Creative Writing #21, The Concert and the Radio

Can the same sound have different sounds? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7to61_AK1zs

The band settles itself on the stage and the tuning begins—isolated sounds erupt into the air. The clarinet and oboe murmur some sultry tones as the trumpet blares briefly. The string instruments lazily harmonize and I fumble with my dress, pulling the black satin back over my stockingless knees. I tuck a stray hair behind my ear and flip through the program, trying to appear as sophisticated as the blasé crowd surrounding me. The music prepares itself. I prepare myself. Silence drops on the lounge and I glance up. Now, we are both ready. 

No niceties, no introductions. The music begins immediately and Bublé opens the night with Sinatra’s “Learning The Blues.” The brass—sassy and rhythmic. Somehow my heartbeat echoes its uneven staccatos. The piano—edgy and sparkling. My fingers dance on my knee, searching for the chords. The percussion—faithful and familiar. I don’t notice my left foot freely following along. Particles of sound touch everything. They are palpable, tangible. For once, melody materializes and tone actualizes. Sound takes on shape and density. It can be felt and heard. Each pitch hits me differently; each note takes on a distinct color. Puffs of it roll through the room, waves of it tumble across chairs, and streams of it rush over our limbs. The dandelion blare of the trumpet, the purple bop of the drum, the blush throb of the violin and the cobalt ding of the piano. 

****************************

The old truck rumbles along the gravel and I fiddle the rusty knobs on the radio, searching for something other than the news. There, finally—the jazz station. Grandpa refuses to fix the car. It’s too much of a “classic.” Midnight is fast approaching, but he needs a screwdriver from the Walmart ten miles down the road and “no time is better than now.” The radio static fades into “Learning The Blues.” My thumbs tap the steering-wheel rhythmically and I stare blankly at the blackness in front of me. A deer. I brake rapidly and my messy bun falls out and over my face. The trumpet squeals at this point and I sigh, fixing my hair as Bublé sings about “the nights when you don't sleep. . .” Gazing at the boxy mechanism emanating jazz music, I realize that the wavelengths have no effect. They are distant. They are the same. No colors, no textures. They are grey and lifeless--the sound coming out in even chunks rather than boisterous surges. Sameness in each consecutive melody, tone, note. It pleases the ear, but it does not captivate the soul. The song on the radio is only an echo of something past—a song already sung. It is the ghost of music and the afterlife of the musician. Bublé tells me “those blues” will haunt my memory. I smile knowingly and switch the radio off, content to listen to the soprano choir of cicadas, the tenor voice of the cool summer wind, and the percussion of the uneven gravel beneath me. 

The Church Fathers and 1984

The Church Fathers and 1984 

I finally read Orwell’s famous 1984 this semester for AP Lang/Comp. Although I did not find it particularly appealing, I cannot deny the genius of its author. Woven into the delicate paradoxes of the story are countless political, philosophical, ethical, relational, linguistic and metaphysical questions. . . .

Very early on in the novel, I encountered the Party’s official and incredibly paradoxical slogan inscribed on the white walls of the Ministry of Truth (minitru):

War is Peace

Freedom is Slavery

Ignorance is Strength

Up until this semester, my knowledge of 1984 was peripheral and limited. I came to it without any expectations or any preconceived notions. When I read the first maxim in this slogan (War is Peace), my initial “connection” was not one which associated the Party with our modern government or with another dystopian reality. Instead, I associated it with the writings of the early Church and Desert Fathers on passions and sin. In all honesty, evil totalitarian slogans and the writings of the Church Fathers do not even belong in the same sentence, but let me explain myself. . . .  

“Conflict is Control”

However, before I do that, let me give some context to the phrase, "War is Peace. . . ."

To begin, the maxim, “War is Peace,” has quite a few interpretations. In one sense, it can be interpreted to mean that constant external strife creates internal stability. War with something “outside” of a country inevitably creates unity within a country. In another sense, it can be interpreted to mean that people are united under a common enemy. The Party creates a sense of “revolution” to purge the old world and to usher in and establish the dynasty of Big Brother. The society’s common enemy is ideological: anything other than what Big Brother permits. Although it seems contradictory, this constant state of social turmoil becomes the social norm. The people define normality and stability—or “peace”—as continuous conflict. Lastly, Oceania (Europe) is always at war, so those born during the days of Big Brother do not remember a time without war. In essence, their idea of peace is equivalent with warfare. The two words take on the same semantic meaning. Warfare means normality and normality means peace. 

However, in all of these cases, “war” or “conflict” is a means of manipulative control. To accept this paradox of “War is Peace” is to accept the idea that war and peace are interdependent and inseparable. With war, comes peace and where peace is achieved, war has taken place or is taking place. In the context of 1984, the maxim “War is Peace” is more honestly translated as “Conflict is Control.”

For Further Reading: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/386688-the-war-therefore-if-we-judge-it-by-the-standards 

“Struggle is Salvation”

Now, I immediately thought of the Church Fathers when I read the words “War is Peace” because of their many teachings on the relationship between spiritual struggle and joy. In a way, they also believe that a kind of external strife creates internal stability. Many of them speak of how to achieve peace by warring with the passions—with sin. According to them, a man does not achieve peace only after warring with his passions, but he achieves peace and joy while warring with them.

St. John of Kronstadt says to “fight against them [the passions] valiantly and vigilantly unto your last breath, looking upon them as dreams of your imagination, as illusions of the spirits of evil.” 

Here, St. John establishes that we do, indeed, “war” against our passions. 

St. Anatoly of Optina writes: “Are you fighting against your passions? Fight, fight, and be good soldiers of Christ! Do not give in to evil and do not be carried away by the weakness of the flesh. During the time of temptation, flee to the Physician, crying out with the Holy Church, our mother: “O God, number me with the thief, the harlot, and the publican (i.e., with the repentant), and save me!”

Here, St. Anatoly also affirms that our interaction with sin should be one of struggle, wrestling, prayer and valiant spiritual effort. 

James 1:2-4 also says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Here, James, the brother of Jesus, concludes that trials and tests—the “wars” against sin—are indeed profitable. That they are meant to bring completeness and perfection. 

As the Party does in 1984, the Church Fathers also believe that “War is Peace.” However, what differentiates the two from each other is their understanding of war, of peace, and of humanity. With Big Brother's totalitarian government, war is unpleasant and unavoidable conflict, peace is stability and control, and humanity is without hope or goodness or consciousness. In the writings of the Church Fathers, war with sin is also an unpleasant and unavoidable conflict, but peace is freedom from passions and humanity has hope and the ability to wage a war which can, with God’s grace, be won. 

Creative Writing #20 - The Komboskini

Creative Writing #20 - The Komboskini

Α short piece I wrote for a scholarship application...slightly edited.

(Fr. Justinius, the αγιοταφιτης of Jacob's Well)

It all happened very quickly. I was standing next to the Well of Sychar in West Bank, Israel. A short little monk strained to slide something onto my tiny wrist. Before I could look down, he mumbled something in Greek—a blessing—and jovially tapped my head a few times. When I finally got my wits about me, I looked down. It was a small black bracelet. Many of the youth who visit him receive these bracelets—“komboskini,” as the Greeks call them. It was a common occurrence, but when it happened to me, I cried. 

There is nothing extravagant about it—just 72 tight knots. I know, because I’ve counted them during moments of writer’s block. It is simple, but why is it significant? 

He put it on my left hand. 

Traditionally, cultures elevate the right hand. Even now, blessings are given or received with it. The left hand—the “sinister” hand—is ignored in matters of importance. I'm left-handed. The monk had placed this “blessing” on my writing hand, not my right hand.

I am a writer and a lover of language. Words are what I do best. The gift he gave me blessed the physical source of all my writing: my left hand. 

Of course, the blessing did not magically transform me into an Emerson or an Aristotle. Instead, it reassured me that I was, indeed, on the right path. He broke tradition to show me that I needed to write... what will I write? what should I write? I don't know. I only know that in that tight little room beneath the main church, clouded with the sweet smells of incense and anointing oil, I realized that I must write... something, someday, somewhere, but I must write. 

~Εἰρήνη and Σιώπα, Day #2~

~Εἰρήνη and Σιώπα~

Although school usually gets in the way, today I actually went to bible study at Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church. The discussion was on the Gospel of Mark, specifically the fourth chapter. At the end, after Christ speaks about the parable of the mustard seed, the famous “calming of the seas” scene occurs. . .

There arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he (Christ) was in the hinder part of the ship, 

asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, 

Master, carest thou not that we perish?

And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, 

“Peace, be still.” 

And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. . .

(Mark 4:37-9)

In Greek, “Peace, be still” is “Σιώπα, πεφίμωσο (Siopa, pephimoso).” Siopa, as seen above, is translated as “peace.” And, yes, that is one translation of it. However, another more accurate translation of the word is “silence” or “hush.” It comes from a verb σιωπάω (siopao) which means “to be quiet, remain silent; to be calm, not agitated.”  It indicates a conscious or unconscious state of rest or peace. 

In essence, the command “Siopa!” means, “do not be restless!” The word itself defines peace apophatically—for what it is not. Peace is not restless.

Throughout the Bible, but especially throughout St. John Chrysostom’s liturgy, another word frequently repeats itself: “Εἰρήνη (Eereni)” or “Peace.” In comparison to Siopa, Eereni defines peace cataphatically—for what it is: “quietness and rest.”

It appears constantly throughout the petitions and litanies which the priest or deacon read before the Gospel during the Liturgy of the Catechumens. During this time, peace is a request. Either the priests or the priests and the congregation ask for peace. 

That is, until the Gospel. At the Gospel, everyone in the congregation stands and the priest says, “Wisdom! Arise! Let us hear the holy Gospel. Peace be to all!” This is one of the first times that eereni is no longer a supplication. It is a gift. It is here that the priest or deacon turns toward the congregation and says, “Εἰρήνη πᾶσι! Peace be to all!”

Why is this significant? It takes place directly before the Liturgy of the Faithful. 

And why is that placement significant? Because of Mark 4! 

(This is an old diagram I used for notes while studying Church architecture quite a few years back…) 

The area where the congregation sits is often called, in architectural and in theological terms, the “nave.” Coming from the latin word for “navis” or “ship,” a nave is simply the main body of a ship. Or, in the case of the Church, the area where the main body of Christ—the congregation—stays during liturgy. Many have said this terminology originated from how the architecture, especially the arch or roof, of the main body of the church resembled the stern and keel of a ship. 

Now if a three year old-boy heard such a thing, he would immediately say, “So the Church is like a ship!” And, us older people would chuckle and say, “It’s not that simple.”  The truth is, neither the three year-old or the adult is entirely right. It is a paradox. It is both that simple and not that simple.

When the disciples, fearing for their lives, woke Christ, He went out of the chamber in which He was sleeping and onto the dock, instructing the raging sea of Galilee to be silent, quiet, calm, and at rest. However, the real restlessness was not in the sea. It was in the hearts of the disciples. His purpose is twofold and one in the same. He meant to bring peace, but to both the sea and to the disciples. 

Similarly, when the priest, as an icon of Christ, turns toward the people before the Gospel and says, “Εἰρήνη πᾶσι! Peace be with you all!” he is doing as Christ did. He is bestowing peace upon the sea of the congregation and calming the rocking ship or, in this case, the tumultuous nave. He is calling for silence, peace, quietness, restfulness and contemplation of the work ahead. The congregation—about to embark into the Liturgy of the Faithful—is asked to lay aside the storms of their lives, all their “earthly cares.” 

“Liturgia” literally means the work of the people. However, work cannot be done when the people are in chaos, when a storm is brewing. When you come to Church, to liturgy, remember that you are safely in the nave and you are no longer in the storm.

Breadcrumb #2: Be at peace. 

(A big thanks to my amazing mother, Priscilla, who held an extensive discussion with me about this on the way back home from Bible study!) 

The Tree of Knowledge: Technology and the Millennial Generation

An essay I wrote yesterday for AP Lang/Comp... Would you agree? Disagree?

The Tree of Knowledge: Technology and the Millennial Generation

            In the beginning, Adam and Eve had a choice: they could eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and have seemingly unlimited knowledge at their fingertips or they could obey God and live without the burden that the knowledge would bring them. In today’s world, people have a choice to open their laptops with a snazzy half-bitten apple on the back and bask in a tsunami of information, eventually drowning in its magnitude—unable to manage or use it correctly. Or, they could take this “tree” of knowledge and use it for the better, knowing when to eat of its fruits and when to abstain. The firstlings of this world and the “millennials” hold something in common with the rest of humanity: a desire for knowledge, but a knack for misusing it. In the digital age, technology is lauded because of its great accomplishments: the computer, sending man to the moon, revolutionary medical advances. Yet, with the influx of technology, the millennial generation seems to fall a step short: lacking depth, simplicity and, in many ways, self-control. Although technology itself is not responsible for the increased ignorance and inabilities of millennials, the misuse of technology is responsible for the disintegration of this generation, revealing the effects that a tool can have in the hands of the untrained or undiscerning.

            Like any tool, technology is a double-edged sword—it can cut both ways: to destroy the mind or to assist it. It is a neutral tool bereft of moral value. Some say, with the advent of Artificial Intelligence, that technology will eventually develop its own moral intelligence based upon logic and reason. Others believe that something created by humans will always remain in the control of humans—subject to their moral integrity or lack thereof. Yet, in the context of technology’s neutral essence, neither opinion is entirely correct. A lifeless tool can be used and still affect the life of its user. However, assuming that technology itself is the cause of the millennial’s plight is not only a post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy, but it fails to dig deeper and see the real cause. The tool affects the life of the user, but the use of the tool is where the effect begins. In his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?,” Nicholas Carr wrestles with this paradox between a tool’s neutrality and its positive or negative effect on the human mind. He believes that media not only “supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought (Carr 168).” In its gravity, technology tempts him, but in the end, he is the one who gives in, puddle-jumping from link to link unaware that his focus is floundering. It is the not-so-age-old story of “I’m just going to check my email” and the next two hours are spent playing hopscotch on Pinterest, Facebook, or news articles. A knife is meant to cut, but it is used for both murder and cuisine. Technology is meant to provide information and service, but how do people use it?

            Within an increasingly globalized world, technology has been used for multiple purposes—academia, security, exploration, etc.—but, do its uses outweigh its misuses? In the most positive sense, technology has helped improve life in the areas of general efficiency, personal comfort and information availability. Thanks to it, some of the most grueling tasks are now automated, home life is easier with the advent of the microwave and internet, and very few need a library to find source materials. Surprisingly, people write more now than ever before, according to Clive Thompson, who says that the Generation Y’s encounters with multiple interfaces of language and rhetoric have given them an incredible sense of kairos—“assessing their audience and adapting their technique to best get their point across (Thompson 173).” A popular media theorist, Steven Johnson, even tells the Discover magazine that the millennial generation has become a “regime of competence,” due to the gaming craze that has taught them to navigate, manage and master countless variables (Johnson 172). However, people like Mark Bauerlein passionately disagree that technology has created the new and improved Critical Thinking 2.0, saying that “the mental equipment of the young falls short of their media (Bauerlein 168).” Despite its numerous and helpful applications, a use of technology has ushered in a neglect of other tools. Informational abundance is simultaneously a famine of knowledge and skill. To quote a Pew survey, “56 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds possessed low knowledge levels, while only 22 percent of 50-to-60-year-olds did (Bauerlein 168).” The traditional pillars of acquired knowledge—philosophy and politics, trades and tradition, writing and history—have been discarded, leaving a culture that, as each day passes, moves toward a shallow future, only to forget a rich past.

            The use of technology itself is altering how people have functioned for thousands of years—the lines between perception and reality are blurred, the differences between speed and quality are becoming greater, and the definitions of knowledge and ignorance are skewed. There will always be those who use power (in this case, technology) to prey upon the weak, the ignorant and the vulnerable. But, the true danger of technology rests in people using it without awareness or without approaching it correctly. As the cartoonist Roz Chaste demonstrates in her 2010 cover of The New Yorker, the generation’s focus has shifted and thus their focus is slowly deteriorating (Chaste 174). The perception of social media is not the reality of the world. The speed of internet research does not match the quality of a contemplative walk outside. Convenient knowledge has become an addiction, yet ignorance spreads without temperance. Modern surveillance is unparalleled and yet crime is still rampant. Humanity is creeping toward a second Tower of Babel as globalization creates homogeneity. Pleasure is often overwhelming without a mature understanding of it. For example, a toddler does not understand the consequences of eating his entire birthday cake. Similarly, this generation, when encountered with the novelty of modern technology, is not aware of the consequences of its use and is not capable of using it correctly, without another “tool” or set of “values.” 

            In the end, the millennial generation is drowning because they do not know how to swim in a sea of knowledge. This sea of knowledge—of technology—is innocent, without moral value or conviction. Its tide will rise and fall and it will continue to be the source of life for new ideas, creations, and advances. But, biologically, a human cannot drink from the sea—from salt water—and still live. He must either know that he cannot drink it or he must know how to remove the salt. Similarly, the millennial generation cannot live on technology, but they are unaware that depending on it solely will be to their destruction unless they learn to discern what is and what is not. They have bitten into the apple—eaten the fruit from Tree of Knowledge—but the question is: how will they use it? 

Works Cited

Bauerlein, Mark. The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and

Jeopardizes Our Future (or, Don't Trust Anyone under 30). New York: Tarcher/Penguin, 2008. N. pag. Print.

Chast, Roz. "Shelved." New Yorker 18 Oct. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Carr, Nicolas."Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Atlantic 1 July 2008: n. pag. Atlantic. Atlantic

Monthly Group, Web. 21 Sept. 2014.

Johnson, Steven. "Your Brain on Video Games." Discover 24 July 2005: n. pag. Discover.

Kalmbach Publishing. Web. 21 Sept. 2014.Chast, Roz. "Shelved." New Yorker 18 Oct. 2010: n. pag. Print.

Thompson, Clive. "The New Literacy." Wired. Wired, 24 Aug. 2009. Web. 21 Sept. 2014.

The Creed and the Afterfeast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord (Trisagion Films)

Today marks the official end of the after feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord... See my article on this after feast on the Trisagion Films website! 

 The Creed and the Afterfeast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord: 

http://trisagionfilms.com/2014/08/11/creedtransfigure/

Pilgrimage to the Church of St. George in Lydda (Trisagion Films)

This year, I went on a pilgrimage to Israel and Cyprus with 38 other people. This is an article on one of our stops... The Church of St. George in Lydda. Check it out on Trisagion Films! 

Pilgrimage to the Church of St. George in Lydda: 

http://trisagionfilms.com/2014/07/31/st-george-in-lydda/