tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15860677.post7002954760677957192..comments2024-03-25T14:27:40.121-05:00Comments on Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength: Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - and a problem with the modern worldWeekend Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10425001168670801073noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15860677.post-56763702193214471882010-11-24T14:47:15.187-06:002010-11-24T14:47:15.187-06:00Enjoy a little modern wonder and beauty:
http://ww...Enjoy a little modern wonder and beauty:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FheQe8rflWQHowardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13707181627588121525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15860677.post-85606631304210512902010-11-24T06:58:16.520-06:002010-11-24T06:58:16.520-06:00I think we may have ended up the same place after ...I think we may have ended up the same place after all. Our age has lots of wonders -- but they generally don't involve beauty. <br /><br />Take care & God bless<br />Anne / WFWeekend Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10425001168670801073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15860677.post-62674308126025151882010-11-23T14:47:05.605-06:002010-11-23T14:47:05.605-06:00Perhaps it's looking in different places? One ...Perhaps it's looking in different places? One of the key spheres of wonder for me in our own times has been the golden age of Science Fiction - the works of writers like Asimov, Heinlein, Herbert and the like certainly supplied this in a fashion which, personally, has yet to be equaled. As for beauty, the Pre-Raphelites and many artists inspired by such perspectives often leave me speechless.Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13707181627588121525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15860677.post-53135249639979226012010-11-23T14:13:29.649-06:002010-11-23T14:13:29.649-06:00Hi Howard
The previous ages were definitely uneve...Hi Howard<br /><br />The previous ages were definitely uneven in quality, no doubt about that. The world has had different Golden Ages in different regions, both before and after the advent of Christ. <br /><br />I simply don't see the same effort towards beauty in our age, or the last century or so, anywhere. <br /><br />If you're seeing it, I'm very curious where. I'm not denying it might exist -- just if it does, I wonder if it's kept itself something of a secret ... <br /><br />Take care & God bless<br />Anne / WFWeekend Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10425001168670801073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15860677.post-7481375085791209682010-11-23T12:15:52.407-06:002010-11-23T12:15:52.407-06:00WF stated:
"I think, as far as beauty and won...WF stated:<br />"I think, as far as beauty and wonder, I'd put it like this: art in the Middle Ages was more of a symphony"...<br /><br />The era of the Cathedral Builders (4th to 15th Century)? Having recently re-viewed my own (UK) country's history over this time, it was far from a 'symphony'! After the squelching of the Saxon's by the Normans, the Plantagenet's heralded many centuries of civil unrest (Simon De Montfort, The Baron's Revolt, the War of the Roses, the Hundred years war, to name a few 'highlights'). The interesting thing about these times was that some of the best ideas regarding law and culture had come before this (under rulers like Alfred and Edward) and the reason for much of the unrest was the tyranny and mis-use of power by those who ruled - something, no doubt, also true in ancient cultures.<br /><br />The 'Golden Age' really begins here following the passing of Henry and Mary and splendor of the rule of Elizabeth. This period would give us a wonderful development of art, language, learning, and the slow progress of those social freedoms so longed for in the previous centuries. This enriching certainly went on right through until the 'new learning' which motivated many of the revolutions of the 17th century.<br /><br />WF: "I get the distinct impression our age is an age of underachievers when it comes to beauty". <br /><br />I'm not sure the 'unifying' ideology which inspired the beauty of the eras you grant prominence would be as productive as suggested. If I had to live in any of these periods rather than our own, the later Tudor world must have been a day filled with wonders.Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13707181627588121525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15860677.post-47210925014829046402010-11-23T07:25:29.698-06:002010-11-23T07:25:29.698-06:00Ok, I remember your post on affirmation. But I'...Ok, I remember your post on affirmation. But I'm puzzled about the tie-in here. Going to go re-read that ... <br /><br />Fighting cynicism and building up what is good ... I'm hoping I got the right tie-in?<br /><br />Take care & God bless<br />Anne / WFWeekend Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10425001168670801073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15860677.post-24015637037728546382010-11-23T05:24:04.517-06:002010-11-23T05:24:04.517-06:00Bingo.
I recently did a post on affirmation, clai...Bingo.<br /><br />I recently did a post on affirmation, claiming that there wasn't much of it.Martin LaBarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15860677.post-46098293713267232632010-11-22T16:17:54.388-06:002010-11-22T16:17:54.388-06:00Hi Howard
For my current purposes, the "mode...Hi Howard<br /><br />For my current purposes, the "modern" world is the industrial-age world and since then. And I think, as far as beauty and wonder, I'd put it like this: art in the Middle Ages was more of a symphony. That is, all the people were pretty much working from the same sheet of music and under the same director, and you could get some impressive pieces both in size and complexity just from having that many people cooperating on the same thing. <br /><br />These days, there are remnants of the same art form -- but the common expression is as bands. Their works are short and are for just a few players. It's not that the art form has died out; but compared to what it has been in other ages ... it's a little on the pathetic side. <br /><br />I spent this afternoon at a plant nursery, admiring their olive trees and bougainvillea collection among other things. While we draw our inspiration from the natural world, what we do with it comes out as human culture. And the culture of our age is less developed, artistically and aesthetically, than many of the ages that have gone before us. <br /><br />If you look at the capabilities of what we could produce now (20th-21st centuries) compared to what could be produced 1000, 2000, or 3000 years ago -- and then compare what we actually do to what they actually did, I get the distinct impression our age is an age of underachievers when it comes to beauty. <br /><br />Take care & God bless<br />Anne / WFWeekend Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10425001168670801073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15860677.post-39954976136055197912010-11-22T14:10:48.666-06:002010-11-22T14:10:48.666-06:00Some of your thoughts on beauty and wonder here br...Some of your thoughts on beauty and wonder here brought to mind the lyrics of the song, The Circus of Heaven by Yes:<br />http://www.lyricsdepot.com/yes/circus-of-heaven.html<br />(Which has a particularly apt ending).<br /><br />A pastor friend of mine often re-gains his sense of beauty and wonder by going to places where he can view the animal kingdom. For myself (and I suspect for many others), it is often fed by the grandeur of the natural world rather than the ancient world. Whilst I certainly see something in what you have said, is the 'modern' (last 2,000 years) really as empty of beauty and of wonder as this entry may suggest? I have certainly viewed works of art, architecture and other medium (cinematography springs to mind) which have struck deeply in the fields of wonder and beauty.Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13707181627588121525noreply@blogger.com