When I was considerably younger, I loved much of the music of Paul Simon (pictured here) and Art Garfunkel. I especially remember "Old Friends," which contains a line that says, "How terribly strange to be seventy."
Well, Paul Simon himself now is 70 and I myself am closer to that than I am to 60. How terribly strange
There always seemed to be something of a spiritual quality to Simon & Garfunkel's music -- and even to Paul's when he started making solo music.
So I was intrigued to discover this recent interview with Simon on the PBS show "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly."
As the interviewer points out, Simon came from a Jewish background, about which he says this:
"I was raised to a degree, enough to be, you know, bar-mitzvahed and have that much Jewish education, although I had no interest. None."
But his songs deal with God and angels and many other topics that interest people of faith. Here is Simon's view of God and the creation:
"How was all of this created? If the answer to that question is God created everything, there was a creator, than I say, great! What a great job. And I like the idea. I find it very, I don’t know, I find it comforting in some way. But if the answer to that is there is no God, I don’t feel like, well, what a jerk I’ve been. I feel, oh fine, so there’s another answer. I don’t know the answer. I’m just a speck of dust here for a nanosecond, and I’m very grateful."
Simon wasn't the only performer who took me to spiritual places last week. So did Shelby Lynne. I had barely heard of her before, but friends invited us to her concert at the Folly Theater in KC the other night. One of the songs she sang was "Jesus on a Greyhound."
I liked it a lot because it met at the intersection of Imagination, Deep Need and Hope.
Which, after all, is what much good music does, whether sacred or not.
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POPES ON THE GO
You've got to hand it to popes -- they decline in health and stamina, but they struggle on, as this analysis shows about Pope Bendict XVI. Perhaps the pertinent question is why so many of them seem to think they're so indispensible that they must keep on keeping on until they die. That's always seemed to me an indication of hubris and arrogance.
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