Dying Eggs

Stabat Mater

Another month, another concert! I was asked to sing the soprano solo in a presentation of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater. We performed in St. Leo the Great, a parish church in San Jose.

I was unfamiliar with the piece before this concert, and had hardly heard of the composer, Pergolesi. He died when he was 26 (my current age), and wrote the piece only a few months before he succumbed to TB.

Pergolesi

The piece is about the suffering of Mary as she watched her son being crucified. The structure of the piece is just genius, and it makes me sad to think of what other glorious works Pergolesi would have produced had his life not been cut short by disease. There are 12 songs altogether, and 7 marks a change in the piece's focus. While songs 1 through 6 focus on Christ's suffering, songs 7 through 12 exhibit a commitment on the part of the viewer to share that suffering. Because of the natural break, the father at St. Leo's took the opportunity to give a brief sermon on the subject before we finished the last half. The whole effect was wonderful, and as I've mentioned before, gave me a much-needed moment to focus on the true meaning of Christ's final week.

Below are a few of the excerpts various viewers (including my wonderful husband) were kind enough to capture for me. Sorry it's so dark, but hopefully the sound is okay.

Cujus animam gementem, contristatam et dolentem pertransivit gladius.

"Whose soul moaning, sorrowing and pained, was pierced by a sword."

More to come...

Spring Pies

Photo-braggage! :) Look what I made! (with support from my Grandma L.)

Quick Thoughts on Easter

I have had a very contemplative Easter week. I'm grateful I've been given so many opportunities to sit still and ponder. It may have begun with my Stabat Mater concert on Wednesday; I had to write on my music the translation of Latin text about Christ and Mary's suffering at the crucifixion. Performing those words meant truly connecting with the text. The performance also included sitting through a sermon, which was wonderful, but something I probably would not have sought out on my own.

Every day this week, Mormon.org has issued Easter cards, designed for sharing on facebook and other social sites. I absolutely loved them, and shared several on my page. Take a look:

On Sunday, I sang with a trio of girls at an Easter music program for the community. We sang "Beautiful Savior." It was another situation where I was obliged to listen to a sermon (something I would have skipped because of how busy I've been feeling lately). It was on Grace, and it was exactly what I needed to hear.

The speaker told of a student who had asked a teacher, "I know I need to do my best, and Christ will make up the difference, but I can't even handle doing my best." The speaker held up a sheet of paper and said, "the top of the paper is God, and the bottom is you. Draw a line to represent where your efforts end and Christ's grace begins." The student drew a line across the middle of the page. When the teacher said "Wrong," the student replied, "I knew it needed to be higher." The teacher said, "No, there is no line. Christ is the entire paper."

We are completely saved by Grace. So why must we obey the commandments? Because Christ has asked us to. Because it shows him that His sacrifice has earned our love and devotion. Because it is an offering unto him when we spend our lives as He would wish. It is not a repayment -- we cannot repay our debt. It is an offering of gratitude and devotion.

It was a wonderful Easter week for me, and I'm glad my mind and heart were "checked in" these past several days. What a meaningful, overwhelming message of love--for those who stop to recognize it.

Easter Family Photo

A friend snapped this photo during a free second -- I thought it turned out very nicely! And no, I'm not tickling Cal's leg...that's just his crazy smile again.

"Easter Haunt" #2

Cal woke up Saturday morning repeating the phrase "Easter haunt? Easter haunt?"

I'd been telling him all week that we were going to have an Easter egg hunt on Saturday, and he remembered. The hunt turned out to be really fun. Our friend's parents hosted it in their cute little English yard:

After a delicious brunch for the grown-ups, the daddies hid the eggs, and we all let the kiddos run wild. Cal was doing pretty well at first:

(Look at this little Easter nugget boy:)

But then, he saw Reed taking pictures on the camera, and abruptly lost interest in eggs:

At least he managed five:

Here's Cal chomping chocolate:

We could not draw his attention away from the chocolate:

Here's one shot where he glanced up for a few seconds:

Then...back to the chocolate:

It was a gorgeous morning, and all three of us had a great time. Spring is such a lovely time of year, filled with such enjoyable activities!

Spring

Sorry to rub it in, but we had a gorgeous day here today. Last week, I stocked up on spring/summer things like bubbles and sand toys, and so far, we're getting great use out of them.

I know I say this in every other post, but it is amazing how much better our day is when we both get out of the house and have fun together. Happy Easter weekend, everyone!

Easter Haunt #1

Regardless of how many times we tried to teach Cal the phrase "Easter egg hunt," it invariably came out "Easter Haunt." (Which, being a Gothic-lit enthusiast/analyst, sounded promising. Zombies = unholy resurrection, anyone? Anyone?)

Anyway... our first "Easter haunt" of the week took place as part of our weekly park days activity with the moms from my congregation. It was super low-key, but turned out to be so fun. You know I love that combination. Everyone contributed eggs, and while the kids were playing on the jungle gym, I went and "hid" them (a.k.a. scattered them in plain sight across the grassy lawn at the park). It was the right "challenge" level for most of the toddlers, and we were lucky enough to have very cooperative big kids with us, who were super gentle with the babies. Here are a few shots of the search underway:

 One little anecdote I want to remember... one of the moms brought empty eggs, which I didn't think would matter to the kids. To my surprise, I watched Cal pick up each egg he found and shake it to test whether or not it had candy in it. If it didn't, he'd promptly toss it to the side and continue onward.

Here's a shot of [most of] our park days attendees:

Guess who's son is obsessed with candy...