April 2021 in Review
Books
I finished three books in April:
The Sound of Life’s Unspeakable Beauty by Martin Schleske (English translation by Janet Gesme, Eerdmans, 2020)
I actually started this book I think in March; it is full of deep, thought-provoking reflections on music, craftsmanship, teaching, life, and faith, so I made time to read it slowly. Schleske, a renowned luthier based in Munich, Germany, takes each stage of the violin making process, from selecting the wood to the first notes played, as the impetus for a reflection on a particular spiritual theme. Available on Schleske's website. A few choice excerpts:
From “The Design: The Harmony of Opposites”
Familiarity and surprise…form a harmonious contradiction because in them opposites are united into a whole. You can easily imagine what would happen if one of the two opposites were missing: Without familiarity…surprise denigrates into being purely random. With no surprise…familiarity denigrates into boredom. … By offering nothing recognizable, randomness asks too much of us. Boredom asks too little of us, because everything can be understood from the very start.
From “The Arching and the Wood’s Grain: Belief as Reverence and Mercy”
Scripture reveals that God has much more the heart of an artist than a grim construction planner. If the world were the work of a cosmic engineer…we would all suffer from the constant nagging of a dogged designer whose plans just never work out…Reality could never live up to his spotless, perfect plans. But there is a different wisdom at work in the artist. A true creator knows he not only has to shape but also endorse and allow. Wisdom allows things to evolve and unfold. In Scripture, God’s wisdom is a spiritual force that explores everything, everywhere, penetrating the very depths of life.
It is fascinating to view the whole world, ourselves included, as a composition, a painting or sculpture, an artistic masterpiece. Works of art can be both miraculously beautiful and sometimes odd and peculiar. We are works of art, not construction.
What moves me is the idea that God has the heart of an artist, who does not force reality into submission by bending and breaking and going against the grain. The thought of seeing every person, ourselves included, as a unique work of art in progress, an ever-changing and matchless expression of God, changes everything. In every encounter you suddenly see the odd, authentic, fascinating, sometimes enjoyable and sometimes devastating, often humorous but staggering interplay of what is created and what has become of it. What has the distinctive history of this person deposited within them, and what has grown out of it? What is now in the making?
Life is an expedition through a gallery of works in progress, and we are a part of it. We are invited to respect each other as living installations, representations, and forms of expression that long to be read, heard, and observed.
From “Reworking the Violin: The Pain and Crisis of Faith”
Is it not childish and small to try and make one’s faith crisis-proof based on the idea that, up until now, nothing bad has happened to me? Such a faith, closed up in its own happiness, is based on ignorance, selfishness, and fear. If it is not a faith that looks openly and honestly into the world and sees what is happening, if it is not a faith that is ready to inquire about the truth of God and to search for him fervently with the world in mind, then it is no faith at all.
From “The Inner Fire: Living By the Holy Spirit”
To think that life’s issues will be solved in the blink of an eye when you receive the Holy Spirit would not be faith in grace, but faith in a magic trick. Grace does not mean that things happen on their own. Strength arises when we practice faith, hope, and love. It is easy to get emotional about grace and convince yourself that you are radical by taking large steps, but it is much more radical to change things in small, simple steps, moving unpretentiously. Large steps often get stuck in the planning stage, but little steps actually happen. … Grace does not replace the things of life but is active within them.
The Flight Attendant by Chris Bahjalian (Doubleday, 2018)
Naomi and I watched the HBO series as one of our many pandemic discoveries, and then we both read the book. A number of differences between the two, but both enjoyable. A thriller story about the titular flight attendant caught up in a murder mystery that crossed continents. Available at multiple retailers via Bahjalian's website.
Educated by Tara Westover (Random House, 2018)
Naomi read this book soon after its release and spent the last three years encouraging me to do the same, and I finally did. It is Westover’s memoir of growing up in a survivalist family in Idaho, with more than a few near-fatal accidents suffered by both her and her family members, and discovering the larger world, both literally and intellectually, through her university education. Available at multiple retailers via Westover's website..
Travel
Just one trip in April, a short two-day house-hunting visit to the Washington, D.C. area ahead of relocating there for my new job. I had a comfortable stay at the Hyatt Place Arlington/Courthouse Plaza, used some of my stockpile of American Airlines credits from pandemic-cancelled trips (and successfully leveraged American’s updated free same-day standby policy to get on an earlier flight), and had some time to wander around the National Mall and monuments. (And also successfully found our new home in Arlington!)
Cherry blossoms around the Washington Monument
