Pamela Richards's Blog, page 8

Steps Taken in Faith at Revelation Ranch!

Steps taken in faith lead to results in God's time. . . framing of the new barn begins tomorrow!  Step by step, the feet of faith carry us forward!  Bring your hands and feet to Revelation Ranch.  Your help will be gratefully accepted. 

Much obliged,
Your friends at Revelation Ranch.

Merry Christmas from Appalachia

This video was made with the gorgeous photography of Larry Henry taken in the foothills of Appalachia, to the outstanding musical accompaniment of Kyle Meadows on hammered dulcimer. 
Merry Christmas, guys!

A New Page About Rich Mullins

November was dedicated to making progress on Walk Through the Valley.   I haven't made it through that valley yet, but I'm taking it one step at a time. . .  

This month, I'm catching up on a few things I'd promised to do and haven't gotten to yet! 

I've just added a new page to the website which is s short bio of Rich Mullins.  If you have any suggestions for items to include, send me a line here!  I'll be glad to hear from you. Send a line! Name * First Last Email * Comment * Submit

Ted Yoder's Carol of the Bells

Christmas greetings from my friend Ted Yoder!  Love this carol, Ted!  www.tedyoder.com

Musical Medicine

It's nothing new; it's at least as old as David playing his lyre for poor mad Saul in ancient Israel.  It's not surprising then, to find that the ancient Greeks also used music as medicine.  Romans were the mighty military force in the time of Christ, but because of their admiration of all things Greek, the Romans took Greek culture right along with them on those miles and miles of  roads they built. 

Greek musical medicine was centered on the four elements: air, water, fire and earth.  Chronic health problems were said to originate in an imbalance of these elements.  Too little or two much of any element (or humour, but I'll stick with element--less confusing!) was said to create a state of dis-ease.  With four elements and two ways to be imbalanced, there were eight states of disease recognized in this system of medicine.  Greek music consciously used eight modes, or prescribed combinations or intervals of notes included in a tune, to address disease.  The purpose of music in these medical modes was  either to increase or decrease the element which was out of balance.

Whatever we think of this medical practice, the early Church thought highly enough of  it to adopt the therapeutic modes for use in their music, renaming them Church Mode I, II, III, and so on.*  The Gregorian chants were all built on these modes, and the  mass and the liturgy rotated through the modes and were designed in a sense to offer healing to hearers. 

*If you like to use multi-syllabic words that are largely obscure except to certain musicians, the Greek names of the modes are Dorian, Lydian, Phrygian, and Mixolydian--each intended to increase one of the elements. Their companion modes are meant to decrease one of each of the elements: Hypodorian, Hypolydian, Hypophrygian, and Hypomixolydian.

Walk Through the Valley: Introduction

Introduction to Walk Through the Valley

This book is a brief discussion of the ethics of the Beatitudes as Rich Mullins introduced them to me.  I wouldn’t blame you if you laughed to think of the Beatitudes as ethics in the rational sense of law and order.  The order of the Beatitudes is the order of diminishment, of foolishness, of extremes, of passionate wild abandon to righteousness. No human government would dare enact laws like these.  Yet they are able to produce profound shifts of internal attitude by allowing us each to see our human predicament through God’s eyes.

The Beatitudes Richard Mullins showed me went beyond a system of ethics; they were both a remedy to heal the broken soul and a blueprint to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

 Richard and I became friends on our first day as freshmen at the Cincinnati Bible College in 1974.  It is my intention here to write about Richard, not for him.  I’ll never claim to be a perfect Christian, but it was because of my friendship with Richard that I fell in love with Jesus Christ.  I would be surprised if readers found anything astonishingly new in this work.  Richard loved to hear and tell the old story.  My hope is simply to show readers Jesus as I saw him reflected in Richard’s eyes.          

Richard had a restless energy, but an even larger and more expansive spirit. During many conversations through the years, I learned that Richard found the dichotomy between mind and spirit a fascinating puzzle--and sometimes a frustrating one.  In the mid-seventies, his insistence on coming to terms with the body versus spirit dilemma set off a frenzied burst of reading outside his classroom assignments during the hours he worked at the payout booth of the parking garage, and well on into the night.  Some claimed his insomnia was due to his habit of sleeping only on the carpeted concrete floor of his dorm room, and never in the comfort of his bed.  The topic never came up and I never asked, so I still don't know whether this eccentric sleeping arrangement was an attempt to emulate his hero, St. Francis of Assisi. 

But I had an opinion about his reading habits.  I believed his constant reading was likely due to his highly active mind; and his effort to love God with all his mind, soul, heart and strength. 

Celebrating the Attitude of Gratitude

The Beatitudes/The Canticle of the Sun

St. Francis was surely borrowing from imagery as ancient as King David's Psalms when he wrote his song of praise, the Canticle of the Sun.  In studying the Greek, there are some interesting parallels between the Beatitudes, declared by Christ in his sermon on the mount, (Matthew 5:3-12) and St. Francis' Canticle.   I used to think  the Beatitudes taught balance, or moderation.   More study changed my opinion: a closer reading reveals extremes, not balance, and passion--not passivity.  Brothers Wind and Fire and Sisters Water and Earth are also apparent in the Beatitudes, so here are the first four of Christ's Beatitudes juxtaposed with a section of the Canticle of St. Francis.   Christ  reveals here the spiritual effect of the lack of these four elements, while St. Francis celebrates their part in God's Creation.  The paraphrasing of the Beatitudes that I have rendered here is intended to incorporate some of the nuances of the Greek text.   Air, Water, Fire and Earth appear in the same order in both the Beatitudes and the Canticle--probably not coincidentally, the same order as in the Creation account in Genesis.    



BEATITUDE:  How enriched are those who pant and gasp for the breath of the spirit, for theirs are the vast winds of Heaven!

CANTICLE:  Be praised, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air, and clouds and storms, and all the weather, through which you give your creatures sustenance.

BEATITUDE:  How enriched are those who have watered their faces with tears, for they will be called to God's side!

CANTICLE:  Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.

BEATITUDE:  How enriched are those whose fever to acquire the stuff of earth has been quenched, for they will inherit the earth!

CANTICLE:  Be praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you brighten the night. He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong.

BEATITUDE:  How enriched are those who are famished and ravenous to fulfull righteousness, for they will be satisfied!

CANTICLE:   Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

What's Been Going On

Autumn is a season of transition, and so my writing, my activities, and the website  are also undergoing transition.   

Coming soon:  An update on Faith Works Weekend--I finally collected some much-treasured photos, despite having my hands far too full for cameras and various Facebook slowdowns.  A fantastic welcome from my dear friends in Letcher County won't soon be forgotten!  A certain three-year-old cowboy and his Deaf grandmother will be coming back with reinforcements, for sure!

Second, three books have already been sent on their way to thank participants in the website re-organization.  Still in the works:  a page devoted to introducing Rich Mullins to new visitors to the website.  Your ideas are most welcome.  Two more books are still up as thank-yous!  See the form on the post below to send your suggestions.

Third,  in case you missed it, a third book about Rich Mullins is in the works.   Singing from Silence is about feelings.  Walk Through the Valley is about healing.  The book on creativity, Let the Mountains Sing , is still in the works, but will be published later than I had originally anticipated.   

Fourth, for those of you who haven't heard, the new film about Rich Mullins has been titled, Ragamuffin.  It is expected to be released in Summer of 2013. 

Singing from Silence Giveaway Contest

In publishing Singing from Silence, one of my goals has been to introduce Rich Mullins' life and work to a larger audience.  The new blog on my website, Seeds Born to the Light,  is bringing in visitors who are new to Rich and his music.  I've been working on the design of the website lately, to make it simpler for them to find their way around.  Yes, I am aware there is room for improvement!  When I seek the blessing of poverty of spirit, I often find I have something to learn.  This is one of those times!  
 
During the month of November, I'd like to give away five paperback copies of Singing from Silence to readers who offer helpful suggestions about improving the web design of Candle to the Sun.  Together, let's make this a beautiful and friendly site!  To make it easy to contact me with your ideas and to keep your contact information private,  please use the form below to enter the giveaway.  I will be looking forward to hearing from you.  If you are one of the first five responders with a helpful suggestion, you will be recieving your copy of Singing from Silence in time to send it as a gift to a special someone who you'd like to introduce to Rich Mullins!       Submit Your Entry Here! Name * First Last Email * Comment * Submit

The Parhelion

I constantly watch the skies as I drive.  Often, I see a parhelion.  Sometimes called sundogs, these iridescent segments of rainbow flank the sun in the high clouds a certain latitude from the horizon.   

Most days, I'm the only person I know who sees them.  My children see them, but only when I'm in the car to point them out, and my passengers are always quick to instruct me to keep my eyes on the road.  They'll never be natural skywatchers like my father was.   They claim I see sun dogs only because no one but me looks into the sun.         

My father flew weather reconnaisance heading into a typhoon  during World War Two, and we always had in common our fascination with the skies.  Toward the end of his life, he struggled with dementia, but I urgently wanted to share the vision of a parhelion with him.  I'd call him when I spotted one, wherever I was, and ask him to look out the window.   The parhelion doesn't last very long.  Evanescent, ephemeral, a sun dog holds its short-lived candle to the sun.  My father, who  wasn't so steady on his feet by that time, couldn't get to the right place at the right time to see one.   He died before we shared that vision.   

My father learned in the Navy at age seventeen to toss a pinch of spilled salt over his shoulder to ward off bad luck.  One the other hand, he was one of the most rational, logical people I've ever known.  He couldn't believe what his eyes did not tell him about parhelia.  But all the reason in the world won't nullify the existence of a sun dog.  It doesn't matter how many people can't, don't, or won't see it--there it is. 

I was the one with the blessing--or from another point of veiw, the burden--of seeing sun dogs.   But now my father has the advantage over me.  A sun dog is only a sliver of the sky, and God's love is so much larger than all the heavens.  Now my father's vision is so much improved over mine.