For All of Our Endeavors

For the desires we hold for this great American experiment, Reinhold Niebuhr has some important words for today. Niebuhr was a twentieth century theological luminary. You can read a little bit about him at  Reinhold Niebuhr: the theologian politicians read.

Reinhold Niebuhr (RNS photo)

“Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.

Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith.

Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love.

No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.”
                                                

(Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History)

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Leonard Bernstein, The greatest 5 min. in music education

From the YouTube site:
"This amazing lecture series (The Unanswered Question ), is actually an interdisciplinary overview about the evolution of Western European classical music from Bach through the 20th century..." 

The Unanswered Question was a series of six lectures given by Bernstein at Harvard when he delivered the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures in 1973. Virgil Thomson said of the lectures: “Nobody anywhere presents this material so warmly, so sincerely, so skillfully. As musical mind-openers they are first class; as pedagogy they are matchless.”

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Monday Music: Crazy (Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Willie Nelson)

Willie Nelson wrote "Crazy" back in 1961, and Country music legend Patsy Cline made it a hit the following year. When Patsy Cline sang country, she could make it sound like a standard right out of the Great American Songbook. Here, putting a smooth jazz spin on the song are Diana Krall, Willie Nelson and Elvis Costello. They performed the number at Willie Nelson's 70th  birthday celebration in 2003.

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