Favorites

People ask all the time what my favorite "this" is or my favorite "that" is. You know, like favorite book, movie, music genre, etc. Well, I have officially (now, anyway) declared my favorite piece of music. It is "Variation on a Theme of Paganini, XVIII, Andante Cantabile" by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Every single time I hear this piece I am moved. Every time. I heard it on the Internet radio the other day played by Vladimir Horowitz and almost cried. Yeah, I know. I cry a lot anyway. But this piece is simply beautiful.

I have a CD that is all of Rachmaninoff's piano concerti and includes the Paganani Variations. The pianist on the CD is Stephen Hough and is performed with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. I play it frequently! I have also had the privilege of hearing this piece performed live by Nielsen and Young. I have met Stephen Nielsen and consider Ovid Young a friend. Their performance was breathtaking and forever sealed this piece in my heart.

I will admit to being an incurable romantic. Beautiful things move me. "Starry Night" by Vincent Van Gogh is beautiful. Is is a painting that just speaks to me. I know that's hokey, but it's true.

I have also thought that regardless of the artist's spiritual condition during the creation process, I am at liberty as a Christian to assign spiritual significance to works of art. How many times have people talked about communing with nature as being spiritual? Well, I believe the same is true for the Fine Arts. I don't know the condition of Rachmaninoff's heart while he was composing. But hearing that Paganini variation is the closest thing to being in Heaven for me. The beauty transcends anything earthly for me and transports me to the Throne Room where I can worship our Lord even in a "secular" concert setting.

Wow. All that from one piece of music? Yes.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015ZND9E/ref=dm_mu_dp_trk2?ie=UTF8&qid=1213980342&sr=1-5

Blood donation

So, I made an appointment online to go give blood today. I've been doing this for several years now, so no biggie. But wait. I had a teeny, tiny, itty bitty heart attack in January, so I cannot donate blood anymore. Ever. Well, that stinks.

I don't know why I'm so upset. I almost cried! Ok, no surprise to those who know me well, but still. I was really disappointed. I guess it was just one of those things that I have always enjoyed even though it's a little bit painful.

So, I whined a little and asked if I might come back if I got permission from my cardiologist. There is a donor advocate office that I will call and find out. Sure hope I get to go back.

Raising Kids

If you do not plan right now to spank your kids before you have any, then you have planned for disobedient, disrespectful kids. And you don't have to take my word for it. You can take THE Word. Proverbs 22 and Proverbs 23 are pretty clear about spanking your children in order to save them from the Evil one. I'll find the actual quotes later. Spanking is not abuse. Permissiveness is abuse. Kids with no boundaries are unhappy, scared, and insecure. I'd throw fits, too!

When Christian parents love their children enough to discipline them in the love of the Lord, there is peace in the home. Ok, not all the time, but it's better than no discipline.

We had a loving (and sometimes painful) ritual when my girls were little and still needed spanking. We would have a long hug first (and tears), then the spanking, then another hug. And that line about it hurting the parents MORE than the kids is really true. The pain your child feels is temporary. It hurts back there because there's more fat back there. But it does no real damage physically. But years later, when the memory of the actual pain is gone, there remains a subconscious thought of "hmm, last time I did 'that' it hurt. better not do that again...". But the pain of having to inflict harm on your children hurts before and after and later if it has to happen again.

Let me know if that doesn't make sense.

John the Baptist

At church tonight, I learned that John the Baptist was "supposed" to be a High Priest, like his father Zacharias. But God had him withdraw from Jerusalem to be away from the corrupt religious leaders. God has a way of bringing his leaders to the wilderness to rely on Him and learn from Him.

I learned a few weeks ago that Joseph, Jesus' earthly father, was in line to be King of Israel. He, like Jesus (duh!), was in the lineage of Saul, David, and so on.

It struck me tonight that both John the Baptist and Joseph gave up quite a bit to be in the complete will of God. Thank God that they were obedient and that allows us to be blessed in God's plan. John the Baptist grew to be Jesus' personal herald and announce Him (and His deity) to the world. And Joseph had the inauspicious role of defending not only himself, but his bride Mary. I won't go into that story now.

It's probably best to concentrate on where we are supposed to be in God's will.

First Blog Ever

Welcome to Donna's Random Musings!

I'm not really sure where this will go, but hopefully it will be fun. Check in later to see how this develops.