The World of Grandpa Don

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"Ode to Joy"

I sat down with a B&B to watch and listen to a DVD of the Beethoven Symphony No. 9 performed by Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. I quickly became enthralled by the music and began to marvel at the magic of it. The more I thought about it, the more I became amazed at the genius of humanity. 

There is the grand boldness of the brass, the intricate paths that shape the tones of the French horns, the musicians breathing life into the woodwinds and flutes, coaxing melodies out of the strings by stroking with bows and deftly adding emphasis and drama with the percussion. The creation of the instruments, the blending of their tones, into sounds so pleasing and moving is almost magical. And combined with all that are the voices of the soloists and the chorus. To that we add the genius of the composer who hears the music in his mind and is able to assign the notes to the right instruments. Cap all of that with the skill of the director who takes the genius of the composer and joins chorus and musicians into a moving experience.

This could not have happened by accident! The creativity of man can only be a reflection of the creativity of God. Almost as confirmation of this, the last movement of this performance includes the famous and often copied "Ode to Joy"! The chorus of human voices surging around the soloists only confirm God's creative gift of us, and to us ...

When the performance was finished I went back to listen to the 4th movement but this time, with the magic of DVD, I turned on the English sub titles. Beethoven had not only used his God given talent to create a masterful symphony, but he gave God credit and praise in the words of the "Ode to Joy" ...

"World, do you not know the Creator? ... 
Seek Him in Heaven's vault! 
He surely lives above the stars!"...
Brothers, above the starry vault,
A loving Father surely dwells."

"... Joy, lovely spark of Divinity,
Daughter of Elysium,
Illuminated by fire, we tread
Your heavenly sanctuary."

As the final notes faded, von Karajan's lip was trembling. It was as if he was as caught up in the performance as I was. 

The magic doesn't stop there. We now have the technology to record faithfully both the sight and sound of these gifts of God. We bring it from the concert hall to our large screen TV's. We have six speaker sound sound systems which mimic the brilliance of sound of the concert hall. We have the ability to add sub titles which translate the sung German words into English or two other languages. This technology comes from God through the mind of humanity.

Yes, we find God "above the starry vault" but through His gifts "... we tread (His) heavenly sanctuary" in the comfort of our own homes.

Thank you God!

(Grandpa) Don Plefka
01/21/02

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