a strictly patterned genealogy that merely names biological antecedents, successors, and their respective life spans. Continue Reading »
Posted in textures | Tagged biblical reflection, Genesis, textures | 1 Comment »
January 2, 2009 by David Baer
The serpent figures in the paradigmatic story of human origins as the Bible’s first cynic. He has strong ideas about the arbitrary nature of God’s decrees and the selfish motive that lies behind them:
But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’
The serpent has some convenient data with which to work. God in fact does not give a reason for his unexpected ring-fencing of just one tree when he has already given the whole ranch over to the first couple. It seems so unreasonable and, certainly, asymmetrical. It is the kind of thing that raises suspicions. Continue Reading »
Posted in textures | Tagged biblical reflection, Genesis, textures | 1 Comment »
January 1, 2009 by David Baer
It’s a shame that US immigration policy and the reality on the ground are so chaotic. If it were not so, it might be a simple matter to figure out what a body needs to do in order to employ, say, a housecleaner to come in for a few hours a month.
It is not simple and, so, a guide like this is needed.
The Nanny and Domestic Help Legal Kit is a model of clarity and accessible tools. Continue Reading »
Posted in paterfamilias, reseña | Leave a Comment »
January 1, 2009 by David Baer
The gospel of Matthew begins its presentation of ‘Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham’ with a genealogy. This fits perfectly the identity given to Jesus at the front end as heir of a rich, three-fold legacy of memory of expectation. If he is ‘Messiah’ and if he is heir to David’s throne and if he is the vehicle or realization of the promises made to Abraham, then he before all else will be the restorer of Israel. So does the carefully selective genealogical material that follows cohere perfectly with Matthew’s grand design.
Matthew then crowns his genealogy with a rather famous quotation from the book of Isaiah which is now understood to have pointed to Messiah’s birth by way of a virgin. At least two features of this approach suggest that a key party—the nations—is missing. YHWH’s promise to Abraham embodies blessing to many nations, in the first instance. Any prospective reading of Isaiah nourishes the expectation that the nations will stream to Israel’s God at some future date and that they may even compete for first arrival honors as they flock to Zion to learn from him. Continue Reading »
Posted in textures | Tagged biblical reflection, Matthew, textures | 1 Comment »
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Canter Bridge 