‘I have no thought of time,

for who knows where the time goes?

..I have no fear of time,

for who knows where the time goes?’

From ‘Who knows where the time goes? From the 1969 album ’Unhalfbricking’ by Fairport Convention 

This Season of Advent is intended to be a time to prepare. Of course, there are all the preparations that most people are undertaking over these weeks; preparations for presents and parties and dinners and get-togethers and cards and so on. 

But the intention of this Advent time is that we who look forward to the celebration of our Lord’s birth (and, indeed, to his coming again) prepare ourselves in spirit. While in more recent times, the emphasis of this season has shifted towards ‘hope’ (and I am pleased it has) the danger is that the other aspects of Advent get lost; prayer, fasting, self-examination etc. 

In past years in my blog posts, I have made much of the importance of this time of spiritual discipline, reflection and prayer for me. 

Except…

…it is far from easy!

‘Great is the darkness that covers the earth…’ but it is not easy to spend time reflecting on this in anticipation of the coming of the light, when already the Christmas lights have been twinkling for weeks.

It is not easy to consider any type of ‘fasting’ when parties and dinners begin so early.

It is not easy to enter into the pain, tension, and struggle of affirming God’s promises while these remain not yet finally or fully fulfilled, and join in the deep longing for the coming of God’s Kingdom, when we are already singing Christmas Carols.

It is not easy to spend time in prayer and self-examination when the many other preparations squeeze that time, and everything seems to get ever more hurried the nearer we get to Christmas. 

Ah time… there it is. We seem to have no time. Where does it go? Why does it seem to run away from us?

I was reflecting on some of this the other day in my prayers, or perhaps ‘despairing’ would be a better description! But the note I made in my journal ended on a more positive note… that it is worth maintaining the struggle to find the time.

For, of course, there is just as much time in each day and week of Advent as there is at any other time of the year. It is a question of how we use it, what we prioritise, and on what we focus.

And that whole theme of time is, in itself, a good thing on which to reflect in this Advent Season.

Thanksgiving

 

‘Now be thankful for good things below
Now be thankful to your maker
For the rose, the red rose blooms for all to know’

From ‘Now be Thankful’ by Fairport Convention (a 1970 single release)

 

 

Advent began early this year. 27^th November is the very earliest Sunday on which it can occur. This can be confusing for those who are used to Advent Calendars and Candles marking the passing days, as most of these start on the 1^st December. And that confusion is all the more on those years when Advent Sunday is on Sunday 3^rd December (the latest date it can be).

 

It is just the way the calendar falls.

 

Our American friends had the same issue with ‘Thanksgiving’ which is celebrated on the last Thursday of November, and so – this year – was as early as it could be; Thursday 24^th November.

 

And given that any or all of these dates (Thanksgiving, Advent Sunday, 1^st December) in many people’s minds, mark the beginning of the Christmas preparation season, we tend to have a choice (or not, given that commercially these preparations begin in October!).

 

However, all these musings are really a bit of an aside. It is Thanksgiving which is on my mind today. Not the particular celebration of this in the United States, but the whole matter of giving thanks.

 

As I begin to look forward to Christmas I often find myself reflecting on the good things in my life, perhaps all the more so since becoming a grandparent.

 

And yet, the other day when I was out walking the dogs (for whom I am also thankful!) I found myself feeling a little irritated and disgruntled. I cannot now recall what it was that had got to me, but I was unsettled and a wee bit unhappy. As I pondered why, I found myself asking why I am not more consciously thankful for life’s blessings and why I did not more often specifically thank God for these blessings.

 

I further reasoned that my lack of thankfulness might well be one reason why I got irritated and impatient!

 

It was on that very same day that I read Psalm 50 where the Psalmist says ‘Offer to God a Sacrifice of thanksgiving’ (vs 14) and then quotes God ‘those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honour me’ (vs 23).

 

And so, in the light of all of this, I have decided to try and be more committed to giving thanks, and doing so specifically and regularly. And even if I am feeling irritated, impatient, or grumpy, to still give thanks.

 

As Paul said ‘Give thanks in all circumstances’ (1 Thessalonians 5: 18)

Seasons will pass you by

 

 

‘Seasons will pass you by
I get up, I get down

From ‘Close to the Edge’ by Yes (from the Album ‘Close to the Edge’)

 

 

There is little about my blogging that will surprise anyone who reads these posts.

 

•        I blog only very occasionally and haphazardly
•        Notwithstanding  that, I do tend to blog regularly in Advent
•      I love this season of Advent and wish that the church was better at allowing Advent to be Advent and not simply an excuse to prematurely celebrate Christmas
•       I use a lot of quotes from music (especially but not exclusively, rock music and particularly from that genre that is known as ‘progressive rock’)
•          I reflect a lot on the different changes and challenges of life as the years pass

 

 

So, you can expect all of these and more in this Season of Advent that began on Sunday past and which gives me the opportunity, challenge, incentive to post some musings on my blog.

 

On Sunday evening, Jane and I went to Glasgow Cathedral for the ‘Advent Procession’ led by the excellent Cathedral Choir. I like the idea of this service which seeks to reflect something of the journeying that is part of this season; the journey towards Christmas, the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem and so on.

 

That, in turn, caused me to reflect a little on the journey of life (not a very original thought, I know!).

 

When I looked at what I had written in my first Advent blog post of last year, I noted that in that post I was also reflecting on the journey of life and speaking about my imminent retiral, and musing on the opening of a new chapter in my life.

 

I am actually surprised that I wrote that, for I have been saying to folks for over a year now that I do not consider retirement to be a new chapter so much as a new season in life. Each season brings something different with new opportunities and new experiences and new things to give. So it is with this new season of my life both as a grandparent and as a Minister (although not now in full-time parish ministry).

 

Those of us who are Ministers are notorious for finding it difficult to give up work once we retire! That, it seems to me, is no real surprise. While we may have retired from full-time work, we have not retired from being ordained.

 

To begin with I felt a little ‘dislocated’ in retirement; as if I was not quite sure what this new season was for. Then I got caught up into so much ‘church’ work I began to feel that I was doing retirement wrong! But things are now clarifying, and I realise that in this new season I can offer (and have been increasingly being given opportunities to give) support to others in ministry. I suppose some of it is something like mentoring, some of it is piratical support when folks in the parish are struggling in one way or another and need someone to step int to do some things, and again some of it is just being a supportive presence for those who may have been unwell or who may be wrestling with some specific problem in Ministry. It is not quite counselling, not quite coaching, not quite supervision… but it feel right and it feels fulfilling.  

 

And so it feels that this season of my life may be a very fruitful season.

 

I am hoping that this Advent Season will be fruitful too!

The Hound of Heaven?

Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull, and God

By https://music.apple.com/nz/album/the-zealot-gene/1590404272, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69898493

My last post referenced one aging rock star, his fading voice, but excellent recent album release (Paul McCartney and his latest album ‘McCartney III’).

So, here I go again!

I have long been a fan of the band Jethro Tull (since 1968 to be precise) and of their leader, front-man, composer, and singer Ian Anderson.

Now, unlike McCartney, Anderson’s voice was never one of the greatest, sweetest, or most powerful of rock voices. And, like McCartney’s, it has not got better over the years. I last saw Jethro Tull in 2006, and while it was a great concert (and we had wonderful seats!) it was clear that live even more than in recordings, Ian Anderson’s voice was even then struggling.

But, interestingly, in the most recent album by Jethro Tull, his voice sounds quite good. Is that down to studio manipulation, or good production techniques? Or is he just composing now within his diminishing range? I don’t know.

But I would say that this album ‘The Zealot Gene’ is a great album and I have been listening to it more often than I expected since it was released a few months ago. If you are not minded to give the whole thing a listen, then I would especially recommend the track ‘Mine is the Mountain’.

What intrigues me is the theme of the album. It is not a concept album in the traditional sense. Nonetheless, each track does have biblical allusions, and it is reported that Anderson began writing each song with a passage from the Bible in mind.

Interesting.

In several interviews over the years, Ian Anderson has expressed his views on religion, Christianity, and Jesus. He is not at ease with pomp and ceremony, and expresses a distaste towards some aspects of organised religion. But he also claims not to be hostile towards faith. He is clear that he is not a Christian, while being very positive about Jesus.

He is quoted as saying  ‘I’m a big supporter of Christianity and the physicality of the church, but I don’t call myself a Christian… they all hope that I’m going to come out of the closet one day and say ”That’s it yeah I really am a Christian after all!” but I’m not going to do that.’[i]

Hmmm… I wonder.

Like so many people, he cannot quite throw it off. It is always there. It is a constant theme in his work. And – as he acknowledges in his interviews – he often performs in churches, wants to support the physical presence of churches, and fundraises for them.

As I listen to his songs and as I read the interviews, it seems to me that he can’t let it go…

…or perhaps it can’t let him go.

And, to get away from Ian Anderson specifically, I would observe that this is the case with many folks. God (as I would say) or ‘it’ (however they would determine that) will not let them go.

I think this disturbs some people.

I think it makes some folks very angry (because they really want to be rid of ‘religion’, but just cannot shrug it off.)

I think it can present some deep contradictions in some people (take the high priest of atheism, Richard Dawkins, who seems unable to leave alone the religion he would seek to abominate, calls himself a ‘cultural Christian’,  and attends carol services at Christmas. As one commentator said ‘Even he, it seems, has been infected by some version of the God meme.’[ii])

Now, I am not wanting to make this personal about the views of either Ian Anderson or Richard Dawkins both of whom I greatly admire, even if I would not always agree with them, and each of whom I would be delighted to spend an evening with, chatting, discussing, exploring and arguing over a fine malt whisky or a glass of good red wine. I am more interested in the fact that so many folks who reject faith still cannot quite get beyond faith issues. Something still niggles, upsets, intrigues, angers, or all of these, and more. They seem not to ba able to ‘let go’… or…??

As someone of faith, I cannot help but wonder if it is not so much as they cannot let it go, as God will not let them go.

C. S. Lewis (most well-known for the Narnia novels) was one of the best known apologists for Christianity in the 20^th century. Yet, he had been an atheist who only very resistantly and reluctantly acknowledged the God who had (so it seemed to him) relentlessly pursued him. And so (as he records it) he embraced Christian faith ‘kicking, struggling, resentful’. He said he was ‘the most reluctant convert in all of England’.

And I suppose for me as someone who believes, I see in all this some indication of a God who will not easily or readily let us go. He is the ‘Hound of Heaven’ of Francis Thompson’s poem (which had a huge influence on J. R. R. Tolkien).

 

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;

I fled Him, down the arches of the years;

I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways

Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears

I hid from Him, and under running laughter.

Up vistaed hopes I sped;

And shot, precipitated,

Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,

From those strong Feet that followed, followed after…

 

 

…‘Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,

I am He Whom thou seekest!’

 

And, as I conclude this post, I am happily listening to Jethro Tull’s ‘The Zealot Gene’. Thank you Ian Anderson!

 

---

[i] https://indeflagration.fr/in-english/ian-anderson-jethro-tull-interview/

[ii] https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2011/12/religion-christmas-dawkins

McCartney at 80 and Questions about Retirement

 

Sir Paul McCartney celebrated his 80^th birthday last weekend, and this coming weekend he will be appearing at Glastonbury; the oldest performer ever to do so.

Good for him…

… or is it?

Now, as most of my friends and blog readers will be well aware, I am a bit of a fan. Certainly, I am a big fan of the Beatles and there is no doubt that McCartney’s amazing musicality, creativity, experimentalism (often overlooked), and sheer energy played an enormous part in the Beatles’ success, output, and progress.

I have been watching Peter Jackson’s superb ‘Get Back’ film documenting the prolonged and protracted ‘Let it Be’ sessions, and I am finding it fascinating for the insight it gives into the relationships between the four Beatles (by this time sometimes strained, but equally also often fun and affectionate) and the insight into the ways in which their songs were created and developed.

While I might instinctively be more aligned with John Lennon’s music, I recognise McCartney for the genius he was and is, and the ‘Get Back’ film has reinforced that view.

John Lennon also recognised McCartney’s great ability. In spite of his well known criticisms of some of McCartney’s songs (such as ‘When I’m Sixty Four’ and ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ dismissed as ‘granny music’… and I tend to agree with Lennon on this) he also said ‘Paul was one of the most innovative bass players ever. And half the stuff that is going on now is directly ripped off from his Beatles period. He is an egomaniac about everything else about himself, but his bass playing he was always a bit coy about.’

Well, I find that interesting in all kinds of ways!

There are some lazy and inaccurate assessment’s made by people, such as the oft-stated idea that Lennon represented the rawer, rockier side of the Beatles while McCartney was more the soft, gentle balladeer. But that does not stand up to scrutiny when you consider the likes of McCartney’s ‘I saw her Standing There’, or ‘Why don’t we do it in the Road’ or ‘Helter Skelter’ and so on and on. (And not to mention the several ‘gentler’ and deeply sensitive Lennon compositions.)

Another popular misapprehension is that Paul was fine when he worked with Lennon in the Beatles, but since then he has descended into pop kitsch (or however the supposed critic would describe his post-Beatles’ output). And I will readily admit that he has produced some pretty mind-numbing nonsense whether as a solo artist or with Wings. But albums such as ‘Band on the Run’ or singles such as ‘Coming Up’ and ‘Live and Let Die’ are great (at least, in my opinion).

And then there is his most recent release ‘McCartney III’.

I confess, I did not begin listening to it with much positive expectation (I too seem to be infected with the prejudice). But it is absolutely great! I am not sure that I might not even suggest that it represents his best post-Beatles piece of work…

…except…

…his voice…

It has gone.

It has long gone, to be honest.

With my wife, my son, my daughter, and my brother, and many thousand others, I went to see the great man playing at Hampden Park some years ago. What a concert it was! It was the nearest I will ever get to attending a ‘Beatles’ Concert’. The music was great, the playing superb… although I could have done without his cheesy ‘showmanship’ and schmaltzy comments in between songs. However, it was his voice that struck me. It was not what it was… not by a long shot… and it is not getting better as the years pass.

Well, that’s no surprise. The man’s now 80!

So, why does he not just gracefully retire? Why did he not gracefully retire 20 years ago? He obviously does not need the money, or the recognition, or the sense of achievement.

And as I ponder that question, I am also asking the very same question of myself.

Did I not retire just a few weeks ago? Then why am I wondering about being a locum somewhere, or looking at possible roles in the wider life of the church, or checking out certain wee part-time jobs in the church??

I do not need the money (nice as it would be!) nor the recognition (I don’t think).

So, what is it?

Perhaps it is no more complicated than that it is difficult to give up those things that you enjoy, things that you find fulfilling, things that feed your soul, things that you have always done.

And what will you do if you stop doing these? Is it a question of role, or even identity?

Perhaps that is Paul McCartney’s problem.

Perhaps it is mine too.

Perhaps it is an issue for many people.

But perhaps too there is a time to recognise that we may no longer be able to do what we once did, and nor should we. Those days are past.

Is it time for Paul and me to celebrate the past and ‘Let it Be’, and to step out on a new part of the ‘Long and Winding Road’.

Time to recognise that whatever we contributed in the past, we may no longer have what it takes to do the same in the present or the future, accept that, and find what we can do and find fulfilling and meaningful?

I am just pondering… no decisions… yet.

‘Prog Rock’, Progressive Rock and the Tyranny of Terminology

 

 

The picture above – as prog rock aficionados will recognise – includes images from some of the most iconic ‘prog rock’ album covers… not that all the bands represented would necessarily thank you for the ‘prog’ label! Read on…

 

‘Progressive rock is anything that doesn’t sound like regular rock. Regular rock is everything that sounds like itself’ (Frank Zappa)

 

‘Whither progressive music? I would much prefer to let that old fashioned terminology fall back into the swamp of its indulgent insignificance’ (Peter Banks original guitarist of Yes)

 

‘[Prog is] a prison. If you walk on stage and you’re playing music, fine. But if you’re walking on stage and you’re playing progressive rock: death.’; (Robert Fripp King Crimson)

 

‘Trying to copy or ossify a particular musical style or vocabulary from … any … particular era is by definition not ‘progressive’ at all, but profoundly regressive…’ (Simon Barrow ‘Solid Mental Grace’)

 

 

Of all my posts on music, this (which may be – for the moment at least – my penultimate on this theme) will likely connect with the fewest people. It will almost certainly appeal – or even make sense to – only a very niche group.

 

But, in all honesty, I am blogging more for me than for anyone else!

 

Most folks who have any awareness of ‘prog rock’ at all (whether as fans or detractors) are well aware that it has a reputation for being self-indulgent, too clever for its own good, overblown, elitist, and well past its sell by date. And its fans are seen as predominantly men, usually of a certain age, stuck in a nostalgic longing for the 1970s.

 

The thing is, I think this is a fair criticism of some (possibly, many) aspects of what is generally termed progressive rock. And I think it is a fair criticism of some of us (and to some extent I include myself) who are or were fans of the genre. There is a tendency towards nostalgia, to be stuck in the past, and looking for our favourite bands to replicate the high points of the 1970s rather than be truly progressive.

 

Ah, the irony… the ‘regressiveness’ of progressive rock!

 

If you want to read more about this I would thoroughly recommend Simon Barrow’s book on listening to the music of Yes, the excellent ‘Solid Mental Grace’, and particularly the chapter ‘Yes after Progressive Rock’, in which he explores some of these matters.

 

Now, as I freely admit, I am not at all free from that tendency to prog rock nostalgia, and in wanting to locate, and even ‘fix’ some aspects of my musical experience back in the era when prog was in its pomp. But, much of that has to do with the stage of life I was going through back then, and the fresh musical discoveries I myself was making (to which I refer in other posts).

 

But, in mitigation, I would say that I have become (I hope) somewhat less snobbish about music in recent years and have come to appreciate the ‘pop’ music I had so readily dismissed when I discovered ‘rock’ and – more significantly – recently I have even heard Country music that I enjoyed, and I had long disparaged that genre! Moreover, I have delved much more into jazz and folk and classical too, although much of that is thanks to progressive rock, ironically!

 

I am a huge fan of Yes, and I do think that their 1970s output was genuinely progressive, no album more so than ‘Close to the Edge’. Their music then pushed the boundaries and explored new territory. Has their material since then (great as much of it is) done so to the same extent? I don’t really think so. Some it may be ‘prog’ (as in it belongs in that presumed genre) but it is not really ‘progressive’.

 

On the other hand, I think that there is more evidence of continual progress in the likes of King Crimson (and in much of Robert Fripp’s additional work) as also in Porcupine Tree; both bands that have sought to eschew the ‘prog rock’ categorisation.

 

But, in the end of the day, I think that the most genuinely progressive band of all time (and they largely preceded the emergence of that genre, and yet were part of its genesis) was the Beatles. In seven short years of recording, look at how they progressed as they absorbed and explored various musical genres.

 

But, enough of lazy categorisation! Here’s to musical progress whatever we call it, and here’s to good music generally.

 

Now, where’s my favourite Country and Western album…?

 

 

West Side Story and Progressive Rock

 

I promised a return to my music based posts on my blog, and here we go! Not that I may not return to this curious journey that is retirement, but I think I need to process and consider that a bit more (still trying to wrestle with being retired from work on the one hand, and yet remaining ‘called’ to Ministry and ordained to a ministry of Word and Sacrament… hmmm…).

 

Anyway, back to music as I say, and in particular this marvellous musical to which I have referred before.

 

As I think I may have said, I was no stranger to American musicals as a child. My parents both sang and acted in amateur musicals in Glasgow, and there were various records of musicals in our house. To this day I can (and sometimes do… to the irritation of my family) sing many songs from the great musicals; South Pacific, Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls and so on.

 

But there was always something different, greater, unique about West Side Story. The story, the choreography, and – of course – the music.

 

A few evenings ago we watched the new film version on TV. This has been produced by Stephen Spielberg, and – while I admire his work very much – I was slightly uncertain, as the 1961 film is so much part of my life and I have seen it so very many times.

 

But I was hugely impressed! Loved it. I will certainly watch it again, and probably again.

 

However, my first reaction when it ended was to decide to go back to the 1961 film and watch that again.

 

Interesting!. There was something about that earlier version which had a passion and warmth that I am not sure is there in the 2021 version. But I’m not sure…

 

That said, having watched / listened to both versions, the music really struck me afresh.

 

There is no doubt that it sits firmly in the tradition and genre of the musical. And yet, it does so while drawing so very much on so many other traditions; jazz, Latin, symphonic, operatic, and comedy songs etc.

 

But it most certainly not jazz nor yet Latin nor yet opera. It is most certainly a musical, and sits in that genre. Yet so many different styles and genres are represented in it.

 

And that made me think about Progressive Rock at its best. No, not the overblown excesses with which part of the Prog Rock scene has been associated (which can be as far from genuinely ‘progressive;’ as could be). But the best examples (which, in embryonic form, can be found in the late 1960s pre-Prog work of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Traffic, early Pink Floyd, the Nice and so forth). Progressive Rock was unmistakably and undeniably ‘rock’ music. But it drew not simply on the rock and roll and blues roots that typified and gave birth to that genre, but also classical music, jazz, folk, vaudeville,  and so forth.

 

King Crimson’s albums ‘In the Court of the Crimson King’ or ‘Lark’s Tongues in Aspic’, Yes’s ‘Close to the Edge’ and so forth are good examples of this at its best.

 

No, there is not point or significance in all of this. Just a musing… and I may muse more on progressive rock another time!

 

But it is that sense of music being firmly within a certain genre while drawing so freely on other genres that intrigued me.

 

I doubt it will much interest anyone else!

 

Ah well, must re-watch West Side Story…now, which version???