Le Danube Bleu

While checking some pictures and videos of dear young friends on FaceBook, I found a few videos of them dancing beautifully to classic music. I immediately remembered Le Danube Bleu Waltz that I danced with my only girl-friend at the age of 24. She was and still is beautiful. We later married and she is, since 1982, my wife Samia. But the depth of "Le Danube Bleu" goes further in my memory. The joy comes from my mother who loved this dance and probably danced it with my dad. "Le Danube Bleu" is an expression of love that elevates the soul and respects the other and the other's body. This is music as music should be. It is the fruit of the Renaissance that emphasized the human side of Christianity and retrieved the good in the "pagan"  Greek and Roman cultures before Christianity.
Listen to "Le Danube Bleu" here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmsIGxYHelQ

When I started learning music at the age of 17, it was this piece by Strauss that I first learned on the accordion. I never continued learning music but my sons did learn classic and sacred music at the renowned St. Michael's Choir School in Toronto. They sang in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Toronto and were sent to sing as part of the Choir in Europe and to the Pope in the Vatican. Today they are professional musicians much in demand for their developed talents in churches; one as a singer and the other as the organist at St. Basil's Church. My two brothers in Toronto did the same for their boys. We do not regret at any moment the sacred music that our kids learned.

I did not create this post for my own glory or for my family's glory but for those I wish to share with the joy that emanates from listening to good music and dancing to good music. Not every music is great, but there may probably be traces of good things here and there. My taste should not determine other people's taste. We only rejoice as Christians and humans when others rejoice in things that elevate the spirit and respect the presence of God even if they are not aware of his presence in them. Eternal joy is not only the promise of Christ to those who really follow him but also his desire for all humans as they have an opportunity to embrace God in his unbound love. It is in that sense that fear should be conquered as Christ conquered death. Christians are bound to show the luminous face of Christ through their way of living the love of God with everyone.

In music, we can express the beauty and grandeur in creation even if still "groaning" until creation finds its glory in God who is the Omega point to use the expression of Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. Henri Boulad, S.J. writes "The cosmos is sacred because God created it out of love!" Georges Farah, in the same direction, believes in joy and speaks about joy.. We conclude with St. Augustine "O God we will not find rest until we rest in you." The entire creation is a hymn to the unfathomable love of the Triune God.