Pieces of a Puzzle Part 1.

One good book leads to another - or so it has been for me, lately. Here is the first one on my list, with more to follow:

People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks
Two things fascinated me about this book, before reading it. I loved the title from the moment I saw it, not sure exactly who these people were or what was meant by "the Book". It turns out that the book in question is the Sarajevo Haggadah. This is the second thing about the book that captivated me. I wanted to know more about this book! The description on page 8 of People of the Book was all I needed to be captivated by curiosity:

The Sarajevo Haggadah, created in medieval Spain, was a famous rarity, a lavishly illuminated Hebrew manuscript made at a time when Jewish belief was firmly against illustrations of any kind. It was thought that the commandment in Exodus "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or likeness of any thing" had suppressed figurative art by medieval Jews. When the book came to light in Sarajevo in 1894, its pages of painted miniatures had turned this idea on its head and caused art history texts to be rewritten.

So the mere existence of the book in question is point of fascination to me. But there is more: the book was created in medieval Spain (when, how, why?). It somehow came to light in Sarajevo at the end of the 19th century (how, why?) - then apparently, during the seige of Sarajevo in 1992, the book was saved from sure destruction during intense shelling, by the Muslim head of the museum library.

The interweaving of the human stories - the People - the Jewish people and those who carried this book from medieval times to now - and the Book, this mysteriously created Hebrew manuscript in the form of a lavishly illuminated book - these are, in my mind, the elements of a story that has great potential. That the book "surfaced" from obscurity in Sarajevo, was nearly destroyed and then rescued and restored to its place as "the symbol of Sarajevo's multiethnic ideal" - by a Muslim man - that is a huge sweep of culture and history that I could not resist. Then, add that the author was in reality a war correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Sarajevo, and she was in Bosnia during the siege of Sarajevo...I had to know what she would do with this!!

The book was very engaging, despite a few weaknesses, and in my next post, I'll explain how it led me to the next book...then a movie...and the music that revealed the puzzle itself to me.

In the meantime, here is the author's web site for the book and here is a map created especially for the book.

How to teach physics to your dog

Here a new book that is at once completely silly and really quite an accomplishment ( I hope!). Quoting directly from the book's site,

Each chapter is built around a conversation between Chad Orzel, a physics professor at Union College, and his dog Emmy...in which Emmy seizes upon some aspect of quantum mechanics as a way to obtain doggy goals.

Most of us have some experience with doggy goals, I suspect. It's great to see a physicist finding a fun and accessible way to help his students shift perspectives, from regular Newtonian reality to a quantum perspective, using this familiar and non-threatening knowledge to get started.

There are two introductory articles on the site to give you a sense of how much more easily your dog may adapt to nonintuitive concepts in quantum physics more easily than most of us - especially the first time around. I like the "Talking to your human about physics" article best, but both that one and "Talking to your dog about physics" are a great way to waste time. Which is, sometimes, just what you need.


Maybe I should try to talk to my dog (Ruby) about statistics - before I teach another class?

Unknown From Nowhere Reveals Extraordinary Gift and Stuns World

In case the story of Susan Boyle has passed you by, it is worth 7 minutes, 7 seconds to watch this YouTube video of her moment on the television talent show, "Britain's Got Talent". It's just a little bright spot that lit up in the last week...one that every woman in your life should see!

Here is an article from the New York Times.  

Dietrich Boenhoeffer was hanged on this day in 1945

I first became acquainted with this German theologian because of my interest in Genesis 1-3. How could things have gone wrong, I wondered, so early in the story of Creation? His book, "Creation and Fall: an Exposition of Genesis 1-3" gave me some insights, but ultimately proved to be a bit beyond my grasp.

Only later did I learn that Bonhoeffer was a founding member of the Confessing Church in Germany - a group that split from the Lutheran church, taking a clear stance against Hitler's policies of anti-semitism and calling for the church to resist Nazi policies. In fact, I learned in the film "Bonhoeffer" that he went frightningly far along that path, to the point of becoming involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler - which failed. He was discovered, arrested and imprisoned, and finally hanged on April 9, 1945. The Wikipedia entry here is a good place to get an overview of Bonhoeffer's life, work, and influence.

If you have ever considered what it must have been like in that time - or going farther, to imagine being a German citizen, or a member of the German Church ...well, I have not known what to think about it. What could anyone do? I recently watched the movie Divided We Fall ( "In Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia, a childless couple agree to hide a Jewish friend at great personal risk of discovery and execution.") These stories always challenge us, I think, to admit how difficult it is to make a significant sacrifice for others, and at the same time, to acknowledge that such sacrifice is the essence of our humanity.

A great quote from the Bonhoeffer movie home page makes the connection for me, at least:

"We have been the silent witnesses of evil deeds...Will our inward power of resistance be enough for us to find our way back?"

Finally - a shortcut (as I am on break, but still at work!) - the entry for "The Cost of Discipleship" from the Wikipedia article that I am leaning so heavily on here:

Bonhoeffer's most widely read book begins, "Cheap grace is the mortal enemy of our church. Our struggle today is for costly grace." That was a sharp warning to his own church, which was engaged in bitter conflict with the official nazified state church, The book was first published in 1937 as Nachfolge (Discipleship). It soon became a classic exposition of what it means to follow Christ in a modern world beset by a dangerous and criminal government. At its center stands an interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount: what Jesus demanded of his followers—and how the life of discipleship is to be continued in all ages of the post- resurrection church.

All I can say is, wow-he really lived his faith. And we are called to do the same...each in the way that we are called. Clearly, there is much need for discernment, but I am challenged by this anniversary of Bonhoeffer's death, coming as it does in the Christian Holy Week, to consider what its message is for my life.

The Soloist - Music and Survival on the Streets

This is a great story, a great book - Steve Lopez is a LA Times reporter who sees a homeless man, Nathaniel Ayers, playing his violin in a freeway tunnel on his way to work. He needs an idea for a story, and decides to stop and see if this might be one. He is captivated by the character and the contradictions he encounters in Nathaniel. Nathaniel is playing a violin with just two strings. Yet, somehow, he is producing music - and as Steve gets to know him, the mystery of how truly gifted he is, and how he came to be living on the streets and playing in a tunnel is slowly unraveled. It is a journey not to be missed - it is real, but astonishing, to follow the progression of events (I won't spoil it by telling you!). At the same time, Lopez manages to meet and talk with members of Nathaniel's family, as well as friends and teachers from his earlier life.

A few key facts won't hurt: Nathaniel suffers from schizophrenia; he once studied music at Julliard; and his anchor to sanity seems to be music. Lopez is a reporter with a nice family and a nice house. He loves going after a story, and he loves wrapping up the loose ends and moving on. But with Nathaniel, it is not that neat, and it is not at all easy for Lopez to know what is coming. It is a dance, and a roller-coaster ride; it is costly , it is not easy, it is not familiar and it is not comfortable.

So while the role of music in Nathaniel's healing is huge and soul-satisfying, I like to remember that the unlikely friendship between these two men also played a leading role. The strength of that connection allowed them both to grow far beyond what they imagined possible, each in his own way. For Nathaniel, well, a universe has opened up - or so it seems to me, to us. Yet there is no pretense in this book, no imagining that only good things will follow. It is that real.
In conclusion - read it!!

The Soloist was featured by the libraries in Philadelphia and that is how I knew about it. Steve Lopez was once a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

I found this video , on youtube with the real Steve Lopez and the real Nathaniel Ayers - celebrating Beethoven's birthday, I think. It was so cool to see them that I decided not to look for the movie trailer after all.

Music and human survival

I just came across this quote:

I have come to understand that music is not part of “arts and entertainment” as the newspaper section would have us believe. It’s not a luxury, a lavish thing that we fund from leftovers of our budgets, not a plaything or an amusement or a pass time. Music is a basic need of human survival. Music is one of the ways we make sense of our lives, one of the ways in which we express feelings when we have no words, a way for us to understand things with our hearts when we cannot with our minds.

from a welcome address by Karl Paulnack of the Mankato Symphony Orchestra in Mankate, Minnesota. I highly recommend that you take a minute, when you have a minute, to read the entire address. I will be late for work because I did this!

But I am struck by the power, the beauty, and the truth of music. And, I think that this address represents a turning point for me in how I view music in my life.

I will soon be posting a review of a book about a homeless schizophrenic man whose only real anchor to beauty and sanity is music. The book is "The Soloist". I think that his story captures a truth that we can all recognize. By a very strange coincidence, I stumbled across this quote just now, and the truth of it struck me even before I read the entire address. Once I did, I realized that music can not be peripheral in life... Which is GREAT!!! I now have a good excuse to move what was once labelled "Art and Entertainment" into center stage!!!

Happy Tuesday!!

Leaving the Saints - Escape from intellectual captivity?

Margaret Beck's memoir, "Leaving the Saints" is very much a personal account of difficult life that is still unfolding. In my opinion, it was written in the midst of a healing process that had not completely taken hold. Margaret Beck is the daughter of the late Hugh Nibley, the highly respected chief apologist of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. As the book opens, Margaret is confronting her father in a carefully staged drama. He is, at the time, in his nineties and has recently been released from the hospital. He is clearly physically frail. Mentally, he is a wall. She has raised once again her allegations that he sexually abused her as a child. He completely rejects this – he denies that any such thing could have occurred. She has asked a friend to hide and listen in (in the next room) because she wants this conversation to be her evidence. The lack of trust goes back a long time, it would appear. Still, one of them must be wrong, but neither one will give an inch.

How can this be? Shouldn't we expect more, from two clearly intelligent adults who supposedly had a firm moral upbringing? I suppose that this is one reason that I continued to be interested in the story. I wanted to know more about these two individuals – who they were, how they got to this point, and how the tension would be resolved.

What we find out is this: Margaret was raised, and later married, in the Mormon church. She speaks as someone who is now outside the church, because she is – in the course of her memoir she describes what it was like to breath the intellectual air of Harvard University, where she and her husband have gone to pursue graduate studies. While at Harvard, she begins to examine her beliefs and those of her church with a new lens of rational thinking – it is her own personal enlightenment. Her husband and good friend is with her and they are both seriously questioning parts, at least, of their former faith and its doctrinal basis. Which is to say, they have serious doubts about the basis of their entire lives.

The trouble arises when Margaret becomes pregnant and it is clear that the child will have Downs' Syndrome. At this point, the couple decides to leave Harvard, where abortion would be expected, to head back to Utah where the kind of support they will need is assured. While there, Margaret eventually ends up teaching at Brigham Young University. And this, it seems, is where the troubling signs that she has noted along the way with LDS leadership and control are shown to be true indicators of serious trouble. I won't include the details here – but after several incidents where it appears that doctrinal conformity is valued above actual scholarship, the damage is done – both to Margaret and to the reader. I say damage because the implication is clear and damaging. Margaret presents herself as one who is seeking the truth. She continues to try to piece things together, to make allowances, and to assess what is really going on here. But in reality, the only facts she presents are her own reports of what happened. And this is the nature of a memoir – people get to tell their own story. Period.

But I was disappointed. I felt set up and let down, because I thought that someone as scholarly – both from an upbringing among the intellectual elite of a major denomination, and from her own academic credentials - as Marget Beck would enrich her personal story with witnesses, references from verifiable sources, and corroborating accounts. But as she tells it, it is all inside, hidden from public view - so there is none of that.

Ultimately, I was disappointed in Margaret because I wanted her to be a heroine, or at least to solve the mystery for me - but instead she was a real person with many doubts and weaknesses, learning to speak the best version truth that she can access. And there are wounds to heal. She is sure that the abuse really happened. Her father never gives an inch in denying that. It is remarkable to me that there is so little movement towards a point of reconciliation about this, as if forgiveness, compassion, and love for one another were not even in the picture. But these are very difficult, they take time, and they require honesty and bold love (see Dan Allendar's book for more on that!). So we, as readers, are left with doubt, and with more questions than we had at the beginning.


I must say that I have not read many “leaving the faith” stories – usually I identify more with those trying to find a sensible way in...so I am grateful for Margaret's account of losing her early convictions and continued seeking, all the more so because there is no apparent tidy resolution at the end. Just more questions....One of them being, can you really trust someone who would treat her own father like that, in his old age – regardless of the past???