Laurie Klein, Scribe

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Sustain

by Laurie Klein 27 Chiming In

Sustain

sustain the music

Beeline with me to the solarium: weathered brick, hardwood. An echo chamber.

One whole room for a lonesome grand piano.

And you.

(Not musical? Immaterial. Welcome to Daydream Central.)

The lid, when raised, tilts like a raven’s wing. Ivories glow. Go on, ease onto the bench. Limber your hands. Now . . .

Pick a note, any note. And depress the sustain—that rightmost pedal‚ outlined in gold.

Sustain captures the sound of each key we touch, moving the dampers away from the strings, letting them ring and ring until the final vibration recedes into silence. With each struck note all the strings sympathetically vibrate.

Sustain blends and extends sound (and time) beyond what fingers can humanly reach in a given moment.

And sustain responds to our singular touch.

George Bernard Shaw once said, “Most people go to their grave with their music inside them.”

BUT you—yes you—are already a psalm of water that shivers with light.

“Notes all, we ring, sustained, vibrating forever.
All of everything is a symphony,
and no created thing has ever heard the fullness of it.”*

Poet/theologian Paul J. Pastor wrote those words. Creating a litany of evidence in response seems fitting.

Maestro of All, I have heard You . . .

… in the riff of a robin, the bubbling anthems of quail

… in autumn wind, and the patter of leaves

… in the faithful hum as the furnace kicks on in the dark

… in the welcoming mirth of dogs

… in my granddaughter’s version of “God Bless America” . . . dad that I love; stand beside her, in a diaper . . .

… in my father’s “Well done”; my mother’s “You’re home!”; my quiet sibling’s “I forgive you”

… in the poems of Susan Cowger

… in that hollow, answering thump of a warm, yeasty loaf

… in the predawn gargle of roosters in rural Thailand

… in the holy hush of former East Germans, after sharing aloud in a group without fear of reprisal

Dear Maestro, we listen as numberless sounds blend, sustained by grace, underscoring our lives.

The litany never ends. How will you sustain it?

Friends, will you chime in with a new line?

Shelf Life, a memory

You might also like this from the archives: Shelf Life: First Edition

Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash

Photo by Ebuen Clemente Jr on Unsplash

*Paul J. Pastor’s book, The Face of the Deep, inspired this post. He enumerated places he has seen glimpses of God. What if we list inspiring instances of taste? Touch? Scent? Will you try your own litany?

Filed Under: Immersions Tagged With: grand piano, litany, Maestro, music, notes, sustain, symphony November 7, 2022

Table Talk Springboard for Holiday Feast

by Laurie Klein 4 Chiming In

Table Talk refers to informal conversations over a meal (or a card game, as a friend reminded me yesterday.) In this week of cornucopias, restaurant groaning boards, and home-cooked feasts, here’s a litany you could use for Grace as you gather, one voice (or several) reading the bullet points, the rest chiming in on the bold font (should you feel so inKleined).

(With thanks to woodworkers and fly fisher-folk everywhere, theologian Leonard Sweet, and author Norman Maclean who also said “All good things—trout as well as eternal salvation—come by grace.”)

 

ALL READ: “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood, and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some rocks are the timeless raindrops, under the rocks are words and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters…”                           —Norman Maclean

LEADER: Eventually, all things do merge into One, and God’s Table runs through it. The first table was conceived by Grace for those in the Garden, extending invisibly across this earth from the timeless, hovering presence, long before there were clocks, and long after their voices shall cease.

ALL: “All good things—[time] as well as eternal salvation—come by grace.”

+++

LEADER:

  • We remember this day the Periodic Table of the Elements and give thanks for earth’s bounty.
  • We remember the multiplication tables, and the multiplied loaves and fishes.
  • We remember every table of contents in every book that has helped us find our way.

ALL: “All good things—[provision] as well as eternal salvation—come by grace.”

+++

LEADER:

  • We remember “Wisdom has also set her table” and choose to feast there.
  • We remember the Psalmist’s table, prepared by God—in full view of his foes.
  • We remember “It is not the one who reclines at table who is greatest, but the one who serves.”

ALL: “All good things—[wisdom] as well as eternal salvation—come by grace.”

+++

LEADER:

  • We remember Martha arraying her table for Christ.
  • We remember the cagey Canaanite woman, who argued “Even the dogs feast on the crumbs from the Master’s table.”
  • We remember the worried mother, at Cana. The Son who was willing to help. The first miracle, the wine steward’s awe, and all those oblivious, hungry, half-sloshed guests … who like so many today—ourselves included—show up for the food.

“All good things—[hopefulness] as well as eternal salvation—come by grace.”

+++

LEADER:

  • We remember the tables turned over in anger by Christ in the Temple.

“All good things—[those actions we understand and those that perplex us] as well as eternal salvation—come by grace.”

+++

LEADER:

  • We remember the woman who anointed our Savior, reclining at table.
  • We remember the meal at Emmaus, Jesus recognized in the breaking of bread.
  • We remember Christ at his last earthly table, the wine and bread: blessed. Broken.

“All good things—[reconciliation] as well as eternal salvation—come by grace.”

+++

LEADER:

  • We anticipate the forthcoming Marriage Supper of the Lamb, all of us together, feasting in God’s promised kingdom . . .

ALL: Because eventually, all things merge into One, and a table runs through it. From the first meal in the Garden … through this moment we share … until well beyond what we mean by forever, we are haunted by Love …

Amen

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You might also enjoy … Amazing Grace: Cyber-refresh
Waiting Grace, Hearts on Ice
Gratitude: Develop, Break Free, Generate Life

 

 

Filed Under: Springboards Tagged With: feast, grace, litany, multiplication, table talk November 21, 2017

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