Saturday morning I heard an NPR segment with a female conductor regarding a Leonard Bernstein symphony she is now presenting. Her essay on it is at NPR here, as well as the NPR audio segment, which offers more revelation about the work.
I sometimes think there is no way in which I have not approached religion and belief in God (and found it wanting 9 times out of 10), but there was a surprise in this piece for me. And that in itself is surprising, because it is so simple (and probably most of you have already thought of it). In this work, judgment day becomes man's judgment on God, not the other way round. (For a wonderful piece treating judgment day as man's judgment on himself – individually – turn to Red Dwarf, the excellent 1980s British comedy science fiction TV series, episode: The Inquisitor.)
My immediate reaction to Bernstein's idea is that, indeed, if it turned out there truly was a God at the end of it all whom we all meet, it is he who will need to ask for my forgiveness. And then, of course, the question would be, “Can I forgive him?”
All this is a lot of psychological jumbo, but not mumbo. After all, our whole existence is really about our psychology. Everything we do is a result of our psychology. Further in the Bernstein work, God and man are interconnected so that one cannot not exist without the other, which clearly, on a psychological level, makes one a reflection of the other, and to argue which is “real” and which a “reflection” would only be splitting hairs. They're the same. And then the question becomes, “Can I forgive myself?”
This is a masterful piece of work from Bernstein, who belongs with the great writers of symphonies whose works have lasted centuries. If you're inclined to give any consideration to human psychology, peace, war, love and forgiveness, check out the NPR segment and the essay.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
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