We heard about the death of a Steven Jobs via a news/ads monitor on a public bus in Seville. Having spent a week viewing and reflecting on what is left of one of the great cultures in the history of the Western world, our reactions to Jobs' death has left us thinking about how individuals change the world and leave a legacy.
The history of Spain is filled with people who achieved great power and wealth through successfully defeating their enemies in war, and a few of those individuals are remembered here in buildings they ordered constructed or monuments that their successors built. Hundreds of years later, however, their names are not as familiar to educated people as the names of other Spaniards, artists like Picasso or philosophers like Maimonides.
It's clear to us that you change the world by changing a culture. Culture is the interface between a people and the world in which they live. It's the expression of how a group of people experience the world, interact with it, and communicate the meanings that they find in it.
The founders of the culture we see honored in Andalusia are not honored in statues in public squares. Over two hundred years, the Al Rahman dynasty created a culture here that continues to be studied and to inspire later generations, but their successors lost the military and political battle for the country. So it's the Christian kings that we see in statues, and the Muslim call to prayer that we only hear faintly echoed in traditional Andalusian singing.
Steven Jobs changed the world's culture through technological innovations whose impact were quickly visible and understandable in the lives of a single generation. That happens so very rarely in the history of the world. Who has left a legacy of culture change is more often understood generations later. Will someone build a statue or name a building honoring Steven Jobs? Perhaps? Technological innovators are usually not as well remembered as artists or philosophers. In Akron the Inventors Hall of Fame honors those who left a technological legacy that has changed the lives of everyday people. Bell, Marconi, Edison stand out, but most of those honored there are unfamiliar names. Jobs was an inventor who also envisioned the culture change his new technology could bring about and created the corporation that could help bring that culture change into being. For that reason, he (along with Bill Gates) will have a unique place, not only in the Inventors Hall of Fame, but in the history of the world.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Will Fundamentalism Win?
Will fundamentalism " win"?
After spending time inside one of the world's most beautiful and unusual holy places, the Great Mosque of Cordoba (which contains within it a magnificent Catholic Cathedral) we lingered over lunch in a cafe in the shadow of a statue of the Muslim philosopher Averroes. Averroes advocated in the 13th century for ideas very familiar to 21 st century Unitarian Universalists, particularly that faith and reason are not incompatible, but are both gifts that humans receive as part of this life which should be enjoyed and explored together. Averroes lived in Cordoba in the same century as the Jewish philosopher Maimonides, who also has a statue in Cordoba and streets in Spain dedicated to his memory. Maimonides represents within Judaism a flowering of reason that transcends the culture and century in which he lived and that was not incompatible with his faith.
Both Maimonides and Averroes were defeated in their lifetimes by fundamentalism. Maimonides family was driven out of Cordoba by a rising wave of Catholic fundamentalism and anti-Semitism that ultimately drove all the Jews out of Spain and resulted in the Spanish Inquisition. Averroes is regarded as the last of the "liberal" Muslim philosophers. His successors were far more skeptical about the role of reason in religion.
The two great surviving monuments to Muslim Spain that you can visit in Cordoba and Seville are like architectural bookmarks of the centuries of Muslim rule where Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived in relative harmony, sharing in the creation and enjoyment of a single Andalusian culture within which all could practice their faiths. Several generations lived their lives within that culture, and could not imagine that the values it represented would deteriorate and be destroyed by resurgent fundamentalist beliefs or armies. But they were. In the "Reconquista" Spain became a conservative, monolithic, and imperialist Catholic culture. The Christian winners in this battle tore down the mosque in Seville and replaced it with the 3rd largest Cathedral in the world. In Cordoba, they literally plopped a cathedral into the center of one of the world's most beautiful mosques. Both Muslims and Catholics began to persecute Jews and eventually they were driven out Andalusia. The fundamentalists won.
Their victory did not last, however. In the Spain we experience today, secularism seems dominant, and the power of the Catholic church is in decline. The metaphor of tides is used so often to speak of the patterns in history because ideologies do seem to rise and fall. Religious liberals , especially the 19th century ones who inspired Unitarian Universalism, liked to believe that the despite the tides, the ocean that we float upon is our untapped potential of depth in knowledge and understanding of our common humanity. The jury is still out on that belief. It is an article of faith for UU's and a study if history doesn't necessarily provide a rational justification supporting it.
There are reasons within the architectural monuments for hope, however. When Charles V decided to build a Cathedral in Cordoba after the Muslims were defeated, it would have been easier to just tear down the Great Mosque, as they did in Seville. Instead he preserved its beauty and much of its integrity by building his cathedral into the center of the mosque. When Pedro the Cruel decided to build his palace, he recognized and preserved and adopted the beauty of the Arab architecture in his Alcazar. The "mashup" experience of visiting these places is both heartbreaking and thrilling. We wandered amazed under the red and white columns where Muslims prayed in the Grand Mosque, listening to the chants of a priest offering a Catholic mass. We stepped outside the Moorish gardens and found Maimonides and Averroes waiting for us. Did fundamentalism win? Will it win? Not yet...not yet...
After spending time inside one of the world's most beautiful and unusual holy places, the Great Mosque of Cordoba (which contains within it a magnificent Catholic Cathedral) we lingered over lunch in a cafe in the shadow of a statue of the Muslim philosopher Averroes. Averroes advocated in the 13th century for ideas very familiar to 21 st century Unitarian Universalists, particularly that faith and reason are not incompatible, but are both gifts that humans receive as part of this life which should be enjoyed and explored together. Averroes lived in Cordoba in the same century as the Jewish philosopher Maimonides, who also has a statue in Cordoba and streets in Spain dedicated to his memory. Maimonides represents within Judaism a flowering of reason that transcends the culture and century in which he lived and that was not incompatible with his faith.
Both Maimonides and Averroes were defeated in their lifetimes by fundamentalism. Maimonides family was driven out of Cordoba by a rising wave of Catholic fundamentalism and anti-Semitism that ultimately drove all the Jews out of Spain and resulted in the Spanish Inquisition. Averroes is regarded as the last of the "liberal" Muslim philosophers. His successors were far more skeptical about the role of reason in religion.
The two great surviving monuments to Muslim Spain that you can visit in Cordoba and Seville are like architectural bookmarks of the centuries of Muslim rule where Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived in relative harmony, sharing in the creation and enjoyment of a single Andalusian culture within which all could practice their faiths. Several generations lived their lives within that culture, and could not imagine that the values it represented would deteriorate and be destroyed by resurgent fundamentalist beliefs or armies. But they were. In the "Reconquista" Spain became a conservative, monolithic, and imperialist Catholic culture. The Christian winners in this battle tore down the mosque in Seville and replaced it with the 3rd largest Cathedral in the world. In Cordoba, they literally plopped a cathedral into the center of one of the world's most beautiful mosques. Both Muslims and Catholics began to persecute Jews and eventually they were driven out Andalusia. The fundamentalists won.
Their victory did not last, however. In the Spain we experience today, secularism seems dominant, and the power of the Catholic church is in decline. The metaphor of tides is used so often to speak of the patterns in history because ideologies do seem to rise and fall. Religious liberals , especially the 19th century ones who inspired Unitarian Universalism, liked to believe that the despite the tides, the ocean that we float upon is our untapped potential of depth in knowledge and understanding of our common humanity. The jury is still out on that belief. It is an article of faith for UU's and a study if history doesn't necessarily provide a rational justification supporting it.
There are reasons within the architectural monuments for hope, however. When Charles V decided to build a Cathedral in Cordoba after the Muslims were defeated, it would have been easier to just tear down the Great Mosque, as they did in Seville. Instead he preserved its beauty and much of its integrity by building his cathedral into the center of the mosque. When Pedro the Cruel decided to build his palace, he recognized and preserved and adopted the beauty of the Arab architecture in his Alcazar. The "mashup" experience of visiting these places is both heartbreaking and thrilling. We wandered amazed under the red and white columns where Muslims prayed in the Grand Mosque, listening to the chants of a priest offering a Catholic mass. We stepped outside the Moorish gardens and found Maimonides and Averroes waiting for us. Did fundamentalism win? Will it win? Not yet...not yet...
Good Pedro, Bad Pedro
Good Pedro, Bad Pedro
Touring the Alcazar In Seville yesterday was an experience of holding extremes in aesthetic, political and moral tension with one another. The Alcazar was built as a fort in 913 CE, and has been expanded and reconstructed over the 11 centuries of its existence. It's most recent renovation was enacted by Pedro I who, between 1364 and 1366 crested the Alcazar's crown jewel, the Palacio de Don Pedro. We wrote in a previous blog about the style we are calling "mash up" that is, the combination of primarily Muslim and Christian styles in one building and the Alcazar is no exception. Although Pedro was often at odds with his fellow Roman Catholics, he had a long-standing alliance with the Muslim emir of Granada, Mohammed V. In 1364, Pedro decided to build a new palace within the Alcazar, his friend Mohammed sent the best artisans of the day to help Pedro's dream come true.
As we toured this mist amazing historical site, I was struck by the fact that this Roman Catholic ruler embraced not only Muslim architecture, but allowed Arabic inscriptions from the Qu'ran to decorate the door frame of his own "holy of holies" -- his throne room. Pedro I was also called derisively by his enemies "Pedro the King of the Jews" because he not only allowed Jews to thrive in his city, he executed some half dozen persons who were fomenting a plan to kill some of his Jewish friends and employees. His relationships with Jews and Muslims went beyond "tolerance" and clearly swung towards friendship and admiration for the gifts of these two great traditions.
At the time, he was not called "Peter (Pedro) the cruel" for nothing!! He probably murdered his first wife, abandoned his mistress, murdered anyone who was disloyal to him, and had no problem dispatching people with ease. So, lest we overly romanticize this great "tolerant King" we can't forget that it was really at the whim and fancy of Peter's needs and wishes instead of an over-arching philosophy of multiculturalism.
Our visit to the Alcazar palace and ground was easily one of the great highlights of our time in Seville.
Touring the Alcazar In Seville yesterday was an experience of holding extremes in aesthetic, political and moral tension with one another. The Alcazar was built as a fort in 913 CE, and has been expanded and reconstructed over the 11 centuries of its existence. It's most recent renovation was enacted by Pedro I who, between 1364 and 1366 crested the Alcazar's crown jewel, the Palacio de Don Pedro. We wrote in a previous blog about the style we are calling "mash up" that is, the combination of primarily Muslim and Christian styles in one building and the Alcazar is no exception. Although Pedro was often at odds with his fellow Roman Catholics, he had a long-standing alliance with the Muslim emir of Granada, Mohammed V. In 1364, Pedro decided to build a new palace within the Alcazar, his friend Mohammed sent the best artisans of the day to help Pedro's dream come true.
As we toured this mist amazing historical site, I was struck by the fact that this Roman Catholic ruler embraced not only Muslim architecture, but allowed Arabic inscriptions from the Qu'ran to decorate the door frame of his own "holy of holies" -- his throne room. Pedro I was also called derisively by his enemies "Pedro the King of the Jews" because he not only allowed Jews to thrive in his city, he executed some half dozen persons who were fomenting a plan to kill some of his Jewish friends and employees. His relationships with Jews and Muslims went beyond "tolerance" and clearly swung towards friendship and admiration for the gifts of these two great traditions.
At the time, he was not called "Peter (Pedro) the cruel" for nothing!! He probably murdered his first wife, abandoned his mistress, murdered anyone who was disloyal to him, and had no problem dispatching people with ease. So, lest we overly romanticize this great "tolerant King" we can't forget that it was really at the whim and fancy of Peter's needs and wishes instead of an over-arching philosophy of multiculturalism.
Our visit to the Alcazar palace and ground was easily one of the great highlights of our time in Seville.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Mash Up
We had an experience of a 16th century "mash-up" yesterday at the Palace of Pilate in Seville. (The name derives from the location of the Palace on Pilate Square, rather than any association with the Pilate who judged Jesus.)
The term "mash-up" is used today in popular music to describe combinations of digitally manipulated recordings of various artists' work put together (mashed up) to make a new recording. You might hear a familiar rhythm from a Michael Jackson hit, repeated over and over again like a bass line, mashed up with electronic music and original rapped lyrics, creating something entirely new, yet familiar.
After the Reconquista, wealthy Castillian nobles still saw the aesthetics and architecture of the despised "Moors" they had driven out of Seville as the mark of refinement and the height of beauty in designing their palaces. However, in the 16th century these nobles also had the opportunity to travel to Italy and experience the Renaissance and be captivated by their architecture and their re-discovery of the aesthetics and art of ancient Greece. They were collectors, not only of ancient art, (notably sculpture) but also of the best works from the painters of their own period.
Over three generations, one family mashed up all these influences together into one house, with an Arab style courtyard decorated with exquisite tile. The corners of the courtyard are guarded by Greek statuary of the gods, brought back from Naples. You can view this courtyard from the second floor rooms surrounded by 16th century paintings beneath a Renaissance ceiling design covered with carved wood in floral designs from craftsmen schooled in Arabian design.
It was an aesthetic experience at one disorienting, thrilling, and strangely harmonious.
Today we go to the Alcazar, a mashup of another kind, but one that even more clearly than the Palace of Pilate, reveals how deeply the Muslim aesthetic penetrated Spanish Christian culture.
One mysterious footnote to our visit to the Palace of Pilate: reading between the lines of the tour guide notes, we realized that the family who built the Palace was able to acquire the valuable land and the water source it sits on because it was confiscated (probably from Jews) during the beginning of the Inquisition. It's a tragic political mashup so familiar: a place of extraordinary beauty is able to be built because of oppressive acts that create immense suffering for a family or an entire people.
If you're interested in reading more from the book that inspired this journey, look at "The Ornament of the World" by Maria Rosa Menocal. It's an easy' enjoyable read.
The term "mash-up" is used today in popular music to describe combinations of digitally manipulated recordings of various artists' work put together (mashed up) to make a new recording. You might hear a familiar rhythm from a Michael Jackson hit, repeated over and over again like a bass line, mashed up with electronic music and original rapped lyrics, creating something entirely new, yet familiar.
After the Reconquista, wealthy Castillian nobles still saw the aesthetics and architecture of the despised "Moors" they had driven out of Seville as the mark of refinement and the height of beauty in designing their palaces. However, in the 16th century these nobles also had the opportunity to travel to Italy and experience the Renaissance and be captivated by their architecture and their re-discovery of the aesthetics and art of ancient Greece. They were collectors, not only of ancient art, (notably sculpture) but also of the best works from the painters of their own period.
Over three generations, one family mashed up all these influences together into one house, with an Arab style courtyard decorated with exquisite tile. The corners of the courtyard are guarded by Greek statuary of the gods, brought back from Naples. You can view this courtyard from the second floor rooms surrounded by 16th century paintings beneath a Renaissance ceiling design covered with carved wood in floral designs from craftsmen schooled in Arabian design.
It was an aesthetic experience at one disorienting, thrilling, and strangely harmonious.
Today we go to the Alcazar, a mashup of another kind, but one that even more clearly than the Palace of Pilate, reveals how deeply the Muslim aesthetic penetrated Spanish Christian culture.
One mysterious footnote to our visit to the Palace of Pilate: reading between the lines of the tour guide notes, we realized that the family who built the Palace was able to acquire the valuable land and the water source it sits on because it was confiscated (probably from Jews) during the beginning of the Inquisition. It's a tragic political mashup so familiar: a place of extraordinary beauty is able to be built because of oppressive acts that create immense suffering for a family or an entire people.
If you're interested in reading more from the book that inspired this journey, look at "The Ornament of the World" by Maria Rosa Menocal. It's an easy' enjoyable read.
Monday, October 3, 2011
The Kindness of Strangers
The kindness of strangers
Never was this phrase more true than today. We left Barcelona for Seville, and after finding our very lovely apartment, went shopping at the local mercado. What a trip!! 8:30 pm and everyone was at the supermarket. It was packed. We got inline to check out, only to discover we had to weigh all our fruits, and that could have meant getting out of the very long line and waiting another 20 minutes to get back in.
To make matters worse, as soon as the young cashier starting speaking to me, I got brain freeze. Any tiny memory I had of spanish just flew out of my head. Es stupido was all I could think to myself. How do foreigners who come to the United States do it?? How do they come to this country, get a job, navigate all the barriers, not the least of which is the language?? Trying to speak a foreign language is exhausting!!!! It takes so much energy to just live in a culture that is different than your own. I stood there just repeating "lo siento" and "mil gracias" until the cashier left her register, went to help Wayne weigh the fruit, came back and rang up all my stuff and then rang up the fruit, added it to our bill, then sent us on our way. She could have yelled at us or gotten really annoyed, but she was calm and gracious with us, these non-native speakers.
The next time I encounter someone who doesn't speak English, I hope to be as gracious as that lovely young woman, at the grocery store in Sevilla. Tomorrow, we explore the very heart of the inspiration for this sabbatical, the mosque/cathedral and perhaps the Alcazar, unless it gets too hot, and then we siesta and see it Wednesday.
Never was this phrase more true than today. We left Barcelona for Seville, and after finding our very lovely apartment, went shopping at the local mercado. What a trip!! 8:30 pm and everyone was at the supermarket. It was packed. We got inline to check out, only to discover we had to weigh all our fruits, and that could have meant getting out of the very long line and waiting another 20 minutes to get back in.
To make matters worse, as soon as the young cashier starting speaking to me, I got brain freeze. Any tiny memory I had of spanish just flew out of my head. Es stupido was all I could think to myself. How do foreigners who come to the United States do it?? How do they come to this country, get a job, navigate all the barriers, not the least of which is the language?? Trying to speak a foreign language is exhausting!!!! It takes so much energy to just live in a culture that is different than your own. I stood there just repeating "lo siento" and "mil gracias" until the cashier left her register, went to help Wayne weigh the fruit, came back and rang up all my stuff and then rang up the fruit, added it to our bill, then sent us on our way. She could have yelled at us or gotten really annoyed, but she was calm and gracious with us, these non-native speakers.
The next time I encounter someone who doesn't speak English, I hope to be as gracious as that lovely young woman, at the grocery store in Sevilla. Tomorrow, we explore the very heart of the inspiration for this sabbatical, the mosque/cathedral and perhaps the Alcazar, unless it gets too hot, and then we siesta and see it Wednesday.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Tell the story, use words if you must
Yesterday we visited the Basilica (cathedral) of Barcelona, dedicated to Saint Eulalia, who was martyred at thirteen years of age!!! for her faith. The cathedral is, of course, gorgeous, stunning and a must-see. What really impressed us, however, was the way that the Catholics were able to tell the story of the faith through the arts; the stories of not only Jesus, the disciples, Mary & Joseph, but also those who cared enough about their faith to willingly die for it. I realized that the reason Catholicism spread so rapidly throughout indigenous cultures ( putting aside the additional reality of forced conversion or martyrdom..) was because they were able to communicate a powerful story through images to the illiterate or to those who spoke a different language. Although I did not know some of the stories behind those altar paintings, I could infer their meaning. When I was able to discern the meaning through the painting or artwork, I felt closer to it. One of the things I have always admired about Catholicism is their use of all of the senses in worship; the powerful images, the smells of the censur, the bells at just the right pitch, the visual beauty of the robes and stoles.
I wondered as I gazed upon image after image, story after story, how do Unitarian Universalists tell their story visually? My stepdaughter has been involved in the Living Walls project in Atlanta, GA-- where artists take over a huge blank wall (with permission from said owner of the wall) and create something magnificent in the form of a mural/art-work project. What if we Unitarian Universalists created a huge mural on a blank wall in downtown Cleveland that depicted our faith? Who would be in it? What would the great stories be? Would our church play a role?? I am having fun imagining what a wall of faith would look like.
On a lighter note, for all those who may wonder if I have used my Spanish during this trip, I can say that I have!! When I called out to the waiter to receive the check, I said "cuarenta por favor??" he looked at me as if to say...what??? My friends who spoke Spanish could not contain their laughter. I had shouted out "Forty, please!!" instead of "cuenta!!!, or, check, please! So much for my ten weeks of Spanish.
I wondered as I gazed upon image after image, story after story, how do Unitarian Universalists tell their story visually? My stepdaughter has been involved in the Living Walls project in Atlanta, GA-- where artists take over a huge blank wall (with permission from said owner of the wall) and create something magnificent in the form of a mural/art-work project. What if we Unitarian Universalists created a huge mural on a blank wall in downtown Cleveland that depicted our faith? Who would be in it? What would the great stories be? Would our church play a role?? I am having fun imagining what a wall of faith would look like.
On a lighter note, for all those who may wonder if I have used my Spanish during this trip, I can say that I have!! When I called out to the waiter to receive the check, I said "cuarenta por favor??" he looked at me as if to say...what??? My friends who spoke Spanish could not contain their laughter. I had shouted out "Forty, please!!" instead of "cuenta!!!, or, check, please! So much for my ten weeks of Spanish.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
38 ways to work a Velasquez
At the Picasso Museum yesterday, we were struck by a room full of paintings Pablo created in 1957 in response to a famous painting of Velasquez called "The Children". He worked on paintings of characters and groupings from this Velasquez masterpiece virtually daily for six weeks and then regularly for another six weeks. The discipline of working on a single theme, exploring all it's variations, was on display so vividly to us as we viewed this room full of paintings. All the paintings are recognizable as "Picassos", but each was a unique image of the same tableau that brought out something different each time. We saw the same discipline at work today at the Museum here in Barcelona dedicated to Joan Miro. Similar themes and titles and shapes reoccur, over both short and long spans of time.
Since this weekend our church and many other UU congregations are honoring the Day of Atonement, we were reminded of the power that is in our discipline of honoring in worship the important days and themes of a liturgical calendar. Next time we gripe about preparing for another Day of Atonement, or Thanksgiving, or Christmas, we'll recall Picasso's 38 ways to work a Velasquez.
Since this weekend our church and many other UU congregations are honoring the Day of Atonement, we were reminded of the power that is in our discipline of honoring in worship the important days and themes of a liturgical calendar. Next time we gripe about preparing for another Day of Atonement, or Thanksgiving, or Christmas, we'll recall Picasso's 38 ways to work a Velasquez.
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