In praise of Shakespeare

Even though reading Shakespeare can feel like a lot of work, it is an enriching experience. Midsummer Night’s Dream isn’t my favorite play of his, but it does offer some interesting topics for discussion. One of the things I noticed was that there are apparently no mothers in this play. This may explain why everyone runs around like fools. Also, mothers probably would have something to say about death as a punishment for their daughter refusing to marry. So that would create problems for this plot if Mom was around.

Teenage love can be a crushing weight, causing people to run after another. Betrayal of friends also happens sometimes in the name of “love”. I have seen adults do some pretty crazy things as well, when they thought they were in love. These themes are explored in Midsummer Night’s Dream.

During book group, part of our discussion was about the metaphor of living life in a dream state, rather than living to the fullest. Who among us wants to come to the end of our life only to discover that we didn’t live it to the fullest? This gave me the opportunity to reevaluate some of the choices I am making. At this point, I am not making any major changes. Just paying a bit more attention and trying to make the better choice.

Shakespeare’s writing is timeless. The language can be a struggle. However, I think there is a benefit to this. First, it helps us recognize that this story is iconic. These stories have endured for a long time, and this is a testament to their ability to teach important life lessons. Shakespeare actually made up some of the words he used, creating new words that became accepted as their popularity grew. He also includes in his writing a stunning variety of insults. Discovering the gems hidden in his language is worth the work every time.

Reason and Love

"And yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays."

April's Title Swap

The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan
The Headgates(New TJEd article - let me know if you would like a copy)
The Blind Side - DVD
The Complete Cheapskate by Mary Hunt
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
And They Were Not Ashamed by Laura Brotherson
Wife Dressing by Anne Fogarty

Learn With Me

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Title Swap for March

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
The Parenting Breakthrough by Merrilee Boyack
Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey
The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
Financial University by Dave Ramsey
10 Essential Foods by Lalitha Thomas
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth
Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamilo
No More Double Messages: What Every Parent Should Know about Teenage Dating (Talk on CD) by JeaNette Smith
Five Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman
Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters by Meg Meeker
http://teachingselfgovernment.com/

Good People

"Do you think there ought to be fifteen varieties of good people?....
There ain't fifteen. There ain't two. There's one kind. And when I meet it, I respect it. It is not praying nor preaching that has ever caught me and make me ashamed of myself, but one or two people I have known that never said a superior word to me. They thought more of me than I deserved, and that made me behave better than I naturally wanted to."

Some thoughts on Understanding the Times

As I read Understanding the Times, I came to a better understanding of some underlying beliefs that are guiding other people's choices. I have on occasion been quite perplexed by the choices people make, but reading about these worldviews helped me come to a better understanding of the beliefs driving those choices.

I was actually appalled by some aspects of the viewpoints, and I continue to be surprised that thinking people hold some of these beliefs. I wonder how many of these beliefs are held because these ideas are unexamined and accepted only on the surface. Reading this book strengthened my belief that homeschooling is the best for my children I can see that many of my opinions as a young person were confused by being taught alternate beliefs in school. Even when I knew I didn't agree, it was often difficult to articulate why. I can see that worldviews in direct opposition to my own are being taught to children every day in school. I can think of examples from my own educational experience.

There was one specific idea in the conclusion of the text that I felt was worth some more in-depth concentration. It had some interesting ideas about the different responsibilities of the state, church and family. The authors state that the state is responsible for justice, the church for God's love and grace on the earth, and the family for God's creativity and community. I mostly agree with these ideas, although I think this is a simplification. I also think the family and the church's roles are somewhat different and that the church is also about community. I enjoyed the following quote. "Because government is an institution of justice, not of grace, community, or creativity, it should not interfere with freedom of religion, attempt to dispense grace through tax-funded handouts, control family size, interfere in the raising of children (including their education), or control the economy." If we agree that government is an institution of justice, it would seem that our government has wandered far afield from its duties. I think that taking these ideas and comparing them to doctrinal sources is important. I turned to Doctrine and Covenants 134 to read again what has been said there about governments. I think that verse two is particularly pertinent to the discussion, so I will quote it here. "We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life." I think that this can help guide our decisions about what we vote for and who we choose to represent us. There is a wealth of information in this chapter of the Doctrine and Covenants, and I think it is a resource that I need to turn to and reread from time to time.

My thoughts are still percolating on the different worldviews presented in this book. I think it is a good text for understanding other people, and also for articulating my own worldview. I feel that it was beneficial to read this book as an adult, and I also think that teenagers might benefit as well.

February's Title Swap

Fascinating Womanhood - Helen Andelin
Our Home - C. E. Sargent
The Giver - Lois Lowry

Absolute Truths

When we try to understand the way people think today, it can be very confusing. There are so many opinions that we can find ourselves debating around in circles. Some would demand that we have such high levels of tolerance for the cultural relativism of every person, that they insist that no one can state any absolute truth. But as offensive as this may be, "Absolute Truths" do exist. They always have and always will, no matter what is popular today. The following is a list of some of these truths:

* God Exists. He created the world and each of us.
* The God Head consists of 3 separate beings. (Not the Trinity)
* We have a soul. We will be resurrected, judged and have consequences.
* Families are ordained of God. (1 man married to 1 woman raising children)
* Free agency of Man - Free will
* Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the World
* Modern revelation still occurs today.
* Prophets are still on this Earth.

The Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers

As I read each one of the stories in the book, The Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers by Patrick Kavanaugh, I was touched with how every composer had to overcome his own unique set of challenges to achieve greatness. The one that touched me the most was the story of Anton Bruckner. I was already familiar with many of the great composers, but didn’t know anything about Anton Bruckner. Although all of the composers featured in this book shared various degrees of religious faith in God, I felt that Bruckner understood better than any other composer that the only one he ultimately answers to is God. He was quoted as saying, “Sometime I will have to give an account of myself. How would the Father in Heaven judge me if I followed others and not Him?”

How easy it is to listen to all the voices that pull us in different directions away from what God wants us to hear. Bruckner is a superb example of someone who did not become what others wanted him to be. “He listened to the ‘voice from within’ and looked to God, ‘whose praises he sang in every note of his music.’ Bruckner had a strong ‘conviction that only he who believes and trusts finds true peace and the glory of the Lord.’”

Bruckner also set a great example of perseverance. He experienced decades of hostility from various people in the music community. Sometimes people in the audience would walk out when his symphonies were performed. Another time a director told him to quit composing and threw his symphonies in a trash can. One critic called Bruckner “a fool and a half” and others criticized his music as being “insatiable rhetoric” and “unsingable.” A work that had been accepted by the Vienna Philharmonic was rejected after the first rehearsal. Bruckner found himself the enemy of a famous music critic that gave such malevolent reviews that it became nearly impossible to have his works performed for over a decade, “yet Bruckner continued to compose, believing that this talent was a trust given by God.”

Although Bruckner was not only unappreciated and attacked from many fronts for what he created, he did not attack in kind. “Instead, he continued to compose work after work, believing that his efforts would eventually be blessed...He so firmly believed that God wanted him to compose that he could neither desist nor waste time in meaningless verbal battles with his detractors.”

How often do we get caught up in feeling discouraged, overwhelmed or depleted when our initial or even ongoing attempts to do what we feel or know is right, isn’t met with the outcome or approval from others that we had hoped for? Do we just give up? Stop trying? Change our course of direction so that the world will give us their stamp of approval? It takes a lot of courage, faith and conviction to swim against the stream.

In time, the world came to love Bruckner’s great works and even to scorn those who disagreed. Bruckner never retaliated against his foes. He patiently endured the insults and attempts to stop his work and quietly continued to go on fulfilling his life’s mission. He never lost his faith in God. Anton Bruckner’s music is a lasting legacy of enduring faith, perseverance and humility. I will never listen to his music the same way again.