Appreciation – What’s in a word?

Some time back I defined myself on the website of an “arts group” as my practiced involvement in the arts being “appreciation” ... so what did I mean? 

Appreciation is one of those multiple meaning words, to say nothing of its contextual work as noun, verb, adverb or even adjective.  It can also be a “moody” word, just depends on who it’s with at the time.   Selah!!

Entailed in my approach to art appreciation is . . .

• Appreciation: an understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something; "she has a good grasp of photographic practices"

• Appreciation: a description of the amount by which a painting has increased in value.

• Admiration: a favourable judgment; "a small token in admiration of your works"

• Appreciative: a feeling or expressive of gratitude; "was appreciative of his artistic efforts"; "an appreciative word"

These entailments provide one a framework to grow as art appreciators. Understanding and having a growing-grasp calls us to be learners, recognising increased value calls us to be discerners, looking for positive meaning engages us as critical admirers, and being appreciative reminds us  “for creativity to increase, encouragers will always be required”.

Saint Paul, an appreciator of art in his time; in writing to some early Christians gives some encouragement fitting/transferable to growing as an art appreciator . . .

“Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.” -- Philippians 4:8-9 (Message Bible)

Art appreciation is not just in what I see and value, it is also in what we can become through the process.

Sow - it’s so simple . . .

I’ve been reading (yet again) the parable of the sower. Jesus went over it a couple of times to get this “simple” illustrated concept through to His followers. People like you and me.

How come the difficulty getting it?

My chew this raining Monday morning reduces the story’s kernel down to two elements; 

      The POWER is IN the seed . . .

      The TASK is WITH the sower . . . 

That’s it! 

So what?

So it’s simple - sowers, sow . . . seeds grow . . . so on I go – so, Sow 

Tonight should you ask me “how my day has been?” 

. . . Hopefully I can answer, “So, sow”

Musing with Molly, Minnie, Milton, and Me

What’s in a word?

What does mean to muse?

The word-term “muse” is a 14th century word denoting meditation; through its meaning-roots are more ancient, they relate to Greek mythology and “the muses,” the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory).

These nine nymphs were said to inspire artistic and literary creativity. Legends held they would arise by night, and shrouded in mist, walk the hills and bathe in springs. Mortals of “artistic inclination” could by calling upon and receiving the blessings of the Muses function inspirationally. A poet or dancer or musician could transcend the normal bounds of their raw-talent and rise to unimagined levels of creative insight.

Back to the 14th century; so, by "musing" or deep thought the word by then described reflective and creative thought engaged by poets, artists, and others in their active searching for artistic or creative ideas and inspiration.

Now the word musing is generally used to express a mental activity or thinking process; it still implies creativity.

Musing’s, a key to creative living.

Me and Musing

Musing has been a pastime since I was a child. Sort of came with my family territory. I’m the second of two sons born five years apart. Mum and dad enjoyed a ten year age difference, mum the junior. After they were married five years, my brother “appeared.” Then; five years later, just before dad’s forty-eight birthday, my turn to enter the scene. A scene surrounded by older adult conversation, visiting and staying in auntie’s homes packed with books, pictures and wall-mottos; musing was the natural-product of such exposure.

Unlike the Greeks there’s been no nymphs dancing at midnight in my world!

Rats!!

But wait; there’s been other triggers and creative influences for motivating my musing. The adult conversation, those visits and stays in auntie’s homes; the books, pictures, a since boyhood practice of reading in the Psalms, but especially the wall mottos – let me give you these “off-the-wall” motivation-to-musing sources, and then add one to my own wall . . .

Auntie Molly Laurenson

See us together in the first picture, with Mitty the dog; when I "grizzled" to get something extra, Molly just pointed to the following motto  . . . she kept pointing until I got the point . . . 

I had no shoes,

And I complained

Until I met a man who had no feet

Auntie Minnie Mactier-Douglas

For years I read this ancient “rune of hospitality” on Auntie's dining room wall, one day I “got it”, later it would get me . . .

Often, often, often,

Goes Christ in the strangers guise,

Often, often, often

John Milton

17th century English poet whose poetry and prose reflected deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self determination, the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day, and embracing theology that’s relevant to life. My long-time friend Wayne Wilson gave me Milton’s words on a plaque back in 1974; lost the plaque in one of our house-moves, but still have it in me. 

God made man

Sufficient to stand

And free to fall.

Me

In musing and writing on the above I've asked myself; “how would I put this on a wall to engender rumination by the children and grandchildren of my world?” . . . here’s my musing by musing . . .

Rhyme of Rumination

If I think about my thinking do I think or have I thought?

When I muse about my musing have I mused as well I ought?

If I muse about my musing have I mused or have I nought?

When I think about my musing, have I mused or have I thought? 

Well, enough musing, back to work . . . for a while . . .

Bible translations - same words making a different sound = "fresh voice"

Hearing the Word in differing translations is one of the practices I was introduced to early in my journey as a Christian disciple  . . .

A couple of years back, well two - while looking at a couple of verses in Romans, well two - doing my usual practice of "scoping the text across a range of Bible versions," recalled the name of one of the earlier translations I had been encountered by . . . didn't have it on my bookshelf (have collected eighteen versions/translations/ paraphrases so far), so looked it up on the web . . .

Wallah!!!

Reading in varying Bible translations, while I may hear from the same "original" words, they make a different sound . . .  that different sound equals a "fresh voice" . . . renewed rumination of the text is now "on my menu"!!

Hey, check out that rumination and reflection . . .

On the way with Weymouth

View more presentations from John Douglas

Thot: 

"what texts could you read from to enable differential thinking?"

Yet again Easter’s over and I’m still ruminating . . .

Watcha been doing since Easter?

I’ve been doing a couple of things . . . 

One: Eating, well sucking eggs; chocolate ones last longer if you suck them it slows down the absorption of calories – Yeah right!!!

And two: Reading and ruminating in the First Testament (aka Old Testament), especially thinking on “the nature of spiritual formation and education.”

First rumination: 

• In Biblical Israel “education-is-formation.”

Second rumination: 

• Education as “whole-of-life-formation” centres in Torah as life-shaping revelation and relationship.

Third rumination: 

• First Testament education’s driving-assumptions were not occupied with differentiating sacred from secular; but applied in “engaging formation-for-life as either spiritual or profane.”

Fourth rumination: 

• Torah’s dynamic contribution toward whole-of-life-formation which commenced in the Sinai Wilderness; neither completes there, nor within early entrance into the land. It follows-formationally throughout the whole of Israel’s trans-historical experience in an ongoing interactive-process in which the development of Exodus-Deuteronomy Torah lengthens at least into the Persian period, if not beyond. “Living Torah” formed succeeding generations and communities not by imposition, but transposition.

Fifth rumination: 

• Jesus, Son of the Father, filled with the Holy Spirit, disciple of Torah raised in the home of "righteous-man Joseph carpenter of Nazareth" said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Sixth rumination: 

• So “what’s the transpositional teaching of Torah and Jesus?” What can I learn formationally?

Oops . . . the last egg’s “gone” . . . now back to “rumination #6” . . . 

Thinking about Easter, thinking at Easter, or thinking with Easter?

This year in getting thinking about Easter, I “Googled” – “What is Easter?”

"Easter is the most important festival in the Christian calendar. It celebrates the resurrection from the dead of Jesus, three days after he was executed. The Easter story is at the heart of Christianity. In Easter celebrations there are two important days, Friday and Sunday. Easter Sunday marks Jesus' resurrection. After Jesus was crucified on the Friday (now known as Good Friday), his body was taken down from the cross, and buried in a cave tomb. The tomb was guarded by Roman Soldiers and an enormous stone was put over the entrance, so that no-one could steal the body. On the Sunday, Mary Magdalene, followed later by some of Jesus' disciples visited the tomb and found that the stone had been moved, and that Jesus' body had gone. Jesus himself was seen that day by Mary and the disciples and for forty days afterwards by many people. His followers realised that God had raised Jesus from the dead. Christians call this the Resurrection."

Join me in some Easter thinking with the question; “is the Easter season worth thinking about?”  Methinks yes.  Now one may well say; “So you should Reverend, it’s all part of your profession.” So what? - I, and most likely you also have thought about Easter for a lot longer than we have ever pursed (or retired from) a life-profession. 

Now thinking from personal recall; my Easter-thinking starts with childhood experiences like getting hard sugar-candy eggs that rattled. And knowing that some families went to Sunday-church especially at Easter, we didn’t; also hearing that those families got their eggs after church – we got ours on Friday. I recall seeing supplies stocked up at the local grocer’s store, and witnessing at least two chooks, lay-down-their-lives; but not in their expectation of resurrection, but my anticipation of a great Sunday dinner with extended family. At those meals there was listening, listening to the adults talk about how things were in the old days and how they these are days. Come to think about it, I was not contributing into adult conversational intercourse, as “children were seen and not heard” – but like any child I was thinking! When you get thinking about it, our Easters didn’t just happen. In both your and my family’s worlds they were (and still are) patterned. In some way we all “do Easter.” 

So much for thinking about Easter, I’m also for thinking at Easter.

We call Easter a holiday, in fact a “four-day public holiday” – statutory even. Yet Easter is Easter; simply put it’s essentially the major Christian festival – a serious think-time, focusing on God’s thoughts and actions into our world and families. 

Now to think with Easter, is thinking within its 3R’s; redemption, resurrection, and reconciliation. On Friday Jesus is not merely dying; He is acting in securing redemption for humans personally, communally, and provisionally. Resurrection on Sunday is both historical and contemporary; resurrection reality then, is a personal, and communal potential now.   The “third-R” - reconciliation is what we do with Easter, what Easter can do or does to us. Wishing you happy thinking . . . happy Easter.

So, you can get your "Foot in the Door" . . .

Character keeps open doors entered through ability . . . 

Skill may get you in, only character can keep you in!