From the bleak mid-winter of our souls, we emerge into hope. When we hope, we look to the future, as we wish it to be. It’s utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day,…
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Value for Sunday of Week 30 in the season of Ripening
Agape
Agape is love for all people.
- . . . agape understanding and creative, redemptive goodwill for all (people). An overflowing love which seeks nothing in return . . . [Martin Luther King, Jr.]
- There must be a stronger foundation than mere friendship or sexual attraction. Unconditional love, agape love, will not be swayed by time or circumstances. [Stephen Kendrick]
- Love is our most unifying and empowering common spiritual denominator. The more we ignore its potential to bring greater balance and deeper meaning to human existence, the more likely we are to continue to define history as one long inglorious record of man’s inhumanity to man. [attributed to Aberjhani]
When we care about other people for their sake instead of our own, we transcend the primal bonds of ego. Imagine a world in which everyone loved everyone. Such a world surely would transcend the world we know.
Agape is transcendent because it rises above the usual confines of Love, such as kinship and tribalism – all forms of exclusive in-group solidarity. Because Love is an emotion, it comes from within, and can be self-serving. Agape serves others.
Real
True Narratives
Technical and Analytical Readings
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
Poetry
From the dark side:
- Edgar Lee Masters, “Hiram Scates”
- Edgar Lee Masters, “Mabel Osborne”
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
A sweet and tender ethic, shared among the players, characterizes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s string quartets. “Perhaps the prime attribute that makes classical string quartets so rewarding both to play and to listen to is the independence of the four parts. Haydn pioneered this development, but Mozart brought the full weight of his genius to developing it.” In this attribute is a deep respect, enhanced by Mozart’s sensibilities. Quartetto Italiano is widely regarded to have recorded the most compelling complete set, though Amadeus Quartet also has its advocates.
- String Quartet No. 1 in G Major, K. 80/73f, “Lodi” (1770) (approx. 15-18’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 2 in D Major, K. 155/134a (1772) (approx. 10-11’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 3 in G Major, K. 156/134b (1773) (approx. 12-14’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 4 in C Major, K. 157 (1773) (approx. 11-14’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 5 in F Major, K. 158 (1773) (approx. 13-16’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat Major, K. 159 (1773) (approx. 13-15’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 7 in E-flat Major, K. 160/159a (1773) (approx. 10-11’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 8 in F Major, K. 168 (1773) (approx. 10-12’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 9 in F Major, K. 169 (1773) (approx. 14-19’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 10 in C Major, K. 170 (1773) (approx. 14-15’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 11 in E-flat Major, K. 171 (1773) (approx. 15-18’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 12 in B-flat Major, K. 172 (1773) (approx. 18-19’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 13 in D minor, K. 173 (1773) (approx. 17’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 14 in G Major, K. 387, “Spring” (1782) (approx. 26-34’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 15 in D minor, K. 421/417b (1783) (approx. 27-34’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 16 in E-flat Major, K. 428/421b (1783) (approx. 27-37’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 17 in B-flat Major, K. 458, “Hunt” (1784) (approx. 25-35’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 18 in A Major, K. 464 (1785) (approx. 29-37’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K. 465, “Dissonance” (1785) (approx. 28-33’) (list of recorded performances) – Mozart wrote to Haydn: “Behold here, famous man and dearest friend, my six children. They are, to be sure, the fruit of long and arduous work, yet some friends have encouraged me to assume that I shall see this work rewarded to some extent at least, and this flatters me into believing that these children shall one day offer me some comfort. You yourself, dearest friend, have shown me your approval of them during your last sojourn in this capital.”
- String Quartet No. 20 in D Major, K. 499, “Hoffmeister” (1786) (approx. 23-24’) (list of recorded performances): dedicated to Franz Anton Hoffmeister, this quartet “is exquisite Mozart ‘light and dark’ with clear pointers to Beethoven and Mendelssohn as he races through such elegant, serious play.”
- String Quartet No. 21 in D Major, K. 575, “Prussian No. 1” (1789) (approx. 23-26’) (list of recorded performances): “. . . as with all three of the Prussian quartets, the sound is refined, even precious, with a certain Rococo delicacy.”
- String Quartet No. 22 in B-flat Major, K. 589, “Prussian No. 2” (1790) (approx. 24-27’) (list of recorded performances)
- String Quartet No. 23 in F Major, K. 590, “Prussian No. 3” (1790) (approx. 24-25’) (list of recorded performances)
Stevie Wonder has spent a lifetime singing of life and love. “Nearly everything he recorded bore the stamp of his sunny, joyous positivity; even when he addressed serious racial, social, and spiritual issues (which he did quite often in his prime), or sang about heartbreak and romantic uncertainty, an underlying sense of optimism and hope always seemed to emerge.” It is never about his ego; he always reaches out to others, with love, in his music. He is proficient at vocals, keyboards, harmonica, drums, bass guitar, congas, bongos, keytar, accordion and harpejji. Here is a link to his releases.
Peter, Paul and Mary was a folk group popular mainly in the 1960’s. Their music exudes the ethics of that time, steeped in peace and social justice. Here is a link to their playlists.
Conductor Bruno Walter had a long and illustrious career. His recordings are known for their gentility and lyricism. Critic Walter Cardus said that seeing and hearing Walter conduct was like being “visited by an act of grace.”. Here is a link to his playlists.
Albums:
- Las Lloronas, “Out of the Blue” (2024) (44’): “Here comes some musical rawness, some poetic absurdity, some human tenderness, some beauty, some bullshit.”
- Bugge Wesseltoft, “It’s Snowing on My Piano” (1997) (53’), and “It’s Still Snowing on My Piano” (2025) (52’) are drawn from Wesseltoft’s childhood memories of the Christmas season. He explains: “I wanted to approach it in a very quiet way, as an act of caring for others, you know? There were so many suffering people with traumas and Christmas would be the most difficult period for them very often. So my focus was to create something soothing for people who were struggling.”
Music: songs and other short pieces
- Michael Jackson, "Heal the World" (lyrics)
- The O’Jays, “Love Train” (lyrics)
- Jackie DeShannon, “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” (lyrics)
- Stevie Wonder - "Love's in Need of Love Today" (lyrics’)
- Lynne Arriale Trio, “Love” (dedicated to humankind)
Visual Arts
Film and Stage
- Rain Man: a conniving, self-centered man develops fellow-feeling for his half-brother, an idiot savant who has been left their father’s entire fortune; the film points out that the “normal” brother also suffers from a disability
- Blow-Up, a film that “has something real to say about the matter of personal involvement and emotional commitment in a jazzed-up, media-hooked-in world so cluttered with synthetic stimulations that natural feelings are overwhelmed”
