All hail, the living

It's been an up-and-down week. This dark time of year can be difficult - you probably already know that. On Wednesday I played for the choir and congregation at the celebration of the life of a young woman who recently passed on from cancer. It was a beautiful expression of gratitude, especially considering how easily the tsunami of grief can overcome us.

So I've been giving thanks for the small things - children and their zest for life, chocolate, and quiet, restful time at home. And I've been thinking about how these small things create our lives, make them meaningful, and sustain us when jobs, status and money are strikingly irrelevant.

Then I came across this beautiful slideshow of medieval art. The Met Museum in New York City has recently renovated the gallery containing works of art from the years 1050-1300. Rarely do we rarely study or discuss these "Dark Ages," but the works are so beautiful, using painting, sculpture and every day objects to communicate Biblical stories.

I am deeply moved by things and people that express the mysterious joy of being alive. Such as Elliott Carter's premiering a brand new work at age 100. As the article says, "when Mozart was his age, he had been dead for 65 years." Regardless of how long I live, I hope I'm able to cultivate the qualities that make me most human - curiosity, passion, laughter and compassion for other living beings. To quote the Bard:


What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason,
how infinite in faculties,
in form and moving how express and admirable,
in action how like an angel,
in apprehension how like a god!
the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals.

~Hamlet, Act II, Scene ii