IS40:8 (part 1) - Eat, Drink, Be Merry

 

liza-m/wikipedia.com

Cabaret (1972)

This musical had won many awards including 8 Oscars. 

It was set in 1930s Germany. The story followed American Sally Bowles, singer in the Berlin Kit Kat Klub, and Cambridge student Brian Roberts, who is completing his German studies.

Both Brian and Sally were complex characters, wrestling with their inner demons, during the rise of the Nazi party in the background of their pursuits for pleasure and meaning.

The finale is Cabaret, as seen below.

(reference: https://youtu.be/5QS1l1mSDSo)

The lyrics put forth the philosophy of life: Eat, Drink, Be Merry

Let's explore this philosophy through the Biblical lens. 

It's not all bad...

Celebration of life: Ecclesiastes 2:24

There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

Love between a man and woman:  Song of Solomon 1:2

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

The Prodigal Son: Luke 15:11-32

And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:

Pharisee criticism of the ministry of Jesus: Luke 7:34

The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!

To the glory of God: 1 Corinthians 10:31

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

It's not all good either...

Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 6:25

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

Parable of the rich man: Luke 12:16-21

And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

This life is all there is: 1 Corinthians 15:32 

If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.

The Key is Balance...

Content in any state: Philippians 4:11-12

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

So begins another thread...

Isaiah 40:8

The grass withereth,

the flower fadeth:

but the word of our God

shall stand for ever.

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Similar threads (search blog):

Faith

10C - The Ten Commandments

Biblia Files

PPP - Psalms, Proverbs, and Politics

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Photo:  liza-m/wikipedia.com

Music (part 6) - Pastoral and Spring

Colorful Spring Garden/wikipedia.com

It's Spring!

Winter has passed. And as the snow recedes, meadows and trees turn green, flowers bloom, and new life springs forth.

If I could express this change in season in music, it would be  Beethoven 's  Symphony No. 6  - which the master himself named

"Pastoral Symphony" 

Take a listen....

(reference: https://youtu.be/IoHpMYdTJDQ )

Enjoy the season! Enjoy the music!  

Enjoy Life!

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Previous posts in the series:
  

Music (part 1) - Winter (2016) 
  

Music (part 2) - All You Need is Love (2016) 

Music (part 3) - Passover (2016)

Music (part 4) - Armed Forces Medley  (2016)

Music (part 5) - Over There : Remembering World War I  (2018)

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Photo: Colorful Spring Garden/wikipedia.com

poetry (part 3) - Success

North Ridge/everystockphoto.com

Success

We want it. Especially its fruits. But it costs us. And it's not guaranteed.

Recently, we had a international exhibition of that. The Olympics  in Rio earlier this month.

Hard work. Not giving up. Going for the gold.

As ABC sports used to hype:  The thrill of victory. And the agony of defeat. The human drama of athletic competition. [reference: ABC Wide World of Sports Intro 1981 ]

Also striving for success applies to other challenges in life. And Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011) is still an inspiration in following your dreams and doing what you love. In spite of rejection, setbacks, failures:

(reference: https://youtu.be/o5ZEgPIoZjw )

Forty years ago, as a youngster, I wrote a poem about this theme when I was just starting out in life.

Success

Don't be afraid to fail

Or your dreams you'll cease to strive

Heed not the mockings of those

Who really are not alive 

Look not to the side for direction

To the lamb-skinned wolves nearby

Who say that they do speak the truth

But devour with a lie 

Look above for your direction

To the star in the sky

And don't be afraid to fail

And be not afraid to try!

© S. K. Smith, winter of 1976

40 years later?

Still trying. Still striving. And still working on being not so afraid.

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Previous Posts in this series: 

Poetry (part 1) - Snow (2016) 

Poetry (part 2) - The Fool's Prayer (2016)  

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photo: North Ridge/everystockphoto.com

A kiss immortalized in August 14, 1945

Photo from Wikipedia: Kissing the War Goodbye

Above is the lesser known photo taken by Lt. Victor Jorgensen of a sailor kissing a passing nurse on VJ Day in Times Square.

The most famous and iconic picture of this same subject - VJ Day in Times Square - taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt, was published in LIFE in 1945 with the caption, In New York's Times Square a white-clad girl clutches her purse and skirt as an uninhibited sailor plants his lips squarely on hers.

August 14, 1945 in New York City was a magical moment - a confluence of history, a place, and everyday people. Soldiers were returning home from an intense four years of fighting when President Truman announced Victory in Japan (VJ Day) - the end of the American involvement in World War II.

In Times Square, the sailors paraded in joy for they had won! On the street, civilians came out to the streets from their shops, the hospitals, to savor this moment of victory. Then a sailor, caught up in the passion, kissed a surprised young nurse, who was stopped in mid stride as two photographers, Lt. Jorgenson, an American sailor, and Alfred Eisenstaedt, a German-American photojournalist for LIFE magazine, snapped this spontaneous moment.

Eisenstaedt, whose photo made it into LIFE, ironically had fought on the side of Germany in World War I. He later photographed a meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Italy before emigrating to US to escape Nazi oppression in 1935 .

But who were the subjects of Jorgenson's and Eisenstaedt's iconic photo?

The nurse was Edith Shain and here is the story:



The greatest generation, like Edith Shain who passed away this June 2010, is fading into history. The new generation taking their place is greatly in debt to their sacrifce.

When our nation was born, the writers of the Declaration of Independence finished "with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

So did many, who made the ultimate sacrifice during World War II, carried the Spirit of 1776 to the Spirit of 1945. May our generation carry the Spirit of 1776 and 1945 in 2010 and beyond.

Other links:

From nydailynews.com: Edith Shain, nurse whose V-J kiss with sailor in Times Square immortalized in Life photo, dies at 91

From YouTube.com: Photo of iconic kiss reenacted