children singing

Oh, the sound of a hall of children 5-9yrs old
faces lit
singing a Veni Sancte Creator Spiritus

Beauty of Numbers and Nature

Been on a lovely jaunt through Youtube, looking at geometry in Nature.
Oh, the Lord is good!

101%

In response to my complaint on the busyness of life, a dear friend sent me this.

Is that so?

A young monk lived on a mountainside above a village.
A young lass of the village became pregnant.

She told her parents that the father was the monk.
All the village showed the girl to him and condemned him.

"Is that so?" was his response.

When the baby was born, they brought the baby to him.
"It is yours, so you must look after it."
"Is that so?" he said.
He looked after the baby.

After a while, the young mother missed the baby, and told her parents the truth.
The villagers returned, apologised, and asked for the child back.
"Is that so?" was his response as he handed the child over.

Ah Lord, to be able to turn the other cheek so...

Inaction in Action - The Still Point

In the midst of action
continue.

In the midst of action
continue to be.

In the midst of action
continue to be still.

In the midst of action
continue to be still awake.

A poem which arose many years ago, after discovering the magic of acting.
There is a still point which one rests in as the action almost plays itself out, the words speak themselves, but one is not asleep, but profoundly, awake, surrendered and safe.  The audience relaxes, and there is no separation between us, no one excluded.

Then when asked to lead a huge group of people in a kitchen, the same still point within was found.
But it also needed to be visible to the group.  To stand still and view the activity as a whole unit, with many moving parts.  It was so tempting to move from the wide view, and dive into the activity,
but then all one can see is the activity engaged in. Something is missed, the balance gets precarious. Egos flexed, dishes were broken.

Standing still, keeping the view wide,
ah, such freedom for all.

Then as a conductor, leading a choir or orchestra
I had to sit in the seat firmly, or the choir gets unsettled
egos start flexing, the authority is challenged...

Again, as a teacher in a classroom,
the same wide, centred approach was needed
the children settle, and bask in the order arising
and a natural freedom arises
the Aha! of learning discovered.

And then I found I was resting in Thee
it had always been Thee!
like a child sitting on her Father's lap
or leaning on her Mother's arm
guiding, loving, a safe haven for all.

And so I discovered Your Sacred Heart
We, us? You ask.
Of course Lord
but you must keep reminding me!

Congrats Paul

 

More music

One thinks of "Christian Music" and think of corny, sentimental or melancholic...
Then this comes along, raw, real and full....

Singing Overtones

I discovered this many years ago, Tibetan monk chanting.

All the echoing whistle comes from the harmonics ringing above the base voice note. She is shaping the mouth and tongue, to let it ring in her head, and then the harmonics float out.

A small tutorial to show how its done...