A Happy Easter Holiday to all our readers from the INDEPENDENCE Daily team!
In these grim days it feels difficult to celebrate the highest Christian Feast: Easter Sunday. It feels difficult not only because our Christian culture has been crumbling before our eyes, helped by decades of secularism promoted in schools and academe, but also because of the increasing wokeness of those currently occupying the highest offices in the Churches, in Canterbury and Rome.
These days have been and sadly still are grim thanks to the covid years with all the cruelties imposed on us because of the lockdowns and ‘covid measures’, and they are grim because of the war in the Ukraine and the uncertain future.
However, looking back at the preceding millenia and centuries we see that people have always faced an uncertain future, suffering from diseases, famines, war and death. These experiences and the memories of such experiences – think: ‘30 years war 1618 -1648’ in Germany, think ‘Civil War’ in England – have had their effect in the music of the great composers. One thing was different though. They had a firm belief in Christ’s Resurrection and they knew their Bible.
G.F. Handel for example used texts from the Old Testament for his oratorio ‘The Messiah’. Many thought and think that these texts were prophesying the coming, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So let’s start this musical celebration of Easter with this famous recitative and aria for bass, from Handel’s Messiah:
The light, the glory reflects and refers to the resurrected Messiah, Jesus Christ, rising upon Jerusalem. That is the prophecy and the reassurance.
But now, after Good Friday, after the Crucifixion, now that Christ is risen, listen to how J S Bach celebrates the Resurrection in the B minor Mass. The text is the Latin mass which at that time was used daily in Catholic Churches. This particular segment is from the ‘Credo’:
Here is celebration, reaffirmation and glory made into one magnificent piece of music. Here is the glory and the light to which Handel has pointed us in his aria.
Since I’ve mentioned ‘Gloria’ a few times, here to finish, is the final song of Bach’s ‘Magnificat’ – with a surreptitious hint from Bach at the end, indicating that this glory is still with us, through the Holy Spirit:
I hope this wasn’t ‘too much religion’! I hope that this music, written about 250 years ago, still shines in all its glorious beauty – for all people, regardless of their faith, as it does for me.
I was speaking to a Conservative local association chairman today who is based in Middlesex and was told that they are expecting a complete wipeout at the local elections in May 2022, as a direct consequence of Boris Johnson’s Covid rules transgressions coupled with his policy in Ukraine, and the half baked Brexit deal that was dealt the country I was told that several party local chairman had written to Boris Johnson urging him to resign to save their councilors seats, but to no avail. They are literally wringing their hands with his intransigence. Furthermore I was informed that last week in a by election a seat that had been held by the Conservatives for many years with a big majority fell to the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrat Party candidate got 1400 votes and the Conservative 300 votes, where there was a massive swing against them I then looked up the recent by elections on the Conservative Home website, and found that with one exception this is indeed a current trend, and former Conservative seats are falling primarily to Liberal Democrats and even a Green Party candidate. And in West Auckland in Durham the Conservatives last a seat to Labour. On the strength of that particular vote alone, unless the Conservatives appoint a new leader and ditch lame duck Johnson at the earliest opportunity and change tack insofar as the daft Green agenda is concerned, get a proper Brexit deal sorted out, improve the lot of British fishermen who have been shafted by Johnson’s government and sort out the English Channel migrant crisis, there is no way that they will retain the supposed Red Wall seats at the next general election, and will go on to lose that election altogether. I am beginning to lose hope that those of us who are positioned to the right of the thoroughly inept fake Conservatives will have nobody to vote for come 2024. I keep on saying ‘come on Nigel get another party started which we can all get behind’, but its not going to happen, so will have to hope that either UKIP or the Heritage Party get their act sorted out on a national basis.
Well I’m glad voters are having the sense to see through Johnson; (in my area, I fear they aren’t). although I don’t see how a change of leader or of government would make any difference now.
I was reading about the shocking savage lockdowns in Shanghai but not a peep of criticism from Johnson or any other Western politicians, indication that they would and probably will sometime, do exactly the same thing here.
On a slightly different topic, I’m on the Gatwick flightpath and flights are numerous now. Mostly Easyjet plus an Emirates jumbo regularly 3 pm. most days. Are these holiday flights or ghost flights (largely empty, but to keep the slot), or are large numbers of trefugees being flown in on the quiet?
Indeed Mary but unfortunately in my area a vote against the Cons would not stop the Labour madness going on here.
It seems to me that the problem isn’t God, it’s the church. Jesus himself didn’t have much time for the church and he was right. The church let us down when we needed it, didn’t even defend their own doctrines and religion but sold it out to hostile gods and teachings.
I’ve always thought that if there is a God, my relationship with him is a personal thing and doesn’t need to be governed by false prophets; like it or not I’ll find out the truth one day.
“Rwanda refugee plan is ungodly, says Justin Welby”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/04/16/rwanda-refugee-plan-ungodly-says-justin-welby/
“Archbishop of York ‘appalled’ at Rwanda refugee plan”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/04/17/archbishop-york-appalled-rwanda-refugee-plan/
The church, after centuries of preaching to us, in the end they amounted to nothing and sold us out quicker than Judas.
Blimey, another timelord in our midst. Do you know for sure that Jesus had no time for Church, or is it just hearsay? At the end of the day who really cares whether he went to church or not.
Marvellous, thanks Viv. By the By, I wonder how they are celebrating Easter in Ukraine and Russia?
They’re going to celebrate Easter next Sunday, according to the rules of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Ukrainian one is a splinter, a bit like Hitler’s ‘Protestant’ church which was ruled according to Nazi laws and against which the famous Dietrich Bonhoeffer instituted the ‘Bekennende Kirche’, going back to scripture, Bonhoeffer was also active in the ‘Widerstand’, was thrown into the KZ – first Buchenwald, then Theresienburg, where he was killed b y the regime on April 9th 1945.
So: the Russians celebrate Easter next week.
Thank you very much Viv and a happy Easter to everyone.
Many thanks for this piece Viv.
Very curious to know who the painting is by.
Another Herreweghe favourite of mine is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sidU7AUqQUk. The introduction and the aria 16.24minutes in.
PS Happy Easter to you Viv and the ID family
Yes, that is one of mine as well – listening to it gives me goosebumps.
Thanks for Handel and Bach and a Happy Easter to all in the Independence Daily family.
A peaceful and happy Easter holiday to you too Viv.