Musikk er som kjærlighet!

"Jeg mener at all musikk, akkurat som kjærlighet, kan bringe gode følelser og er en viktig del av livet. Musikken rører ved de enkle og mer primitive sidene av oss, uten forstyrrende elementer. Den stimulerer våre tanker, gir oss håp og setter oss i en stemning av fred og harmoni."

Andrea Bocelli

Unga viljor viner

Unga viljor viner
som herrelösa spjut.
Ångest har kastat dem
i rymderna ut.
Skälvande av stridslust
och överflöd på styrka
söker de mål att drabba,
söker de makter att dyrka.

Men viljor som mognar,
de blir träd och slår rot,
beredda till att skydda
ett land vid sin fot,
ett litet stycke mark,
men nödvändigt som livet,
där något dyrbart växer,
av vindarna rivet.

Om gläntan syns trång
emot rymder utan slut
och trädet kanske livlöst
mot blixtrande spjut,
så glöm inte lövet
med den livsgröna färgen,
och glöm inte saven,
som sjuder genom märgen.

Var inte rädd, var stilla
den skördens natt,
då rösterna säger:
"Din gräns är satt.
Du också skall stillna
bland de vakande trogna.
Du också skall slå rot,
och bli träd, och mogna."

Karin Boye 

Two Good Fortunes

Long, long ago, when the gods still seemed close to us, two singers named Orpheus lived in a little town.

One of them was the Great Orpheus. He invented the Chithara, a kind of guitar, and when he plucked the strings and sang, the whole of nature around him was spellbound. The wild animals lay at his feet, the tallest trees bent down to hear. Nothing could resist the power of his music. And because he was so great, he courted the most beautiful of all women. That's when his trouble started.

The beautiful Eurydike died during the wedding festivities, and Orpheus' cup, raised high, broke in his hand. But for the Great Orpheus, death was not the end. With the help of his great art, he found the entrance to the underworld and descended into the realm of shadows, crossed the river of forgetting, passed the hounds of hell, and appeared alive before the throne of the god of death and touched him with a song.

Death set Eurydike free, but with a string attached. Orpheus was so happy that he didn't notice the malice in this boon.

He started back and behind him he could hear the footsteps of his beloved. They safely passed the hounds of hell and crossed the river of forgetting and began to climb toward the light which they could see in the distance. Suddenly, Orpheus heard a cry - Eurydike had stumbled. In panic, he turned and saw the shadows of the night fall, and he was alone. Beside himself from pain, he sang his parting song, "Now I've lost her. My happiness is gone forever."

He managed to get back to the world of light, but his experiences in the realm of the dead made life seem strange. As drunken women invited him to go with them to the festival of the new wine, he refused, and they tore him living limb from limb.

So great his unhappiness, so useless his art. But, he is known in all the world.

The other Orpheus was a smaller man. He wasn't a great musician. He sang at little parties and played for simple people. He wasn't very successful, but he made them happy and he had a lot of fun. He couldn't make a living singing, so he got a job that wasn't very special, married a woman that wasn't very special and had children that weren't very special either. He committed small and ordinary sins from time to time and was just about as happy as everyone else. He had a very ordinary life and died old and satisfied with life.

But, no one knows him -- except me.

Vildhjärta - en kär lek mellan människa och skog

"Jag följer faunens flöjt och går ut i skogen med öppet sinne och tom korg och ser vilka pinnar som önskar hoppa i den. Sen täljer jag i trä och i ord det som berättas vill."


"Kärleken är vild, och dansar med den som vill."

Maria Westerberg, forfatter
Värmland, Sverige 

Påvirket Platon Paulus?

...her møtes Paulus og Platon. I Symposium skriver Platon om «kjærlighetens stige», hvor veien til den fullstendige erkjennelse beskrives. Hvert steg kan forklares, inntil man kommer til det siste steget, mot «den guddommelige skjønnhet i dens egne, uforanderlige form.» Dette siste steget er et sprang inn i «det endelige og høyeste mysterium». Det kan ikke forklares, men er noe som bare kan skje plutselig, i et øyeblikk. Den guddommelige skjønnhet er forutsetningen for all rasjonalitet, og den er derfor selv over den menneskelige tanke.

Det er altså flere paralleller mellom Platon og Paulus i hvordan de forklarer radikal forandring. Mens Platon forklarer all forandring med det ekstraordinære og uventede øyeblikk, så forklarer Paulus oppvekkelsen av de døde med et tilsvarende ekstraordinært øyeblikk. Både Platon og Paulus fremhever en ekstraordinær forandring av tanken som gjør både filosofen og den kristne på hver sin måte i stand til å gripe sannheten. Men der Platon peker på det ubetingede Gode og Skjønne, peker Paulus på Guds aktive og skapende vilje.

av  Per Eriksen for Vårt Land 10.12.2007