It's coming up on midnight here but I have to write about my day. I don't even care if you read this; I need to get some of it out of my head.
I went to Men's B'fast this morning. That was good, in the fullest sense of that term. It was fun, and easy, and refreshing. Because of a last-minute location change the group was smaller than normal. In fact, it was primarily the guys who were/are the elders at Celebration. So it was like a reunion of sorts.
Later I had lunch at the BK on Kenowa and then went to visit the Burch's. I don't know if they read this, and frankly I don't really care. I'm going to tell on them anyway.
The Burch's are good people, again in the fullest sense of that term. The love God and their children. They strive to do right by each. And, IMHO, they're doing a good job on each count.
I went from there to visit Pam's mom who seems to be doing well after her back surgery. It's only been a couple of weeks so she's still pretty limited in her mobility but the healing process is going well.
Tonight I went to the premier performance of the Grand Rapids Youth Ballet. Savanna is the youngest member of that troupe that has kids from 6 to 18. All the dancers audition and must be taking at least one ballet class a week and have been doing so for at least one year. Clearly most of them far exceed that level.
It's a youth ballet company; these are kids, though many of them are High School age. So we're not talking Bolshoi. But it was good! And there's something about the arts, done at any level, that expands the mind, that elevates the spirit for both the performer and the audience member.
A couple of months ago we went to a B.B. King concert with Steve & Michelle and it was excellent! We really like B.B. King. But when you go to a classical music concert, or a ballet, or an opera it touches a different part of you than any other kind of performance art reaches. Classical forms of art (including visual arts, though at this point I'm thinking primarily of performance art) require more of the listener/viewer, they demand greater attention and focus. You can't just kick back and let it come to you. You have to go to it, you have to concentrate and focus. But in return you are lifted, taken somewhere you would not otherwise go.
That's not something our culture is generally inclined to do - that kind of work. We're used to everything coming to us. Maybe that's the difference between entertainment and art. Art requires us to come up to it.
If you haven't ever been to art, go sometime. Don't expect it to be easy, Expect to have to work to listen, to understand. And at the beginning you might even think it's more effort in than benefit out. But I don't think so. Especially if you choose one of the more entry-level options. For opera, go see Madama Butterfly. For a symphony concert, Beethoven or Mozart or Mendelssohn. For ballet, Swan Lake. You'll find it expanding.
OK, I read last night's post this morning and realized I made a BIG mistake. I promise you, I really do know when the French Revolution happened, and it was NOT the end of the 1800's. It was the end of the 18th century, but not the 1800's. In fact, some of the French revolutionaries saw their revolt against the aristocrats as parallel to our own revolution against the King of England a decade earlier. They were wrong, but they thought that. Madame Guillotine was no part of the colonists' tactics.
And while we're on the subject of art, you really should read The Scarlet Pimpernel. It's a good book. I got another 5 or 6 chapters read today. An easy read and captivating.
And now it's after midnight. Which means it's Sunday. I used to tell my students that they should go to bed every day. I've missed Saturday.
Better late than never.
Goodnight.
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