Openness and the will to change

I have some music at tapegerm.com and sound loops at freesound which I recorded off the subway and made available.Now I discovered that the samples have been inserted in a game! The game is Tremulous and my sample loops are part of the Paris Metro and an underground world. You never know where and what will happen.

A call from a student earlier tonight reminded me I can never predict what will happen for me or someone else. Life is unpredictable. There are no guarantees, no sure fire solutions. I can never solve others' problems let alone my own. But there is more to life than solving problems, there is the companionship of others and the experiences that can challenge and grow us.

Gorsch the cellist (or gauche or goshu) is a great little story by Kenji Miyazaki made into an Japanese anime by Isao Takahata who later founded Studio Ghibli. The story tells of a young cellist who while diligent is limited. The conductor and the rest of the orchestra are frustrated by his seeming lack of ability to play well. Over the course of 4 nights, local animals come to visit Gorsch in his little shack and their visits change change him, bringing out musicianship from deep inside of Gorsch.

Being open is essential to being transformed or being made new. In the Christian tradition there are two different understandings of what grace does. Grace can be imputed bringing about something transformative and alternatively grace can bring about something new. Both can be helpful when facing the uncertainties of life, that God might bring about something new or simply transform something already there.