Monday, September 29, 2014

He's Dead, Jim

I had my annual eye examination this morning, a morning resplendent with clear skies & bright sunshine. Sacred Michigan is reputedly the cloudiest state in the Union, the state not with the most rainy days or highest average rainfall but the most overcast days, & yet it seems that every year on the day my eyes are dilated there is nary a cloud in the sky. By Lucifer's beard! Mine eyes are healthy. My prescription has changed from last year, but only slightly & progressively. I was reminded that I acquired my current spectacles four years hence. If my corrective-lens prescription changes as much between this year & next as it did between last year & this, which is as much as it changed between last year & that before last, I will acquire new lenses next year, when my prescription will be five years old. I remain entirely satisfied with my spectacles' frame.

The Rebel Black Dot Sleepy Song of the Day
They Might Be Giants, "Lazyhead and Sleepybones" from No! (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: I was amused by how many persons I saw yawning during yesterday's 5:00 P.M. Mass. The five is a "charismatic" Mass (my word), with the most contemporary music, & its partisans are fierce in their belief that this is the way worship should be. I appreciate their passion & love for the Lord, but for my money there's no such things as too much pipe organ in church music. In any event, 'twas a busy, not physically restful weekend for me & apparently for many others around the parish. I really should write a post about my weekend around the parish (note to self: just that).

2 comments:

J.R. said...

I would put in a quote of Christians from before the organ was common in church music talking about the evils/worldliness of having a organ in church and not just chanting the way they had "always done it," but most of the ones I could find didn't talk directly about the organ just the idea of any musical instruments at all. There was one that said organs in particular were evil, but that was an unproven quote by Martin Luther. So in short, aren't there some kids you can yell at on your lawn?

Mike Wilson said...

One of the very best things about getting older is that I have always had the heart of a grumpy old man, even when I was a callow youth. I am thrilled finally to be aging into my temperament!

Also, I don't think I expressed any disapproval of the music at the five o'clock (at least not in this post), just my personal preference for the organ-heavy church music of my youth. I would suggest that in their disdain for organ music the contemporary/charismatic music crowd are just as stubborn in their preference as we old-school sticks in the mud.

Also, Hey, you kids! Get off my lawn!