my new gig is going well. i was hired as a mental health technician, and so far, i really like the job. there isn't much i can share about the gig except i like it. the rest is pretty much restricted due to HIPPA laws. but i can share that i'm finding i like helping people in my new role as an mht. i not only get to help clients, but the doctors, nurses and my fellow mht's, too.
i'm going to be adding some things to the site - recovery oriented URL's and such.
Wolf Whispering Thunder Owl.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Friday, June 1, 2007
owl's new perch!
Hi gang!
Good news! Finally have left the army...the salvation army that is. i was working for them part time up at their local huntington, indiana resale/thrift store the last few months. i recently left their employ to go to work for a local behavioral health services provider in the capacity of mental health technician. currently i am there on an on-call, as needed basis. from their, i work my way up to part-time. then i work through various levels of part time status until such time as they choose to offer me the chance to become full time. after perhaps a year or two, i might get a shot at transferring to a substance abuse counselor job. in any case, i'm getting more hours at a slightly better rate of pay than i was at the salvation army store. just wanted to share the news/patrick b
Good news! Finally have left the army...the salvation army that is. i was working for them part time up at their local huntington, indiana resale/thrift store the last few months. i recently left their employ to go to work for a local behavioral health services provider in the capacity of mental health technician. currently i am there on an on-call, as needed basis. from their, i work my way up to part-time. then i work through various levels of part time status until such time as they choose to offer me the chance to become full time. after perhaps a year or two, i might get a shot at transferring to a substance abuse counselor job. in any case, i'm getting more hours at a slightly better rate of pay than i was at the salvation army store. just wanted to share the news/patrick b
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
owl's perch update
well, i'm still not hired at the job i had such great interviews at, but i did get another call from a different branch of the same practice to interview again with more people. i'm not sure what it will entail, but i'll find out more tomorrow. we'll see how it goes....patrick
Thursday, May 3, 2007
The owl's perch
welcome to may, 2007. not much to report for now - no drama's, nothing. my latest triumph is to have mowed the lawn. the reason it's such a triumph is that i haven't mowed the lawn since july 22nd of 2006 when i had my heart attack after finishing up mowing only the front lawn.
to many, mowing a lawn is a basic chore. some folks don't like to do it, others merely don't mind doing it. i happen to enjoy mowing my lawn. there's something about the smell of fresh cut grass that is special to me. and after it's cut, the color also seems to be a richer shade of green.
after my heart attack, mowing the lawn was something i could not do for the rest of 2006. i just did not have the strength to complete the task. i watched almost longingly as both my wife and my neighbor pitched in to get the job done. when i so much as tried to sweep the sidewalks, i was sternly cautioned by others to stop and take it easy, that somebody else would get to it.
it became an exercise in the acceptance of the help offered by others. in the meantime, i found that i really, really missed mowing my lawn. the lesson in acceptance went deeper than just that sense of, well, minor loss. missing the performance of the activity was just the beginning. what i really learned was a lesson in gratitude. i learned to be grateful for the assistance of others. i learned to be grateful for others - their helpfulness, their care, concern and kindnesses.
where i live now, i'm new. people here i don't know or don't know well or have literally only recently met have been so nice to me and my family during my recuperation period. basically, i'm pretty much back to full functioning now - so to complete the process, showing my appreciation would seem to be that which would naturally come next.
more to come...but for today, i'm just thankful to have been able to mow my lawn and wind up NOT getting another heart attack!
to many, mowing a lawn is a basic chore. some folks don't like to do it, others merely don't mind doing it. i happen to enjoy mowing my lawn. there's something about the smell of fresh cut grass that is special to me. and after it's cut, the color also seems to be a richer shade of green.
after my heart attack, mowing the lawn was something i could not do for the rest of 2006. i just did not have the strength to complete the task. i watched almost longingly as both my wife and my neighbor pitched in to get the job done. when i so much as tried to sweep the sidewalks, i was sternly cautioned by others to stop and take it easy, that somebody else would get to it.
it became an exercise in the acceptance of the help offered by others. in the meantime, i found that i really, really missed mowing my lawn. the lesson in acceptance went deeper than just that sense of, well, minor loss. missing the performance of the activity was just the beginning. what i really learned was a lesson in gratitude. i learned to be grateful for the assistance of others. i learned to be grateful for others - their helpfulness, their care, concern and kindnesses.
where i live now, i'm new. people here i don't know or don't know well or have literally only recently met have been so nice to me and my family during my recuperation period. basically, i'm pretty much back to full functioning now - so to complete the process, showing my appreciation would seem to be that which would naturally come next.
more to come...but for today, i'm just thankful to have been able to mow my lawn and wind up NOT getting another heart attack!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Whispering-Thunder
The plot, she thickens, I think. I have been referred to the likely source of my recent consternation. It’s a news article from the Catholic News Agency. It’s dated 03/20/2006. It references the June release of the Apostolic Exhortation – June of 2006!
Next, I went to the Vatican web site. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/index.htm
The site lists the document with 02-22-2007 date…nothing about June at all. And even if June was mentioned, the C.N.A. article obviously refers to June 2006.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Presentation of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Holy Father Benedict XVI "Sacramentum Caritatis" on the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church's Life and Mission (March 13, 2007)
[Italian, Portuguese]
Sacramentum Caritatis (February 22, 2007)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Taken one step further, I scanned the document for the segment(s) in question. The best I could find was
under a section called Ars celebrandi [38] and within a segment entitled “Liturgical song [42]”
Liturgical song
42. In the ars celebrandi, liturgical song has a pre-eminent place. (126) Saint Augustine rightly says in a famous sermon that "the new man sings a new song. Singing is an expression of joy and, if we consider the matter, an expression of love" (127). The People of God assembled for the liturgy sings the praises of God. In the course of her two-thousand-year history, the Church has created, and still creates, music and songs which represent a rich patrimony of faith and love. This heritage must not be lost. Certainly as far as the liturgy is concerned, we cannot say that one song is as good as another. Generic improvisation or the introduction of musical genres which fail to respect the meaning of the liturgy should be avoided. As an element of the liturgy, song should be well integrated into the overall celebration (128). Consequently everything – texts, music, execution – ought to correspond to the meaning of the mystery being celebrated, the structure of the rite and the liturgical seasons (129). Finally, while respecting various styles and different and highly praiseworthy traditions, I desire, in accordance with the request advanced by the Synod Fathers, that Gregorian chant be suitably esteemed and employed (130) as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy (131).
So, there it is. It’s not the text C.N.A. spoke of – not even relatively close to what C.N.A conjectured. Not that they were necessarily entirely wrong – but the wording was definitely different than the article leads the reader to believe. As close as it comes is to veil a slam on “generic improvisation” which in context is coupled with “introduction of musical genres which fail to respect the meaning of the liturgy should be avoided.” These comments were preceded earlier in the paragraph with “…the Church has created, and still creates, music and songs which represent a rich patrimony of faith and love. This heritage must not be lost. Certainly as far as the liturgy is concerned, we cannot say that one song is as good as another.”
The wording is a far cry from condemning drums, electric guitars and ‘rock and roll music.’ The parting sentence, however, reveals that it is the desire of the Pope “…that Gregorian chant be suitably esteemed and employed (130) as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy (131).”
This is where the Pope seems to signal that something to do with music might be encouraged to return to an earlier time period rather than to generate an immediate need to create wholesale changes in all the varying musical options the church employs the world over.
For now, drums, electric guitars and ‘rock and roll music’ are not out, but that does not mean they will ultimately be retained. The earlier version of the document shows where some of the hierarchy wants with respect to music in the church. That the Pope had to indicate “…that Gregorian chant be suitably esteemed and employed (130) as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy (131)” suggests further crafting of other various documents. They might use this phrase as fodder to execute changing music in the church to reflect a strong bent towards using all Gregorian chant. Perhaps this will even lead to all or nearly all musical selections to become consistent with Gregorian chant. This would mean all or nearly all music coming from a limited number of genres such as the Medieval, Renaissance, Classical and/or Romantic periods only.
A direct volley in effect was indirectly fired. That March ’06 report reflects the desired outcome of at least a few of the members of the church hierarchy. There exist those who would like nothing better than to have a forum to ban contemporary music. The final document – or what appears to be the final document – certainly removes that particular option. But it also seems to have begun the process of using words carefully to ultimately gain a desired outcome. Its a sort of gerrymandered effort to ultimately recognize music choices within a framework that is built around Gregorian Chant alone rather than remain open to the many varied options that exist amongst the faithful.
The reality really may be that the hierarchy is trying to say that they no longer desire to put up with poorly performed music that was ill-conceived from the start. Music from earlier eras has the luxury of huge amounts of time behind it so as to effectively lose the compositions that were poorly written and/or composed. Poorly performed music would ordinarily be eliminated with the use of professional performers, however this is not a choice likely to be made by the Church hierarchy any time soon, if ever.
Given the current state of music in most parishes, adding a requirement to perform only Gregorian chant is very likely to badly backfire. Current volunteer musicians are not prepared to perform this style of music intermittently, much less as any kind of regular diet of musical fare. The effort will be there in the same way it currently is present, which to me means that it will be poorly performed versions of Gregorian chant. Poorly conceived and written versions of same, too. All that will be able to be said will be that “Well, at least its Gregorian chant…or at least it is supposedly Gregorian chant.”
Yikes! Next thing you know, the Catholics will be compared unfavorably to the Amish.
There’s a reason nobody has ever heard of an Amish Tabernacle Choir. Don’t get me wrong, the Amish are wonderful, God-fearing people…but singers they are not. Its been my experience in having heard the sound that emanates from an Amish church that cats fighting or a moose in heat sounds more religious. I hope for their sake that those I’ve heard are anomalies. I really do. If not, we have a one way ticket to mediocrity in at least the music department of our faith.
Next, I went to the Vatican web site. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/index.htm
The site lists the document with 02-22-2007 date…nothing about June at all. And even if June was mentioned, the C.N.A. article obviously refers to June 2006.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Presentation of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Holy Father Benedict XVI "Sacramentum Caritatis" on the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church's Life and Mission (March 13, 2007)
[Italian, Portuguese]
Sacramentum Caritatis (February 22, 2007)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Taken one step further, I scanned the document for the segment(s) in question. The best I could find was
under a section called Ars celebrandi [38] and within a segment entitled “Liturgical song [42]”
Liturgical song
42. In the ars celebrandi, liturgical song has a pre-eminent place. (126) Saint Augustine rightly says in a famous sermon that "the new man sings a new song. Singing is an expression of joy and, if we consider the matter, an expression of love" (127). The People of God assembled for the liturgy sings the praises of God. In the course of her two-thousand-year history, the Church has created, and still creates, music and songs which represent a rich patrimony of faith and love. This heritage must not be lost. Certainly as far as the liturgy is concerned, we cannot say that one song is as good as another. Generic improvisation or the introduction of musical genres which fail to respect the meaning of the liturgy should be avoided. As an element of the liturgy, song should be well integrated into the overall celebration (128). Consequently everything – texts, music, execution – ought to correspond to the meaning of the mystery being celebrated, the structure of the rite and the liturgical seasons (129). Finally, while respecting various styles and different and highly praiseworthy traditions, I desire, in accordance with the request advanced by the Synod Fathers, that Gregorian chant be suitably esteemed and employed (130) as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy (131).
So, there it is. It’s not the text C.N.A. spoke of – not even relatively close to what C.N.A conjectured. Not that they were necessarily entirely wrong – but the wording was definitely different than the article leads the reader to believe. As close as it comes is to veil a slam on “generic improvisation” which in context is coupled with “introduction of musical genres which fail to respect the meaning of the liturgy should be avoided.” These comments were preceded earlier in the paragraph with “…the Church has created, and still creates, music and songs which represent a rich patrimony of faith and love. This heritage must not be lost. Certainly as far as the liturgy is concerned, we cannot say that one song is as good as another.”
The wording is a far cry from condemning drums, electric guitars and ‘rock and roll music.’ The parting sentence, however, reveals that it is the desire of the Pope “…that Gregorian chant be suitably esteemed and employed (130) as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy (131).”
This is where the Pope seems to signal that something to do with music might be encouraged to return to an earlier time period rather than to generate an immediate need to create wholesale changes in all the varying musical options the church employs the world over.
For now, drums, electric guitars and ‘rock and roll music’ are not out, but that does not mean they will ultimately be retained. The earlier version of the document shows where some of the hierarchy wants with respect to music in the church. That the Pope had to indicate “…that Gregorian chant be suitably esteemed and employed (130) as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy (131)” suggests further crafting of other various documents. They might use this phrase as fodder to execute changing music in the church to reflect a strong bent towards using all Gregorian chant. Perhaps this will even lead to all or nearly all musical selections to become consistent with Gregorian chant. This would mean all or nearly all music coming from a limited number of genres such as the Medieval, Renaissance, Classical and/or Romantic periods only.
A direct volley in effect was indirectly fired. That March ’06 report reflects the desired outcome of at least a few of the members of the church hierarchy. There exist those who would like nothing better than to have a forum to ban contemporary music. The final document – or what appears to be the final document – certainly removes that particular option. But it also seems to have begun the process of using words carefully to ultimately gain a desired outcome. Its a sort of gerrymandered effort to ultimately recognize music choices within a framework that is built around Gregorian Chant alone rather than remain open to the many varied options that exist amongst the faithful.
The reality really may be that the hierarchy is trying to say that they no longer desire to put up with poorly performed music that was ill-conceived from the start. Music from earlier eras has the luxury of huge amounts of time behind it so as to effectively lose the compositions that were poorly written and/or composed. Poorly performed music would ordinarily be eliminated with the use of professional performers, however this is not a choice likely to be made by the Church hierarchy any time soon, if ever.
Given the current state of music in most parishes, adding a requirement to perform only Gregorian chant is very likely to badly backfire. Current volunteer musicians are not prepared to perform this style of music intermittently, much less as any kind of regular diet of musical fare. The effort will be there in the same way it currently is present, which to me means that it will be poorly performed versions of Gregorian chant. Poorly conceived and written versions of same, too. All that will be able to be said will be that “Well, at least its Gregorian chant…or at least it is supposedly Gregorian chant.”
Yikes! Next thing you know, the Catholics will be compared unfavorably to the Amish.
There’s a reason nobody has ever heard of an Amish Tabernacle Choir. Don’t get me wrong, the Amish are wonderful, God-fearing people…but singers they are not. Its been my experience in having heard the sound that emanates from an Amish church that cats fighting or a moose in heat sounds more religious. I hope for their sake that those I’ve heard are anomalies. I really do. If not, we have a one way ticket to mediocrity in at least the music department of our faith.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Whispering-Thunder
I've just heard a news item off of EWTN that our esteemed pope..Pope Benedict XVI has in some way deemed guitars as being anti-Christian? He doesn't like the message that rock music sends? What about 'Christian Rock'...? Benny! Benny! Benny! And no guitars for church services...because of their association with rock music? There must be more to this story than meets the eye because guitars, like organs, are just instruments upon which music is played. Classical music is a style of music, just as is rock music. The 'message' of the artist may or may not be 'Christian' in nature, but in my opinion, the style in which the message is enclosed has nothing at all to do with it. I need to find out more, because as it stands now, this bit of news deeply disturbs and saddens me. It also angers and confuses me. Something is very, very wrong about this....Wolf Whispering Thunder Owl, Patrick
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
The owl's perch & blog next .4
The Aztec Calendar is wonderful. Its also kind of cumbersome to manipulate the stuff off the website and into this blog. Its the blogger, though, not the blog. There are way more marvelous pictures and information at their web site at http://www.azteccalendar.com/azteccalendar.html
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
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