Thomas, Anscombe, and Mahalia

What do St. Thomas Aquinas, G.E.M. Anscombe, and Mahalia Jackson have in common?  Well, maybe the connection is nothing more than a personal one for me. I will try to explain.

I have gotten to know them and their work lately. Why didn't I know about them before? Well, of course, Thomas is famous and so was Mahalia. I had heard about them but had not paid very much attention to them at all. It wasn't the right time, I suppose. My mother told us just a few days before she passed away that Jesus always comes at just the right time. So, I suppose that these three came to me at just the right time. I believe Jesus had a lot to do with it. No, I am not having visions or hearing voices. By their coming to me, I mean in the form of the written page and in the case of Mahalia Jackson, the recorded voice.

Each one, in their own way, has been enriching my life. There is beauty and even artistry in what each one did. They are like role models for me. Aquinas as a saint and great Christian thinker. Anscombe as a woman, the mother of 7 children, who was also a renowned Christian philosopher. Mahalia as The Queen of Gospel. Somehow they got connected in my mind. Not quite sure how that happened, but it was a very good influence that helped me make that connection.

I like theology, especially Reformed theology. However, I think it's more of a guys' thing. After awhile, I kind of lost interest. What especially thrilled, and still thrills me about theology is the Gospel as expressed in the Doctrines of Grace. Then there is the wonderful ordo salutis, which really doesn't have anything to do with the way my Reformed brothers greet one another...and God's blessed, mysterious sovereignty. So, I am grateful for all I learned while discussing and studying theology. I will keep pecking away at my book on the Westminster Confession of Faith, which I enjoy. Really, I enjoy it like I enjoy my morning oatmeal and cup of coffee. It is comforting and nourishing. I look forward to it.  It's like a good way to start the day, but I can't eat oatmeal all day.

Lately, a dear person suggested that maybe I might be interested in St. Thomas Aquinas and G.E.M. Anscombe. Say what? It was kind of off the wall, but I thought why not. I feel like I need a challenge. So, here I am. No, I do not have what it takes to be a real philosopher, but maybe I can sit at the feet of greatness and learn something beautiful, heavenly even.

Why Mahalia? Not sure. I am kind of bogged down musically as well. So, somehow it seemed to make sense to try to learn Gospel oboe. Now, maybe the oboe is too melancholy for Gospel. Maybe it is not intense and gutsy in the right ways, since it is a pretty refined instrument. It also has a lighter, happier side to it. So, maybe Gospel blues will work. It has been fun to jam on my oboe along with Mahalia. It makes me feel good.  I have to improvise my own parts. It is a stretch. Not sure if I can get fully incorporate the mystical 3 of Gospel blues into my musical ser.

When I play with Mahalia, I kind of get it, but away from her I revert to squaring off all the little notes. Jazz musicians call what they do "swing" and what I do "square". They are right. We are trained as classical musicians to square everything up - each 16th note carefully placed where it belongs in each beat, each 8th note as well. Triples are carefully placed in neat little bundles of squared 3s.

Jazz is pure metaphysics, at least that's what Dave taught me. It's Coletrain and A Love Supreme. Now to see if the oboe and I have it in us. Not sure, but I want to reach for it, by the grace of God. If I cannot, the oboe's best friend, Bach, will be there to pick me up if I fall from Mahalia grace. He loves the square, but he also was a mystic. There is a trinity of form and expression. Circles of phrasing and dynamics, - the breath of God's Spirit. Anyway...

I just purchased an oboe d'Amore. Can't wait to hear what it sounds like with Mahalia. It has to acclimatize first. Then it needs to be broken in gently - 15 minutes twice a day for awhile, then a little more, and then a little more until it is safe to play all I want. I can't let the wood crack. That would be tragic. I have wanted to get an English Horn, but decided on the d'Amore instead. The EH is a bit of a stretch for my hands, and it is kind of heavy.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I think to good places.

Aquinas and Anscombe settle my mind, which gets restless. I am not interested in all kinds of philosophy, just in Christian philosophy in the form of Thomism. We'll see how far this takes us.

I remember taking a philosophy class back in college. It was disturbing, and I have never wanted to study philosophy again. The course I took was not grounded in the Source.

I think it is wonderful to think of St. Thomas, at the end of his life. As he lay dying, all he wanted read to him was The Song of Solomon. His soul was in rapture, communing with His Beloved.

I think that Mahalia saw the same things, and lived in Jesus' presence as few have. This song I borrowed from YouTube - How I Got Over - expresses her wonder at the very idea that she would have made it over. It was through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

I wanna' thank God for how He kept me
I wanna' thank God for how He never left me.
...
My soul looks back in wonder at how I made it over.

I want to live in that place of wonderment and rapture that Thomas and Mahalia experienced. The world is a very dark and violent place. I don't want to withdraw from the world, but while in this world, I want to take refuge in Jesus. I want to have some good company along the way in the form of good books, good thoughts, good music and good friends.

So, I have chosen these 3 companions - or have they chosen me?  Has Someone chosen them for me? I think so.


I need strength for the journey since in my real life, I often go on adventures to far off places that are in turmoil, or where former turmoil has settled the people's soul into a kind of quiet desperation. Besides, this past year has been one of grief for our family as we lost first my mother and then, a few weeks later, my father-in-law. Next year will be intense as well as we as a family face a huge giant that is already casting a shadow on our lives. We need His light more than ever before as things around get darker. I want to live in the Light from on high as my new friends did. In a way they are with me, since they are having an impact on my life - and girls are all about relationships.

Luke 1:78,79
because of the tender mercy of our God,
    whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into the way of peace.”