During COVID It's Easier to Travel in the 13th Century!
I have been hearing from parishioners, friends and family who have been checking in on me, just as I am checking in on them. Strangely, for me, during this time of "isolation" I have been more socially connected than is normally the case. The reduction in our busyness appears, at least for me, to be having a beneficial effect on relationships.
I am also finding it easier to find time to pray and to be nurtured by creative and heart-opening pursuits like listening to music.
Last night I listened to a number of recordings of music rooted in the 13th century. One, the product of a prolific musician, Jordi Saval and his group Hesperion XXI, presents, with thick book along with the CD's, a montage of the journeys of Ibn Battuta, an Islamic jurist who spent much of his life travelling the Muslim world and finding work in the various courts of local rulers. We could think of him as a kind of Muslim Marco Polo who was roughly contemporaneous.
At a time when travel is not the wisest thing to be doing, but also at a moment when we could not be more aware of the fact that we are connected to one another, this kind of virtual tour furnishes texture for the mind's eye. We see life in one another when we taste of its texture.
During his travels he produces a kind of diary of his journeys. In listening to some of the music it is clear that there is a kind of crossover of the voice and ears. Some of the chanting resembles Byzantine chant and even medieval Jewish liturgy in its tones and overtones, and emotional expression.
Just before listening to a good chunk of the first disc of this 2CD set, I listened to a disc by another group, Alia Musica, with Spanish Jewish liturgy on it. The title of the disc El Camino de Alia Musica and is a kind of sampler of this group on the Harmonia Mundi label. I can say I have heard many recreations of early music, but this is among the most heartfelt I have heard.
On my musical journey last night through the 13th century it was clear that people have learned how to live together and give full expression to their relationship with God. I hope one fruit of our present trials is that we pay attention to the life we are leading at a local and communal level and remember that this is what gives texture to life. The spin of reality that we accept so often is not what will bring peace. It is the steady and often hard work of people who make our human journey to God possible including especially those many many people on the front lines of this crisis. God bless, the nurses, doctors, researchers and government workers who are pulling together to tackle the issue.
The image of Pope Francis, praying and standing before an empty St. Peter's Square last Friday that somehow included all of us reminds us in our isolation that we are really together. May Christ, the Healer, give us hope and help us to allow His healing love into our lives. Amen.
I am also finding it easier to find time to pray and to be nurtured by creative and heart-opening pursuits like listening to music.
Last night I listened to a number of recordings of music rooted in the 13th century. One, the product of a prolific musician, Jordi Saval and his group Hesperion XXI, presents, with thick book along with the CD's, a montage of the journeys of Ibn Battuta, an Islamic jurist who spent much of his life travelling the Muslim world and finding work in the various courts of local rulers. We could think of him as a kind of Muslim Marco Polo who was roughly contemporaneous.
At a time when travel is not the wisest thing to be doing, but also at a moment when we could not be more aware of the fact that we are connected to one another, this kind of virtual tour furnishes texture for the mind's eye. We see life in one another when we taste of its texture.
Just before listening to a good chunk of the first disc of this 2CD set, I listened to a disc by another group, Alia Musica, with Spanish Jewish liturgy on it. The title of the disc El Camino de Alia Musica and is a kind of sampler of this group on the Harmonia Mundi label. I can say I have heard many recreations of early music, but this is among the most heartfelt I have heard.
The image of Pope Francis, praying and standing before an empty St. Peter's Square last Friday that somehow included all of us reminds us in our isolation that we are really together. May Christ, the Healer, give us hope and help us to allow His healing love into our lives. Amen.
