Month: June 2022

Over the past couple of months I have been working, in collaboration with noted spiritual director, Dick Rice, in composing music to accompany the writings he is doing on the Servant Songs of Isaiah.

The music below is based on the first part of the Third Servant Song of Isaiah.

Here is the text.

SONG 4:  Is 50:4-6

The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. (NRSV)

I composed a poetic text based on this reading.

Oh my people,
As a mother hears the cries
Of her children, so have I
Heard your cries of pain.
Your misery, upon which
My gaze has seen, moves
My heart with compassion.
The despair of being forgotten,
Forsaken by the One
From whom you were created,
Swells within you, but
I have not forgotten you,
Nor will I leave you forsaken.

I wear your image, and,
In total solidarity with you,
Have put on your pain
Like one putting on a coat.
Its heavy weight of shame
hangs from my shoulders,
Memories of the blows from abuse
Rain on my back
like the lash of a whip.
My words to you are a balm,
Like that gently wiped
On angry welts
Raised upon the skin;
A source of hope to lift
Your beaten spirits from the dust.
For I do not count you
Among the disgraced,
But among my most beloved.
And hold you as close to me
As my breath.
(c) 2022 by Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.

Here is the music. It is based on the form of a Prelude and Fugue. The only difference is the Prelude is recapped, ending the song.

Today is the Solemnity of Pentecost. We all come to this feast in the life of the Christian Church with images of the Holy Spirit as a bird, generally a dove, tongues of flame imposed on the heads of people, or experiencing a great wind. We will also hear the two familiar stories of Pentecost, John’s account of Pentecost coming on Easter Sunday in the Upper Room, or Luke’s Acts of the Apostles account with Pentecost coming much later with the disciples of Jesus, women included, in the upper room (it had to be quite the space) in which a mighty wind blew and tongues of fire appeared on the heads of all those in the room. From there, they went out into the streets, and without the aid of language study courses, could fearlessly begin to preach in many different languages to everyone in Jerusalem, converting thousands in one fell swoop. Nostalgically, I think we all long for that kind of event in our lives. As a matter of fact, I remember as I was taking my college Spanish language finals, I wished the Holy Spirit could give me the gift of speaking in many languages without the need to decline verbs and memorize sentence structures and vocabulary.

THE FELT NEED FOR OUR OWN ROAD TO DAMASCUS

We all desire our “Road to Damascus” moment in which the Divine is suddenly revealed to us and we know with all certainty that our faith and way of life is based on something very concrete and very real. This once for all kind of Divine epiphany is unlikely to happen. And if it did, and we began to speak about it publicly our message would be received with great suspicion and our mental health would be questioned and judged incompetent.

We like to think that ALL wisdom and ALL knowledge was passed on to the disciples on Pentecost, but we know from the pastoral letters of Paul and from the events in the Acts of the Apostles that that was NOT so. As we follow the accounts of Paul in his pastoral letters and the events that unfolded in the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples of Jesus fumbled and stumbled and fought with one another as they tried to figure out the mission given to them when Jesus ascended into Heaven. Much to our own consternation and exasperation, our various Christian institutions and theologies, continue to fumble, stumble and fight with one another today. We are like blind people trying to walk through a room with a good idea of where the furniture is, but find ourselves continuing to bump into chairs and other obstacles in the room. In the movie, Dogma, Rufus, the thirteenth apostle, tells Bethany, the heroine, that the definition of faith is not one of absolute certainty, but rather one of “having a Good Idea.” In my opinion, with all its inherent flaws and at times very harsh critique of Christian religious institutions, the one truth that the movie, Dogma, did get absolutely correct is the definition of faith being a good idea not fully fleshed out.

PENTECOST IS ONGOING

As we study the history of theology in the greater Christian Church, we will find an evolution of understanding. To use the metaphor of an onion as theology, our study of God, we find that just as people thought they had all the answers, the Holy Spirit comes along and peels off another layer of that onion, altering or questioning the answers we once thought absolute. Take the letters of Paul of Tarsus. In his letter to the Galatians he is stating a theological world view that will gradually evolve to something different when he finally writes his letter to the Romans. Paul’s understanding of Christ and the Christian community changed and deepened. The absolute “truth” that Christianity possesses is really quite limited to that which we say in the Creed. Our understanding of those absolutes is going to continue to change and alter as the Holy Spirit continues to peel that onion and increases our knowledge. This is the history of all the great ecumenical councils in Christian history leading up to and including the Second Vatican Council. Sister Joan Chittester, OSB, expressed this so succinctly in her definition of God when she wrote, “God is changing changelessness.” In other words, who God is never changes. How we understand who God is continues to change. (Heart of Flesh: A Feminist Spirituality for Women and Men, Joan Chittester, (c) 1998, Wm B Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan)

Pentecost was NOT a one time event. Rather in the history of the Christian Church, Pentecost is always ongoing. The full story has not been revealed but continues to be revealed to us. In the parlance of Rufus, the thirteenth apostle, our “good idea” continues to get better. This ongoing Pentecost is not isolated to religious institutions, but is a major part of our own daily lives.

PENTECOST AS A DAILY REVELATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

I have told this story before, but it is a good example of the ongoing revelation of the Holy Spirit in the daily life of people.

My father was a very skilled mathematician and mechanical engineer. He worked in that capacity all his life for Westinghouse Air Brake Company. At the times when there was a collision between a train and a vehicle, my father was often called into court as a professional witness to determine whether the collision was attributed to the failure of the air brakes to brake, the carelessness of the engineer of the train to apply the brakes, or the carelessness of the driver of the vehicle who tried to cross the railroad tracks. The mathematical formula at that time to judge whether the train could stop in time to avoid the accident was accurate to plus or minus 200 feet. Hardly accurate or adequate. My father sought out to come up with another mathematical formula that could give a more accurate answer. Part of the formula included the collective weight of the train engine and the number of cars it was pulling, the condition of the railroad tracks, e.g. rain, snow/ice covered, how far away the train was when the engineer saw the vehicle and applied the brakes, and so on. My father came up with a mathematical formula that, when tested in all sorts of weather conditions, terrains, and all the other factors considered, was found to be accurate plus or minus 5 feet. My father had the formula copyrighted and to this day, it is still the mathematical formula used in these lawsuits today. I asked my father whether he was receiving royalties for his formula. His reply was no. He said that formula was from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and because it originated in the Holy Spirit, it was meant to be shared freely with all of the world.

If we examine our lives, we will find an ongoing Pentecost occurring in our lives. We do not have to be blown about by a hurricane force wind, nor have tongues of flames settling on our forehead like a third eye to experience the Holy Spirit. Nor do we have to have winged creatures sitting on top of our heads or chasing us, like a cast member in Hitchcock’s film, The Birds, to feel influenced by the Holy Spirit. All those great recipes we created, all the good skills and knowledge we have acquired, all the gifts we have used to benefit others is the work of the Holy Spirit. Every time we feel compelled to act in a positive way, or seek a positive change in our lives, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Every time we receive an insight into our lives, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Every time we ask the important question, “Where is God in the events of my life?”, the Holy Spirit is there to inspire us.

CANTICLE IN PRAISE OF HER: MY HYMN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

In 2021, I composed a collection of music honoring the heroic women of the Hebrew Testatment. The tenth and last song was dedicated to the Holy Spirit, Ruach (God’s breath), Sophia (God’s Wisdom). To conclude this Pentecost post, my poem and song dedicated to the Holy Spirit as God the Mother, is below.

CANTCILE IN PRAISE OF HER

I remember when first|
I identified your voice,
that early May morning
in two thousand and four,
the hermitage upon the shores
of Lake Elysian.
It is not like your voice
had been absent to me
those fifty-two years prior,
your voice always present,
whispering in my ear, guiding,
teaching, challenging,
pushing me along in my life.

What was it? What identified you?
Was it the sound of the wind
Blowing through the budding tree branches,
or, the quaking of ducks upon the water?
Was it in the melodious sound
of the Robins, and Wrens, and Cardinals
high up in the branches of the trees?
Or, was it the combination of all of nature
in full song that day along the shores?
I found it ironic that after years of theology,
in which Divine Mystery was dissected
by theologians, in the hallowed,
holy halls of seminaries,
or in the books gathering dust
in the darkened library stacks
that I identified your voice;
but rather, in the sound that you
created along the shores of Lake Elysian.

You have been known to many people
by different names:
Ruach, Breath of God,
in which you breathed upon the void,
your breath stirring the dark waters
from which all life began to evolve.
Or, Sophia, Wisdom of God,
the gift given to Solomon,
and that dearly sought after
by many philosophers and theologians.
Were you Lady Poverty,
with whom beloved Francis fell in love
and sold everything he had
in order to court you?
The name I heard that day
along the lake shore
Mother, my Divine Mother

As with all Mothers,
you love unconditionally,
whether we are stupid, or naughty,
obedient and complying.
By our side, you are always present,
your love and inspiration softly,
gently caressing our souls,
challenging us to grow,
to face our fears, to encounter
new experiences and open our eyes
to the splendor which you have created.
I have come to recognize your voice
in the voice of those most important to me,
my wife and children, my parents,
and in the voices of the poor, and
the homeless, the immigrants, and the suffering,
through them you have taught me so well.

And lastly, I hear you in music.
I remember that winter night,
driving home from the seminary,
along Mississippi River Boulevard,
the strains of Copland’s Appalachian Spring
accompanying me on my drive.
In that chord, that one chord,
I heard your beautiful voice
that touched my soul so deeply,
that I pulled over to the side of the road,
and I wept for a period of time.

I remember when first I began
to compose music in earnest.
Like Samuel, awakened
in the deep of the night,
within myself you revealed
my purpose in life;
to reveal your presence in music,
not for profit, nor for fame.
And, so, I gift this song to you,
in thanksgiving for all you have given to me,
in love, as a son to his Divine Mother.

(c) 2021, by Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.