A quiet mind

by chuckofish

Today we toast Aaron Copland (1900-1990) on his birthday. Born in Brooklyn of Lithuanian Jewish parents, he wrote some of the most deeply “American” music of the 20th century. I have loved his music since being introduced to it in childhood. Recently daughter #2 read the play “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder so here is Copland’s “Our Town Suite” which was used in the 1940 movie.

Here’s a reminder that Christians are to use their gifts to serve one another, but also that the testimony of Scripture demonstrates that “throughout redemptive history, God’s people have used their gifts not just for those within the covenant community but for others as well.”

And here’s a little reminder about the difference between Pilgrims and Puritans.

And here’s a prayer that I’ve included before, but it bears repeating:

“Give us grace and strength to forbear and to persevere. Give us courage and gaiety, and the quiet mind. Spare to us our friends, soften to us our enemies. Bless us, if it may be, in all our innocent endeavours. If it may not, give us the strength to encounter that which is to come, that we may be brave in peril, constant in tribulation, temperate in wrath, and in all changes of fortune, and down to the gates of death, loyal and loving to one another.”

(Robert Louis Stevenson)

Grace and peace to you!