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Not too long ago, several of us were praying over some recent high-school graduates; two of them.  Both of these young people have artistic aspects to their natures.  I only knew of them having no previous personal acquaintance with them.  My impressions related to their familiarity with arts are therefore not founded in first-hand knowledge.  The others who were praying for them knew at least one of the two fairly well and I sensed a general sensitivity to “the arts” in the prayer offerings.  That disclaimer completed, I want to share some impressions with you.  These impressions are of a general kind.  They are not a treatise on the scientific nature of things.  They have to do with our interactions with the Creation. Art that is enjoyed primarily with the auditory organs is generally thought of as music.  There are other auditory experiences but generally when we put together ideas of sound and art, we think of music.  Music theory is by no means a field of mine.  I know of music mostly in that I usually know when I am out of tune.  I have enjoyed music over my lifetime and have had a fair amount of involvement in choral enterprises of various sorts, particularly in my early adult years.  I had a heavy exposure to physics as [...]

A number of years ago now, a well-known movie portrayed a situation in which five children were selected to tour a candy factory.  The movie was so popular and remained popular that it was remade after quite some time had passed.  In both cases, the uniting mechanism was that five children were to be selected based on the possession of a “golden ticket” which was to be found in a candy bar that was available in most markets.  The master of the candy factory promised that the five tickets were randomly placed in the candy bars and shipped to unknown locations thereafter.  The children who purchased the candy bars containing the golden tickets were then invited to the spectacular candy factory on a certain date.  Each child would select an adult chaperone to accompany them on the tour.  The setup focused on the efforts and wishes of one particular lad from a poverty-stricken family.  Of course the poor lad was fortunate enough to acquire one ticket by purchasing only one candy bar.  He and his grandfather were then included in the tour. A series of object lessons were then encountered which resulted in the surprise that one of the children would become an “heir” to the eccentric confectioner based on quality of character.  We knew all through the story [...]

A typical manifestation, in healthy marriages, is a pair of mutual statements of “love” for one another.  One spouse will say, “I love you.”  The usual response is, “I love you, too.”  Couples often develop their own special formulations and patterns of these, but the phenomenon is typical.  While the sincerity of the response is questionable, it is still treasured.  In fact, the underlying cause of the exchange is often the desire for the response.  While not all marriages are characterized by this kind of exchange, it is still common.  The questionable nature of the response is that a stimulus was required before it was made.  The implications of these things are best not considered, so we accept a fairly superficial exchange as being valuable in maintaining the marriage.  Let me be clear, these are very useful and supportive phenomena and should not be abandoned.  In fact, husbands in particular should be very careful to see to their maintenance because of their impact on the internal well-being of their wives.  They exist for routine, reciprocal reassurance. It’s interesting to note that the Bible has little to say concerning these protestations.  They are not totally absent though.  In fact, much of the poetry in the Song of Songs consists of statements of love – as much in third person as in second [...]