A month or so ago we were listening to a Sunday morning music program, "Musica Antigua" which plays music from the Baroque era and earlier, most of it from the late- Medieval period. Although they did have local "fun" music then, the high music of the earlier period was almost exclusively religious, and it is that which has primarily made it to the present day. At one point while I was washing a frying pan, some celestial choral music came on, as simple as folk music, but other-wordly and mind-transporting. Waiting to hear who the composer might be (some from that period - the 12th century - are anonymous), I was surprised to find that it was from Hildegard of Bingen. I had read of her before - an abbess, a writer and a composer who was also counsel to kings and popes, and considered a powerful prophet of her day. Because of this, I looked for books on her, and was able to get an odd but satisfying one, Hildegard of Bingen, by Heinrich Schipperges, translated from the German.
One of the first things that becomes clear is that she was exceptional for her influence, particularly at a time when women where clearly considered incapable of great thought. Said one man of her from her time after much praise, "Imagine this from a woman!" I am only 25 pages into the short book, but have already found other gems. She was indeed exceptional, as she challenged the powers of her time to rise above corruption, at one time telling Emperor Frederick, after he had set up his own counter-pope, that she would be coming after him with a sword (one expects she meant the sword of righteousness, but one never knows - it was the 12th century).
But she was also a mystic who spoke of the tremendous insights that God gave her on the meaning of the Gospels and of her times. This author, unlike one previously featured here concerning the Little Saint, quickly presented current psychological and medical explanations for her abilities, and just as quickly dismissed them. I, of course, applauded. But then I had to think - it is true that many gifted people have mental, emotional and physical problems. Wouldn't it be just as true that these problems could cause aberrations that people from a more superstitious era would call "gifts"?
The great movie, "A Beautiful Mind", with Russel Crowe (if I recall correctly) chronicles the life of a real-life mathematical genius who, we find out, is also profoundly schizophrenic. We learn that his paranoid fantasies are just that - and they soon come to take over his life. Still, it was this mind that produced his works of genius, works which might never have been without the mental disease. Here we understand that the mind can operate at separate levels - that the diseased or imperfect portion might reflect the brilliance of another portion. How this works is still controversial, but clear enough, and nearly universal - most of our geniuses were people with feet of clay. Martin Luther King's dalliances with prostitutes did not affect his courage and moral strength in fighting racism; and, from another angle, Thomas Jefferson's ownership of slaves did not affect his own courage and genius in helping to craft a government of and for the people in an era of despots and kings. The list goes on and on. Why, then, should certain physical and mental problems (and moral problems) affect the reality of the visions perceived by spiritual geniuses?
Of course, they can - The "genius" down the hall who has coated his apartment with aluminum foil to keep out extraterrestrial thoughts might simply be nuts. But those such as Hildegard have been "vetted" by the best, and her psychological health should not obscure her works. Not that she showed any sign whatsoever of mental illness for people of her time, but still - the clarity of her visions and the beauty of her compositions are enough. She was truly gifted. More pages await.
Speaking of the prophets of old, as well as of herself, I leave this quote from her which reminds me of the quest for 'quality in writing' discussed in the previous blog: "They also had a certain hardness like the solidity of marble, because having been filled with the Holy Spirit, they did not cringe before anyone but always stood firm with the integrity of truth. They did not cut their words, since they accepted what they said from no one other than the one who is complete integrity, namely, God. They were as inflexible as stones and did not give ground to anyone else. They acted in the whiteness of simplicity, in the simplicity of an infant that does not speak other than what it sees and knows." FK
One of the first things that becomes clear is that she was exceptional for her influence, particularly at a time when women where clearly considered incapable of great thought. Said one man of her from her time after much praise, "Imagine this from a woman!" I am only 25 pages into the short book, but have already found other gems. She was indeed exceptional, as she challenged the powers of her time to rise above corruption, at one time telling Emperor Frederick, after he had set up his own counter-pope, that she would be coming after him with a sword (one expects she meant the sword of righteousness, but one never knows - it was the 12th century).
But she was also a mystic who spoke of the tremendous insights that God gave her on the meaning of the Gospels and of her times. This author, unlike one previously featured here concerning the Little Saint, quickly presented current psychological and medical explanations for her abilities, and just as quickly dismissed them. I, of course, applauded. But then I had to think - it is true that many gifted people have mental, emotional and physical problems. Wouldn't it be just as true that these problems could cause aberrations that people from a more superstitious era would call "gifts"?
The great movie, "A Beautiful Mind", with Russel Crowe (if I recall correctly) chronicles the life of a real-life mathematical genius who, we find out, is also profoundly schizophrenic. We learn that his paranoid fantasies are just that - and they soon come to take over his life. Still, it was this mind that produced his works of genius, works which might never have been without the mental disease. Here we understand that the mind can operate at separate levels - that the diseased or imperfect portion might reflect the brilliance of another portion. How this works is still controversial, but clear enough, and nearly universal - most of our geniuses were people with feet of clay. Martin Luther King's dalliances with prostitutes did not affect his courage and moral strength in fighting racism; and, from another angle, Thomas Jefferson's ownership of slaves did not affect his own courage and genius in helping to craft a government of and for the people in an era of despots and kings. The list goes on and on. Why, then, should certain physical and mental problems (and moral problems) affect the reality of the visions perceived by spiritual geniuses?
Of course, they can - The "genius" down the hall who has coated his apartment with aluminum foil to keep out extraterrestrial thoughts might simply be nuts. But those such as Hildegard have been "vetted" by the best, and her psychological health should not obscure her works. Not that she showed any sign whatsoever of mental illness for people of her time, but still - the clarity of her visions and the beauty of her compositions are enough. She was truly gifted. More pages await.
Speaking of the prophets of old, as well as of herself, I leave this quote from her which reminds me of the quest for 'quality in writing' discussed in the previous blog: "They also had a certain hardness like the solidity of marble, because having been filled with the Holy Spirit, they did not cringe before anyone but always stood firm with the integrity of truth. They did not cut their words, since they accepted what they said from no one other than the one who is complete integrity, namely, God. They were as inflexible as stones and did not give ground to anyone else. They acted in the whiteness of simplicity, in the simplicity of an infant that does not speak other than what it sees and knows." FK
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