Monday music appreciation #32: That saxophone

Sometimes I come home from my ushering shift at the Winspear Centre for Music with a new piece of music I have to hear a second time... and share with you.

This time it's the first movement of Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, simply because of a gorgeous central section that gives the saxophone an interesting solo line that seems to be surrounded by lilting "birdsong" from other woodwinds. It made my heart feel a longing I couldn't name... before it moved into more exciting fanfares and a hymn-like ending (with birds seemingly singing along again). At least, that's how it sounded to me.

The entire three movements amazed me, but I'm just leaving the first here for you. Enjoy!

Sunday reflection: a conversation with the Trinity

A triple daffodil?

Okay, 

You Three,

what do you want from me?

Creator,

help me to see.

Beloved child, 

you know that I am with you

in all that surrounds you.

Only open 

your eyes

and your heart.

Brother Jesus,

walk along with me.

Beloved friend,

I am with you always,

even to the end of the age.

Hold my hand.

Beautiful Spirit,

let me rest, 

rejoice,

and trust in you.

Beloved one,

set down your burdens

and let me lift your heart.

Know that, 

in doing so, 

you will 
bear my fruits...

I, 

we, 

all three, 

are here now.

Join the circle of our embrace.

What more do you need?

Amen, 

you three,

I need nothing but you.

+Amen.

An update on homelessness

I've been really disheartened lately, and I'm not the only one. Here's why.

Since encampments for the homeless have been eradicated from downtown Edmonton, the homeless population has spread out through ravines and neighbourhoods, looking for places where they can live in peace. (Emergency shelters are not peaceful.)

FENCES AIN'T GONNA FIX HOMELESSNESS
-- a sign on the fencing erected where the last encampment was demolished in January

There is no peace for homeless people, because as soon as they find a corner where they can settle in what feels like safety with their loved ones, bylaw officers and clean up crews show up to displace them yet again and try to force them back into shelters. 

On Tuesday morning, officials were clearing the streets near the Bissell Centre by harrassing people who were sleeping on the sidewalks (they prefer that to the shelters, which says a lot). And a friend of mine reported seeing police tearing a blanket away from a fellow trying to stay warm in a transit shelter near the mall closest to where I live. I guess blankets are considered "temporary shelters" now, though had I been there, I would have been tempted to gently remind the officers that taking blankets away from people amounts to theft.

The Edmonton Police Service motto is Integrity, Courage and Community. I wonder how many of the officers are disheartened by what they are being forced to do to dismantle small communities of people who have no reliable places to live?

Other things have been taken away from the homeless, too. The Bissell Centre's drop-in space -- where many homeless people who are forced to leave shelters for the day were able to spend time doing laundry, taking a shower, receiving help, or having a meal -- has been cut to the bare bone. Forty-five staff members lost their jobs, and six hundred meals served there each day have vanished. 

The space that used to hold two hundred folks at any given time of day now serves only thirty at a time because there aren't enough staff to keep things running for people in need. The line up outside never ends, and people at the end of the line don't make it through the doors because hours have been reduced too.

Things are only getting worse and worse. The tents in the area have mostly disappeared in accordance with the city and province's "out of sight, out of mind" efforts to deal with homelessness by dismantling encampments, but the need is greater than ever. 

Pastor Quinn and I set up our table with socks, underwear, toiletries and snacks on Tuesday with four bags of supplies to pass out -- and everything was gone within fifteen minutes. Our two hundred Sunday lunches offered by faith groups who support Inner City Pastoral Ministry used to be given away in about forty-five minutes, but now it's more like fifteen, twenty if we're lucky. 

And what really breaks my heart is how many people are dying. In 2017, there were thirty deaths related to homelessness in Edmonton. Last year, we had a memorial service for one hundred and fifty-six people who died of causes connected to homelessness. Once again this year, the Edmonton Coalition On Housing and Homelessness is planning a service -- for at least three hundred, likely more. From thirty to three hundred in only seven years! It's absolutely horrifying.

All of this is hard to witness, but it's necessary to do so. The lives of these people who live on Edmonton's streets are just as important as my life. Ignoring them does all of humanity a disservice. We will never be whole until all are cared for.

If you are able, please join us for the annual Homeless Memorial on June 6, 1 pm, at the foot of the CN Tower across from City Hall. The lives of more than 300 people will be honoured, and perhaps it will be the start of a grass roots movement for change.

We can only hope.

Exchanging dandelions for clover

This year's tulips

Some years ago, I was told that dandelions are essential plants that help pollinators survive early in the spring, and that it was better to leave them for the many varieties of bees that come out of hibernation looking for food. 

And so, I've written many moodlings about learning to like dandelions for the bees' sake. I happily ignored the dandelions on my grassy boulevard as it seemed a losing battle anyway (though I still dig them out of my perennial beds). I live across the street from a small area park that turns yellow every spring, and blows seed into my yard.

But this year, the Edmonton Horticultural Society webpage was abuzz with the news that dandelion pollen offers very little nutrition to bees, who much prefer the early violas and flowering trees and shrubs that I have in abundance in my yard. The EHS experts explained that, contrary to earlier knowledge, dandelions offer nothing of value when it comes to breaking up compacted soil or adding nutrients, either.

So, dear readers, you can ignore all my previous dandelion moodlings (though I still like the cheerfulness of those bright yellow flowers) because, well, I was wrong on many counts (as were many other people). It's good to admit my mistakes!

When I mentioned my mistake and my decision to reduce my dandelion crop to my neighbour, Wendy, she offered me a bag of white clover seed that I was delighted to receive. So for the past week or so, I've been digging dandelions and planting clover in the space they occupied. The effort has been wreaking havoc with my carpal tunnel, but it's very satisfying to pull up those long roots and imagine bees enjoying clover flowers instead. 

While I was digging today, I met a passerby who said that she had planted clover last summer, and it was doing well. It's often softer and greener than grass, and I remember our little dog loving to roll in it!

And... There's nothing like honey that comes from fields of clover! Besides, if I really want more dandelion jelly, I can always visit the park across the street...

Breathe in us, Holy Spirit

Because I'm in the thick of garden work these days, I didn't get to my computer yesterday to post something for Monday Music Appreciation. I also missed marking the Feast of Pentecost on Sunday, which is my favourite Christian celebration of the year. So you could call today's moodling a Pentecost music appreciation.

Over the years, my relationship with God has undergone different phases. As a child who loved her dad deeply (still do), I had no problem appreciating God as Father. In my teen years, I spent a lot of time with a youth group connected to a retreat movement for youth known as Christ our Light, and while there, I really fell in love with Jesus. 

But as an adult entering into my senior years (I enter my 60th year on Thursday) and connecting more and more with Indigenous spirituality, my prayer now leans toward Creator, the creative and Holy Spirit who enlivens everything in the cosmos. And in the face of all the war in our world, of divisive politics, of the lack of understanding and empathy for those living in poverty or with addictions, of the unforgiveness that exists in society and even within families these days, all I can say is

Breathe in us, Holy Spirit.

When I first heard this music in October of 2016, I was sitting on the floor in the Church of Reconciliation in Taizé, France, and I experienced a major case of goosebumps. Being with several hundred young people in a spirit of deep prayer, it was easy to believe that the Spirit was breathing in us. 

Since then, sometimes, when I'm feeling overwhelmed and hopeless, I return to this song and beg the Spirit to help us to help our world to find the common ground that will bring us into compassion for -- and communion with -- all those who are offered judgment instead of love.

Breathe in us, Holy Spirit.

The cadence of the chant is like gentle breathing, and the many languages evoke the Spirit of Pentecost's multilingual celebration. On Sunday evening, our Taizé group prayed this prayer. As Pentecost lasts for 50 days, I invite you to pray it with me here whenever you like. 

Breathe in us, Holy Spirit.

Monday Music Appreciation #31: A catchy dance tune

This week's music appreciation is actually a video from 2021's remake of West Side Story, a movie I completely missed (thanks, covid). It came to my attention through the Symphony for Kids at the Winspear last week, M is for Music, as (I Like to Be in) America was used as the piece to introduce all the different sections of the orchestra -- brass, woodwinds, strings and percussion. It's a wonderful, lively tune, and it made me wish I was up on stage dancing with the lead performer because she was clearly having a marvellous time! America was written by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

The original movie (1961) featured a feisty Rita Moreno as the lead singer/dancer in a dark back-street-like studio, all in one piece and faithful to the story, but I like Ariana DeBose's version from 2021 even better because of all the sunlit street dancing (which doesn't actually jive with the timeline for the Broadway play). I think I'm going to see if I can find and watch both movies, just because my life could use a musical right now. 

Enjoy!

A Mother's Day Prayer

Creator,

thank you

for the many gifts and blessings

you have given.

We praise you for the beauty 

of the universe,

and this planet

which holds us 

in existence,

goodness,

and steadfastness

though sometimes we don't deserve it.

We praise you for the gift of love

that gave each of us a mother

who gave us life with your help.

We pray for all mothers

who have birthed your children,

especially those 

who are struggling in any way.

We pray for heartbroken mothers

who don't know where their children are.

We pray for heartbroken children

who don't know where their mothers are.

We pray for children 

estranged from their mothers

or whose mothers have died.

We pray for mothers 

estranged from their children,

or whose children have died.

We pray for mothers and children 

caught in dangerous places, 

that they may find refuge and peace.

We pray for new mothers

and great grandmothers 

and all mothers in between.

We pray for all those 

who have mothering hearts,

for all good women 

who mother 

those who need 

extra special care.

And we give thanks,

Creator,

for your mothering heart,

who gives us mothers

who love us 

and are loved by us.

+Amen.

Happy May!

May is my favourite month of the year. It's always been special for me because of Mother's Day and my birthday, but those fade into the background when flowers bloom and trees put out leaves and Spring abounds!

It's also a busy time, made busier these days by wonderful educational concerts at work (if you know any young families who might be interested, M is for Music is a wonderful show written and performed by a former Edmontonian and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra this weekend), and planting starting in earnest. So far I've planted onions, Lee put in potatoes, and there's lettuce, arugula, spinach and garlic poking up. And today I moved my tomato and pepper plants outside into our covered garden box, where I hope they can stay until they are properly planted (though if the temperatures dip, I'll be sure to bring them back into the greenhouse -- I learned my lesson two years ago when I put things in before the May full moon and lost 40 tomato babies!) 

Here are the tomato plants... and other things in the yard just starting to bloom. Happy May!

Scilla, true blue

Tulipa

A few crocuses that the jackrabbit didn't eat...

and violas all over the place!

Happy Spring!

Monday Music Appreciation #30: The Unfinished Symphony

After getting my first university degree, I took a gap year to travel with an international, educational and cultural group of young people known as Up With People. My 100+ castmates and I toured through the US, Eastern Canada, and Western Europe performing a musical revue-type show known as Time for the Music, which featured a song called Unfinished World. It borrowed a musical motif from Schubert's Unfinished Symphony that still gives me goosebumps. 

Schubert's orchestral work was one that he wrote as an "audition" of sorts, and it was set aside for other compositions. He had no way of knowing that he would only live another 6 years. 

Then his score was forgotten in another musician's cupboard for 43 years before "premiering" in Vienna. It is far superior to the 80s rock-ballad that we were singing in Time for the Music. Still, it reminds me of a time of youthful exuberance, so I was delighted to hear it twice while ushering at the Winspear Centre for Music last week. 

The Unfinished (Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D759) has two parts, but I'll just leave the Allegro moderato here. The melody that starts at about a minute and a half into the piece and is thrown back and forth among the different stringed and wind instruments several times fills me with joy every time I hear it.

Who am I kidding -- the whole piece does!

Enjoy!