the resistance

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I recently returned to a piece of music I've admired since Jr. High. There, among my cassettes of Nirvana and the Doors, was a recording of Carmina Burana. Now, years later, I've started listening to it and watching it with (son) Eli on YouTube. The lyrics are in Latin, so I found them with an English translation to read along with as we listen.

Then I started reading about Carl Orff, the composer. He wrote Carmina during the second World War in Nazi Germany. There are some critics who question his association with the Nazi regime. Further reading led me to find he had contact with members of the White Rose Resistance and that one of the characters in his works may have been inspired by Sophie Scholl, an active member in that resistance group.

I mentioned my rediscovery of Carmina to my analyst and he told me he was a fan, too. Then he relayed a story about Diedrich Bonhoeffer hearing Carmina Burana being played over a radio while he was a prisoner in a concentration camp, and it gave him hope.

I am not writing this to reveal a conclusion I've drawn from this brief journey that began with finding music I've been fascinated with for years, but to share this bizarre journey of discovery I am still following. I've watched Sophie Scholl, the movie, and while I have found my copy of Diedrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship to read, I will probably also watch a movie about Bonhoeffer's life.

Then the why question begins to nag at me: Why am I stumbling into all of this now? Again, no conclusions to share, just the joy of discovery, and the riches that come from curiosity. I am reminded of a recommendation made in the book The War of Art: when you discover an artist (or piece of music) you find out as much as you can about that, then find three people who inspire that artist, and go learn about them. Follow the trail, and see where it leads.

As I listen to Carmina, and reflect on my own writing, art, and music, I wonder about Orff, Scholl, and Bonhoeffer. I am grateful to be remembering them as I wonder if their work in the world is complete, and I hope to take some inspiration from them as I continue my own journey.

Comments

  1. Mtr. Beverly PattersonSeptember 30, 2016 at 12:14 PM

    Their work is not done and will not be done as long as people still reflect on their creative expressions. Bonhoeffer absorbed my life about two years ago for about 6 months. Why, I think I needed to be reminded that the cost of discipleship is worth it and that my sacrifices are really not so big as I like to think they are.

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