Classical - My Little Ones are loving it more than I do

I don't know if anyone would suggest that either of the two composers below (Camille Saint-Saens or Dmitri Shostakovich) are 'classical' musicians, but they are introducing my daughters to listening to instrumental, classical-style music with enjoyment and imagination. They beg to watch these two animated compositions over and over again. Hopefully soon we will add 'Peter and the Wold' to this repertoire for them! Please, enjoy...

Camille Saint-Saëns - The Carnival of the Animals

Dmitri Shostakovich - Piano concerto No.2 

  In January, an essay that I read by Kevin Bauder pointed me toward thinking about this topic and particularly some of these musical pieces. I especially enjoyed finding 'The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra' through that essay, "Start Them Young." My daughters are a bit young to 'get' the music without the animation, but because of the way it's presented even they can benefit from this rendition as they begin learning about the various musical instruments and their sounds.

  

Hiccups

Hiccups

Hici hici cups.

Hiccups after tea cups.

Hici hici ups.

Diaphragm jump ups.

Lung and chest bounce up.

Hici hici ups.

Giggle after sup.

Everyone cracks up.

Hici hici ups

Backwards gulping cup

Waters flowing down

Hici hici- stops!

by Julide, 2015

(poetry assignment on topic of personal interest)

The Herald's Voice

The only path

To flee God's wrath

Is 'Repent, in the wilderness;

Direct steps, to righteousness.'

O snaky brood!

Where is your fruit

That would show true sincerity?

Change starts internally.

Mt 3:1-10

Shame, Fame, and Honor Today

Andy Crouch's recent article in CT, called "The Return of Shame" is well worth reading in full.  He deals with important cultural and theological ideas about shame and salvation.  Here's a couple excerpts: one cultural insight, one theological application.

The personal screen, especially with its attached and always-available camera, invites us to star in our own small spectacle. [...] But having attracted us with the promise of approval and belonging, the personal screen can just as easily herald exclusion and hostility...

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In the pastoral letters of the New Testament, we see Paul and other church leaders reframing the traditional categories of honor and shame. The task of the early church, as Mischke puts it, was to free its members from “honor competition” and give them high “shame resilience.” This would enable them to endure low status in the Roman world while reaching out to those no one else would touch. At the same time, the apostles followed Jesus in drawing clear, if countercultural, boundaries for inclusion and exclusion, calling members of this new community to the holiness that brought honor to God.