Friends,
Over the weekend Anne and I attended a concert at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Berkeley. It was a remarkable experience for a few reasons. First, the concert was entirely medieval and renaissance music composed by women. In many cases the women who composed and who first performed the music we heard had to take a lot of risks and break a lot of rules to follow their artistic and spiritual passions, which lent an extra measure of sacredness to the already holy notes.
Second, unlike most church buildings its age, St. Marks is Romanesque in style rather than the Carpenter Gothic style favored by most late 19th Century Protestant churches in California. This is nerdly of me, but I really enjoyed hearing Hildegard von Bingan’s music in an architectural setting (and therefore an acoustic setting) that would have been close to the places where the composer wrote and performed her work.
Third—and this really has nothing to do with music—I liked St. Mark’s church itself. I don’t know if other pastors do this, but when I am visiting other churches I like to spy, and in this case I found a beautiful pulpit, lovely stained glass and a newly renovated patio area which we should go look at when we start thinking seriously about renovating our courtyard. One of the things I really enjoyed about St. Mark’s patio area were mosaic images on the walls of buildings, one of which features Jesus depicted as the reclining Buddha, sleeping (and perhaps, like Buddha, entering into the Ultimate Slumber) under the tree of life. It was a good reminder of how, despite our difference, all of us who are religious people are seeking the same kind of connection with the divine.
And finally, Anne and I were surprised and delighted to see a friend of ours in the performing choir. After the concert we chatted together, out by Christ the Buddha, enjoying the beauty of a late afternoon in Berkeley and basking in the glow of great beauty.
God’s Peace,
Ben
P.S. If you are interested in joining me at Zephyr Point the week of June 25-30, let me know. It is going to be a week of strong MPC representation. I will be on the faculty, along with Beth Brown and Greg Love and Jane Spahr; Anne will be working as music director and there will be friends from all over Northern California in attendance. I believe there may yet be a few places left. http://www.zephyrpoint.org/programs/family/zephyr-experience/