Just watch it.
This was grace - short film from Andrew Laparra on Vimeo.
H/T The Magdalene Sisters.
Showing posts with label illness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label illness. Show all posts
Friday, August 19, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Please Pray for Christine
Dear friends, a situation that I posted about here a year and a half ago has taken a turn for the worse. Christine's cancer went into remission after her surgery, but has now returned in metastatic form and, according to her neurologist, there are no known survivors of this type of cancer. Her husband, G., a close friend of mine, has told me that he's had the "what if" conversation with their daughters.
In the meantime, G., a lyric tenor who has sung all over the world, including at the Metropolitan and San Francisco Operas, can't get a gig. The reality of the business now is such that thirteen or so American opera companies have shut up shop in the past two years. What usually happens in this kind of climate is that the A-level singers get gigs in the B-level opera houses, and the B singers go to the C houses, but there are no more C houses, which leaves many very fine singers, who have devoted their lives to perfecting their craft, unemployed -- and, since the time spent perfecting it has precluded other pursuits, essentially unemployable. I've been asking my contacts about teaching work for G., and keep hearing the same question: "Does he have a D.M.A. [Doctorate of Musical Arts, the degree I earned in 2009]?" Um, well, no, he doesn't, since, instead of retreating to academe, as I and many of my colleagues did, he kept laboring in the trenches of opera performance, spending ten months out of the year on the road away from his family, and he achieved a high degree of success. What's more, it's not as if there are enough teaching jobs for people with D.M.A.s.
There are all kinds of efforts, including a well-funded foundation, to help ballet dancers transition into other careers. Why not opera singers?
I've been praying to my usual friends in heaven for Christine and G., especially to St. Joseph and St. Jude, but I'm going to make a special daily devotion to Blessed Pope John XXIII on the behalf of this couple and their children, because of G.'s great love for Italian culture, and because John XXIII is so the man. Please, if you can spare the time, say a prayer for them, too.
In the meantime, G., a lyric tenor who has sung all over the world, including at the Metropolitan and San Francisco Operas, can't get a gig. The reality of the business now is such that thirteen or so American opera companies have shut up shop in the past two years. What usually happens in this kind of climate is that the A-level singers get gigs in the B-level opera houses, and the B singers go to the C houses, but there are no more C houses, which leaves many very fine singers, who have devoted their lives to perfecting their craft, unemployed -- and, since the time spent perfecting it has precluded other pursuits, essentially unemployable. I've been asking my contacts about teaching work for G., and keep hearing the same question: "Does he have a D.M.A. [Doctorate of Musical Arts, the degree I earned in 2009]?" Um, well, no, he doesn't, since, instead of retreating to academe, as I and many of my colleagues did, he kept laboring in the trenches of opera performance, spending ten months out of the year on the road away from his family, and he achieved a high degree of success. What's more, it's not as if there are enough teaching jobs for people with D.M.A.s.
There are all kinds of efforts, including a well-funded foundation, to help ballet dancers transition into other careers. Why not opera singers?
I've been praying to my usual friends in heaven for Christine and G., especially to St. Joseph and St. Jude, but I'm going to make a special daily devotion to Blessed Pope John XXIII on the behalf of this couple and their children, because of G.'s great love for Italian culture, and because John XXIII is so the man. Please, if you can spare the time, say a prayer for them, too.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Please Pray
For Christine, the wife of a friend and former singing colleague of mine. She is having surgery tomorrow for a melanoma in her brain; she also suffers from multiple sclerosis. Her husband, in addition to being a marvelous artist, is a faith-filled man. He has started a blog about his wife's progress, and this is an excerpt from a recent post:
We were marveling at the kindness and generosity of all of our friends and family and how we realize that this great peace is directly associated with all of the prayers. We are also conscious of the fact that despite Christine’s suffering with these two difficult diseases that she has shouldered for many years, there is a plan in all of this that has God’s hand in it. It is often said that the Lord works in mysterious ways. Perhaps to us, these ways are mysterious. But He know exactly what He is doing.
So why is our adorable Christine dealing with all of this (and so gracefully, if you don’t already know)? We have surmised that everybody who is reading this blog, and the [others who have] sent correspondences are all playing a part in [an] unraveling plan for increased faith. People are expressing themselves freely on a public website about prayer. Impressive. I think that there are folks out there who will be persuaded to begin to reestablish that spiritual communication, whether it just begins with “Thanks, Lord” or becomes as elaborate as a rosary., just because of these public assertions that are visible and out there. That’s fortification right there. The love that has been expressed for Christine and our family has been awe-inspiring. This great pronouncement and outpouring of love and prayer has allowed us to relax and has set out minds at ease. It has also, most importantly, increased our faith. The point is that somewhere along the line in this complex process, faith is growing and flourishing.
May we all know the joy of seeing our sufferings work for others' good.
We were marveling at the kindness and generosity of all of our friends and family and how we realize that this great peace is directly associated with all of the prayers. We are also conscious of the fact that despite Christine’s suffering with these two difficult diseases that she has shouldered for many years, there is a plan in all of this that has God’s hand in it. It is often said that the Lord works in mysterious ways. Perhaps to us, these ways are mysterious. But He know exactly what He is doing.
So why is our adorable Christine dealing with all of this (and so gracefully, if you don’t already know)? We have surmised that everybody who is reading this blog, and the [others who have] sent correspondences are all playing a part in [an] unraveling plan for increased faith. People are expressing themselves freely on a public website about prayer. Impressive. I think that there are folks out there who will be persuaded to begin to reestablish that spiritual communication, whether it just begins with “Thanks, Lord” or becomes as elaborate as a rosary., just because of these public assertions that are visible and out there. That’s fortification right there. The love that has been expressed for Christine and our family has been awe-inspiring. This great pronouncement and outpouring of love and prayer has allowed us to relax and has set out minds at ease. It has also, most importantly, increased our faith. The point is that somewhere along the line in this complex process, faith is growing and flourishing.
May we all know the joy of seeing our sufferings work for others' good.
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