WELCOME
This NOTEBOOK page has been created so I can easily post various things that I think might be of interest to folks who visit the site ... music I'm listening to, books I'm reading, movies to recommend, current events, etc. If I ever crash over the line into thudding self-importance, I trust you'll forgive me and check back from time-to-time anyway!
If some of what I write here spills over onto the DIALOGUE page, that's okay. But I didn't want to assume that everything that crosses my mind is worthy of further discussion!
Best regards.
Bob Bennett
Some of you who have known me for a long time probably know well that my very best and longest-standing friend in this world [in the non-Wife category, of course] is Dan Rupple. Dan is the founding member of the famous, some would say infamous, comedy team Isaac Air Freight. Among the many hyphens in Dan's multi-task-intensive job description: he is the president of the Christian Comedy Association, has founded his own company Seriously Funny Productions which keeps him busy with numerous projects in development for television as well as seminars given across the nation to encourage and equip churches to utilize the Arts as part of the church community. He teaches at Biola University, etc., etc. In other words, he does way too much stuff to list here! Anyway, from September 1987 to October 1989, Dan and I co-hosted a Monday-through-Friday talk show on KBRT called Mornings with Dan and Bob. The "long story" he alludes to below is essentially this: the station's owner Don Crawford had received an invitation to attend a major Media Address to be given by the Pope during his 1987 visit to Los Angeles. Mr. Crawford was unable to attend and somehow the invitations fell to us. We had only been on the air about a month and suddenly we were in the same room with an incredible array of the movers and shakers of Hollywood media. We had a small Marantz cassette recorder with us and after the Pope spoke we interviewed Phil Donahue, Ed Asner and a few others I can't quite remember. It was a pretty heady experience. But Dan had an even better story which I did not witness firsthand, but I certainly heard about later. Here's how he tells it: "During Pope John Paul II’s 1987 visit to Los Angeles, an invitation only audience of media leaders was assembled to hear the Pope’s admonishment to a who’s who of Hollywood power brokers. Don’t ask me how – it’s a long story – but my childhood friend Bob Bennett and I made it onto the invite list. After hearing the Pope’s profound and encouraging words addressing moral responsibility within the Hollywood ranks, the Pope begin to walk through the crowd, shaking hands all along the way. I immediately bolted towards the greeting line, wedging my way in between Charlton Heston and Bob Hope. Soon, the Pope approached my part of the line. He shook Mr. Heston’s hand, my hand, then Mr. Hope’s hand. I have always thought, as the Pope shook each of our hands, it must have crossed his mind – “I know Charlton Heston, I know Bob Hope…but who was the yahoo in the middle?” After an aging Bob Hope shook the Pope’s hand, he turned to me and quipped, “It can’t hurt.” I’m assuming he was building his case for entry to the eternal kingdom." Bob Bennett - Tuesday, April 05, 2005 at 15:14:39 (CDT) Last night I had a mostly unplanned and absolutely wonderful experience. For about the last five years or so, my dear friend and world-class Luthier Kevin Ryan has hosted an annual dinner gathering in his home for guitar makers and players ... always in conjunction with the National Association of Music Merchants (a.k.a. NAMM) trade show at the Anaheim Convention Center. Upon our arrival, Elena and I were pleased to find guitarist/composer extraordinaire Pierre Bensusan was there. My older brother Mike introduced me to Pierre's music probably over twenty years ago. I still have vinyl copies of Pierre's first few albums. Pierre is also a wonderful part of Elena's and my story when we began first dating in 1996. We went with Kevin and Barb Ryan along with Lou and Franny Bruno (Lou was the art director for all the graphics for the Small Graces CD). It was a local house concert and it was an utterly magical night for all of us. I met Pierre for the first time and had a chance to tell him "I'm glad you're not omnipresent, so the rest of us [musicians] can still have jobs!" Anyway, back to last night. Recently Kevin, in conjunction with Pierre, designed and built a new Ryan model called The Nightingale. There are truly no words to adequately describe this instrument. I've played a lot of music on my Mission model, but this is a whole 'nother thing. After dinner, Kevin asked me to play the song "The View from Here" for Pierre and the other guests. I got through that okay without any major mistakes and then Pierre began to play. What is so amazing about his music is not just his technical brilliance. There are a lot of fast guns out there. But the sheer musicality of his compositions and his renderings of them is breathtaking. At times like that, I always remember those great Paul Simon lines in "Duncan" where he sings "I was playing my guitar and lying underneath the stars / Just thanking the Lord for my fingers, for my fingers." And I kept thanking God for my ears to hear such music. He just kept playing ... some requests of older songs, a lot of newer material he's preparing to record soon. Finally, everyone drifted outside and Pierre played a bit for Kevin's video camera (incredibly, the only recording device within reach) a couple new songs that I'm going to attempt to write some lyrics to. What a thrilling thing that would be for me. Although it's impossible not to feel a little humbled and awed when this guy plays, ultimately it just made me so grateful to be able to have ears to hear (both physically and also to have some measure of understanding and appreciation for the high caliber of his art). As an aside, my friend Jim Earp (pictured in the Scrapbook "Enchiladas" entry) appears on a guitarists compilation CD with Pierre. Anyway, I wanted to post my enthusiasm for Pierre and his music ... whenever I get into discussions with people about players, Pierre's name will invariably come up (along with Phil Keaggy, Jim, Pat Metheny, the late Michael Hedges (who titled an early recorded song "Bensusan" in tribute). Pierre plays and composes as if he has forgotten it's "just a guitar" and the magnificent music that results is nothing less than a Godsend. Bob Bennett - Friday, January 16, 2004 at 13:18:52 (CST) After literally a year-and-a-half of procrastination, I've finally begun to work in earnest on the long-promised ASK BOB/FAQ part of the web site. Within a few days, I'll be sending Websmaster Craig some of my initial work. Knowing that I had already posted some thoughts online related to some the questions I've been getting, I've gone back to a couple of my old posts on the Bob Bennett Discussion Group, which is a part of Yahoo Groups. I reviewed something I wrote on June 5, 2003 and I thought I'd add it here as well. (To those who don't know all the lingo, CCM = Contemporary Christian Music.) Elsewhere on Yahoo Groups is "Jesus_Music" which is, as the name implies, about some of the original CCM made during the early Jesus Movement (generally considered to be from the late '60's to the late '70's, but I have no particular authority to back that up). There has been a lengthy thread developing concerning "Ministry Vs. Entertainment" that's been brewing and here (with a couple minor corrections) are some of my random thoughts on the subject. ------------------------------------- Hello. Well I can't say that I've read every word of every post on this subject, but I'm jumping into the fray anyway with the hope that I won't get sent to bed without my supper. I'll start by recounting my favorite illustration about "ministry versus entertainment". There are two guys sitting in the back of a church and there's a Christian rock band on the platform. And although the band is plainly sincere, the best that can be said about them musically speaking is that they're just _terrible_. And so the one guy turns to the other and says "Well, we must be getting ministered to because we're certainly _not_ being entertained!" I'm a parent. On one level, if my kids nailed two boards together and gave them to me for Father's Day, I'd tell them "This is great kids, thanks!" because their intention carries the day. But if my children are old enough and mature enough to ask me "Dad, what do you think of what we built?", I might then feel free to critique their construction. And handling such a critique is part of their operating in the humility to ask the question and to be ready for an honest answer. For me, I appreciate competency. Why should I expect both sincerity and competency from a guy who comes to build a wooden deck in my backyard and not expect a good measure of both from Christian musicians? The fact that God can and does use modestly gifted musicians is a grace and blessing to all. Where the rub can often come is when a person who can't carry a tune in a bucket wants to be Sandi Patti and can't quite understand why _you_ are not on board with that notion. I agree with Kevin Thomson that the CCM industry is in bad shape, but not for the reasons most commonly discussed. Of course the thing is rife with pitfalls because of commercialization. I'm still out there playing, singing and writing and I can't get arrested in CCM. Couldn't be further off the radar. (And being the cranky guy I am these days, I'm tempted to feel that I must be doing something right!) I cannot defend this chapter-and-verse. It's my opinion. But I think that an artist's first job is to communicate. First, foremost and always. Ministry is not the first consideration. Why would I say such a thing? Because despite our use of various terms related to "ministry" (I want to go into the ministry, those folks need to be ministered to, etc.), ministry is always the RESULT of an action. Ministry is the organic by-product of God-directed, heartfelt and, dare I say it, competent activity. This may seem like splitting hairs to some, but this "don't put the ministry-cart before the communication-horse" has prompted me to focus on my job as an artist/communicator with the assurance that although I have obvious responsibilities in presuming to do this work, the MINISTRY belongs to and is accomplished by the Spirit of God. Sometimes people who have an absolutely honest intention to minister in the arts fall into a trap of creating something that has a "lab food", "paint-by- numbers" feel. Just as country music has it's conventions and cliches (we're all just hard-working, Saturday-night-partyin', Sunday- church-goin', gunrack-in-the-Chevy-pick-up folks), so CCM has developed a set of creative conventions that are, like country music can sometimes be, shaped by the narrow expectations of both the audience and the gate-keepers of the genre that work in A&R [stands for Artists & Repertoire, a position at a record company that seeks to develop new artists and/or music] departments and program radio stations. My job is in the service of others, but my ministry involvement is to facilitate a situation where I can serve others with true, heartfelt, spiritual communication that has some connection to reality ... and trust that my faithfulness to that aspect of the job will allow the Spirit of God to move as He will. I make soundtrack music for a movie I am clearly not directing. I want ministry to occur (every Christian, by definition, is to serve in some capacity wherever they are planted), but my life has been a lot easier since I sorted my way through what my tasks are and, maybe more importantly, what they are not. The other danger that I see in CCM which is rarely spoken of is the idea that some artists appear to adopt: "God called me to do this and if you don't like me or my music, then you _can't_ be listening to Him." This is such a dangerous and counterproductive delusion. Although I think it can be effectively argued that our creativity can be an imitative act of God's own creativity (what form that takes, for better or for worse, is at our free-will discretion), not everything we do in response to a passionate stirring (whether Spirit- prompted or otherwise) makes effective art or is fit for public consumption or should somehow be exempted from constructively critical assessment. The marketing machinery has a tendency to portray artists as saints and heroes. Yet the deep dark secret of most musicians in the Church is that we try to be good at this thing we do for ninety minutes at a time, but the other 22 1/2 hours of the day are just as crazy as anyone else's life, maybe worse. If your work as an artist/communicator is sometimes within the orbit of the Church, you'll always feel the push and pull of people who will understand and misunderstand all at the same time. The money/business aspects to the deal will be vexing and tiresome for most of us. People counting the "Jesus mentions" in your lyrics while missing the whole point of the song ... it happens and it's no fun. BUT, there are those moments when someone tells you a song got them through a tough spot, where the music was still with them in the desert, where they felt less alone in the struggle of their Faith ... these are the things that ensure that my fire is still there to do this thing that I truly love. Whether people simply come for a night of music and to get in out of the cold or whether eternal consequences ensue, I am confident enough that I've given my best efforts to be as honest as I know how to be ... and I trust that where two or three are gathered (and with me that could be an accurate description of that night's head- count!), Jesus will be among us. I want to play and sing skillfully and I want Him to have His way in both the hearts _and_ minds of those who listen. Ministry versus entertainment? To me, it's a little like the question: "Did you ride the bus to school or pack your lunch?" It sounds like a legitimate question but for those of us who do both and won't get roped into an "either/or" answer, it's a dead horse that only occasionally needs to be beaten for old times' sake! Since e-mail and message boards are notorious for engendering imprecise communication, let me say that although I'm obviously kind of a wisenheimer, I'm mostly serious here and my monitor is not flame retardant! :-) Bob Bennett Bob Bennett - Monday, January 05, 2004 at 01:15:44 (CST) This past weekend, I attended and played at the wedding of Nathan and Danielle Rupple. Nathan is the oldest son of my lifelong best friend Dan Rupple. (You may remember Dan as one of the founding members of the comedy team Isaac Air Freight ). Anyway, the "kids" were having trouble deciding on a second song (I played Psalm 149:1-4 as the mothers were being seated), so I wrote this for them, taking Nathan's point of view. Although I've got about twenty-five years on him, I still could relate to what he was feeling (and promising) because of my own recent marriage to Elena. It occurred to me that it's likely many of the folks who have known me and listened to my music over these many years are probably old enough to have kids of their own who are getting married. So, watch these pages for more information on a "Have Bob Sing at Your Wedding" package we're be putting together. This could be a lot of fun for all! A WEDDING SONG Words & music by Bob Bennett © 2003 Bright Avenue Songs (ASCAP) So many lonely people Searching for another As we celebrate the miracle Of finding each other To marry our fortunes And share a common wage To write down our histories Upon the same page To write down our histories On the very same page As a child I remember How my father and my mother Smiled in times of trouble And held onto each other And passed a loving heritage Down to their firstborn son Now I offer you that love If you will be my only one I offer you my love Will you be my only one? For richer, for poorer In sickness and in health To spend our days remaining As priceless wealth Before God and this company I promise to be true All others left behind I am only meant for you There is no other one Because I only care for you Where two or more are gathered The Spirit of the Lord Attends to make this covenant A three-fold cord And as we each walk toward Him He draws us both in kind The two becoming one In heart and mind The two share as one In heart and mind And as Jesus did in Cana Turn the water into wine He's saved the best for last If you'll be mine The best is now before us If only you'll be mine The best is now before us If truly you'll be mine Bob Bennett - Thursday, August 07, 2003 at 13:57:45 (CDT) THE LOST COIN Bob Bennett © 2003 Bright Avenue Songs ASCAP (Written 6/13/00 -- Revised 9/16/00, 4/23/03) He knows his way around his money But he's bankrupt in his heart He can't feel the tearing fabric Of his marriage come apart A world-class collector Of the finer things in life The monograms of status The adoring trophy wife They live under the same roof In a house disguised as home Sometimes she sorts through his belongings And pretends she's not alone He's got this precious coin collection That he never lets her see She can't keep herself from thinking He loves this thing much more than me She hesitates, then carefully Retrieves the velvet case From the cubbyhole he likes to think Is a secret hiding place She runs her fingers round the edges Holds a coin inside her hand And feels the coldness of the metal Up against her wedding band Then it slips right through her fingers And rolls across the floor She could hear it for a moment But she can't see it anymore First she's down upon her hands and knees Then goes to get the broom She'll move every piece of furniture And sweep throughout room Out of nowhere comes an ancient thought And a sense of deja vu A lesson taught in Sunday School Begins to filter through There was that certain parable And she begins to wonder why Her life is like this coin she's lost Then she begins to cry For now she sees it in the corner Like a little speck of light She hides the coin away again And when he comes home tonight She will share this tiny miracle And remind him of their love And that lost things can be found again If you just look hard enough Bob Bennett - Wednesday, July 09, 2003 at 12:50:49 (CDT) Friday, June 13, 2003 It's been a month since the official start of the MHATO Project. (I love acronyms, the military loves acronyms, doesn't everybody love acronyms?) This has been a big learning experience for me and not always a pleasant one. Let me explain. Back when the idea first emerged for me to do this, I got some immediate feedback about some strategies we could employ to get the word out and some pretty exciting promotional ideas as well. (By the way, whenever I say "we", it's not just an editorial device. I'm always thinking of my wife/partner Elena in all this, not only the sacrifices she makes to live with and support a flaky self-employed artist-type, but also her releasing me to pursue these things instead of rightfully demanding that I go out and get a real job!) I kind of got it into my head that this song (and the story behind it) might have some "media legs" during the period leading up to Memorial Day through Father's Day. I allowed myself to get pretty far in love with the notion that this might be my one and only opportunity to do something that would appeal to the general market, the larger world outside the Church. Now don't get me wrong, I really do love working in churches and playing for the people who populate them. But it has also been a career-long frustration for me to try to write songs which reflect a more integrated, well-rounded, decidedly not us-versus-them approach to life and faith, only to find that most religious people are suspicious of anything that does not have enough faith language or easy religious content. And conversely, many people who would rarely, if ever, darken the door of a church (and probably with good reasons) are utterly suspicious of any mentions of God where Names or specific definitions might be involved. There's apparently a very small niche of people who appreciate that kind of thing, but a vastly larger number who couldn't care less. Sometimes I feel like a guy with a warehouse full of high quality hoola-hoops. I'm pretty convinced I'm too Jesus-y for the folk crowd and not quite Jesus-y enough for a lot of the Church. Sometimes I want to be Bruce Cockburn or David Wilcox or Pierce Pettis or Tom Prasada-Rao or Jane Kelly Williams, but alas there are already people who are busy being those people! Anyway, I began feverishly e-mailing country music radio stations. Why? I'm a little ashamed to admit that I was hoping for someone to adopt the song and that there might be sort of a "Butterfly Kisses" groundswell. Although my music is closer in style to folk music and that genre is where a lot of my musical heroes are from, it seemed to me that country radio is really the only place where "story songs" have any kind of currency. So I dutifully cherry picked e-mail addresses off a few dozen radio station sites and hoped for the best. I got one nice response from a radio guy who said he'd pass it up to management, but didn't hear back from him. Focus on the Family, Sean Hannity, Voice of America, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly (on PBS), Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, Huell Howser, MSNBC, NPR, ... other significant contacts that friends tried for me. I simply couldn't get arrested on the thing. I even have a dear friend who had what I considered to be the mother of all good ideas: on Father's Day I would sing the song to Paul in Iraq live via satellite. And, probably for the worse, I let that idea get stuck in my head. Now, two days before Father's Day, try as I did to avoid it, I realize I've probably been barking up the wrong tree. Michael Levine, one of the most respected and resourceful publicists in the country, included mention of the project in his daily e-alert that goes out to a huge number of people around the world. That, along with an article in a local paper this past Wednesday, has been the only "media" that was interested. The Christian Military Fellowship put up a link in less than a half-hour after I called them. That was certainly a good day. Brian Mason played the thing on his Nashville radio show. George Carden from United News & Information (UNI News) was kind enough to do an interview and feature the song. A small radio network based in Texas showed some interest. A couple media-savvy friends (Rich Buhler and Dave Nichols) went to bat for me and plied some of their contacts, but mostly to no avail. I was even referred to a church here in Southern California that had developed a ministry to families at Camp Pendleton and I had a rather nice conversation with the pastor's assistant. I left a detailed voice-mail for the woman who developed and oversees that project, trying to get some kind of input and direction. Everybody's pretty busy, I guess. The only consistent enthusiasm in evidence has been from military family groups online. Marine Moms Online, U.S. Devil Dog Moms, Marine Moms & Dads. So far we've had about 125 requests for the free CD ... I posted the song at mp3.com and it's been played over 150 times in the past week or so. I'm still not sure of the number of plays/downloads on this site. This was really the primary goal of all this. To get it heard by the families and friends who could relate to it. And I am grateful for this. But the part I'm agonizing over as I round the corner into this weekend is that somehow this little project reminded me again that, as Brent Bourgeois put it so succinctly in his song "Scene of the Crime", I still have an ego the size of Montana and change! And, silly me, I thought I had almost fully made my peace with the startlingly modest size of my career and with that "Rodney Dangerfield sings for Jesus" kind of feeling that plagues me in my darker and lesser moments. I usually cycle through these things. And, for heaven's sake, don't hit me with a flurry of e-mails telling me: a) what a great guy I am and/or b) what a whiner I am. I'll always have trouble either way with the former and I know the latter all too well. I am grateful to have helped out a little with some of the families that are sharing the same heartache and longing as I am. I just wish I could lobotomize myself so I wouldn't feel the competitive, why-not-me feelings that are still here 25+ years into this. As much as I'd like to set up the straw man of the modern contemporary Christian music business and knock it right down (it's almost too easy to do and not much fun), the fact is that when I look in the mirror, I see the problem. And some days I'm just not overly enamored with that guy. Well, I feel better now and you probably feel bummed out. I guess I did my job today! This Father's Day I will hug my son Colin and daughter Kate ... and as happy as I will be to be their Dad and to have them close at hand, I'll feel like I'm missing a limb. My Paul is very far away and as hard as I try, I can't sing my way or grump my way or even pray my way out of that. Semper fidelis for him and, perhaps, sometimes fidelis for me. Bob Bennett - Friday, June 13, 2003 at 14:15:03 (CDT) Tuesday, May 13, 2003 8:00 AM PST In just a few hours, Webmaster Craig will have a link to a new page up on the site. Among other things, the page will contain a couple mp3 files (one each for low and higher speed connections) of a newly written and recorded song called “My Heart Across the Ocean”. My oldest son Paul went to Boot Camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego in January 2001, graduating that April. He then went to the School of Infantry at Camp Pendleton and finished up there that August. Like many young men, he initially joined with the intention of being a Reservist ... one weekend a month, a couple weeks in Summer, a little help with college, etc. He continued in college and on a typical Reservist schedule until we rounded the corner into Fall 2002. As things began to heat up in the Persian Gulf, we knew he would likely be activated. In early March (while he was on his way to Buena Vista Social Club concert at UCLA), he got the phone call ... a short time later he was at Pendleton experiencing that blessed mixture of military protocol ... be ready right now and hurry up and wait. As best as I can determine, he was en route to Kuwait (via Spain) on April 10th and was in Kuwait from April 12-17 before pushing into Iraq. I wrote most of the lyrics to “My Heart Across the Ocean” on April 11, 2003 with the music being finished on May 2nd. On the evening of the 2nd, I did a guitar/vocal demo of the song ... the following week I re-recorded my parts and we added bass and percussion. The recording was mixed and mastered on May 12, 2003. From the very beginning, it was my hope that I could offer this song as a gift to military personnel and their families. I never expected to be on the parental side of this equation ... and I wanted to express that in the song as well as my deep love for and pride in my Marine. And so this is a great experiment for me. I hope the tune gets out there. One of the privileges of being a musician/songwriter is to give language through song to thoughts and feelings that listeners already know for themselves ... to provide a soundtrack of sorts for the seasons of our lives. My fondest hope is that people will hear this song and that prayers will be prayed, necessary tears might be shed, deep love might be felt and the “waiting for return” might be a little easier in the bargain. However the news cycle may run, whatever the media may or may not report ... for those of us with loved ones in service far away, it’s not over until they’re all home. So in honor of my own son and all the sons and daughters of our beloved Country: Semper fi ... and may God keep you in the palm of His hand until we can all meet and rejoice face to face. Bob Bennett - Tuesday, May 13, 2003 at 13:51:34 (CDT) You make choices ... sometimes you make better ones later! A crippled man being lowered through the roof He wants healing, the skeptics want proof Then as easy as forgiveness, he is walking truth The ground is shifting underneath Switching "proof" and "truth" makes the most sense. I tossed this around initially when writing the song, made a choice and thought better of it later. It's all in the re-writes! Take care, Bob. Bob Bennett - Wednesday, February 26, 2003 at 16:36:54 (CST) Since the end of the Arts series on Thursday nights at my church, Pastor Chuck has been teaching from the Gospel of Mark. Along the way, he has been teaching us some tools for digging deeper into the text. A couple weeks ago, I was taken by a few of the comments and began writing a song lyric right in the Bible study! The next week I sang that new song. And yet again I was inspired by that night’s teaching. This is the second song (of two so far) to come from my attempting to mine these studies/lectures for song ideas. Last night the worship leader at Capo Beach Calvary (Sue Carter) e-mailed me to see if I had written a second song. I replied that I had not progressed beyond the brainstorming stage and that I would be attending the study as a “civilian” (my little joking way of saying I wouldn’t be playing the next night). This morning I wrote this lyric, tinkered with it for 3-4 hours, wrote music and performed the song at tonight’s Thursday Night Bible Study. A song less than ten hours old! A MOVEABLE FEAST W/M: Bob Bennett © 2003 Bright Avenue Songs (ASCAP) Staking out holy territory Laying claim to the realms of glory Thinking it'll always be the same old story But now a voice is crying out Over murmuring and resignation To the soul of a suffering nation Centuries thinking that it's all location Now there seems to be some doubt
He wants healing, the skeptics want truth Then as easy as forgiveness, he is walking proof The ground is shifting underneath Sell what's for free and try to call it fair A righteous anger is bound to flare So when the tables start turning everywhere You'd best forsake your unbelief
Were always to be written on the human heart For the Word and the Spirit are never apart From what the Father has in Mind And so we live between a blessing and a curse Look to a future we can only rehearse Drawing treasure maps, chapter and verse And then we slowly come to find It's not just where you goThe kingdom of God is ... A Moveable Feast Still in His grip, Bob. Bob Bennett - Friday, February 21, 2003 at 01:56:11 (CST) Well, here’s the first entry in the Notebook. This is something that I think I made mention of on the Dialogue page, but I wanted to cover more fully. At Capo Beach Calvary, Pastor Chuck Smith, Jr. has just completed a series on "Christianity & the Arts". There have been teachings on film, photography, architecture, sculpture, etc. And there were four teachings on the subject of music. The final two music sessions were on December 5th and 12th, 2002 and I assisted in the latter part of those evenings. The church website has also posted some of my commentary about music we listened to. As of this writing (December 18, 2002), most of these messages are available online: Art and the Christian Faith (May 30, 2002) The Role of Literature in Christian Thinking (June 13, 2002) Narrative (June 20, 2002) Poetry (June 27, 2002) Visual Arts (August 8, 2002) Portrait of Jesus (August 15, 2002) Spiritual Benefits of Visual Arts (August 22, 2002) Discerning Art (August 29, 2002) Icons (September 12, 2002) Film (September 26, 2002) Movies (October 3, 2002) Architecture (October 10, 2002) Architecture - 2 (November 7, 2002) Music (November 14, 2002) Music - 2 (November 21, 2002) Music - 3 (December 5, 2002) Music - 4 (December 12, 2002) All of these messages are available in cassette from the CBC Bookstore. I’m hoping they may yet show up in a CD as mp3 files ... if that becomes available, I’ll post it here. Bob Bennett - Wednesday, December 18, 2002 at 13:54:16 (CST) |