Le Sabot Post-Moderne

Two Brushes With The Old Kirk Today. . .

Another hat tip to The Duchess. She's finishing up Scott's Rob Roy, and pointed out this nice passage to me:

"The sound of so many voices united by the distance into one harmony, and freed from those harsh discordances which jar the ear when heard more near, combining with the murmuring brook, and the wind which sung among the old firs, affected me with a sense of sublimity. All nature, as invoked by the Psalmist whose verses they chanted, seemed united in offering that solemn praise in which trembling is mixed with joy as she addressed her Maker.

I had heard the service of high mass in France, celebrated with all the e'clat which the choicest music, the richest dresses, the most imposing ceremonies, could confer on it; yet it fell short in effect of the simplicity of the Presbyterian worship. The devotion in which every one took a share seemed so superior to that which was recited by musicians as a lesson which they had learned by rote, that it gave the Scottish worship all the advantage of reality over acting."

--Rob Roy, Sir Walter Scott

I was able to win one of my English students over a bit today with a bit of Presbyterian lore. Like a lot of Ukrainians, her family is mildly suspicious of Western Believers (many here lump us together as sektanti -- sect members.) She loves the fantasy genre. When I explained that the authors of both Narnia and Lord of the Rings were Believers, that made an impression.

But the crowning moment came when I mentioned that J.K. Rowling is a Presbyterian, which just happens to be the same church we're organizing here in the Poznyaki Region. Apparently, Harry Potter's not only good for luring youngsters into witchcraft. . . He works for Calvinists too!

Posted by Discoshaman at mars 18, 2004 01:09 AM | TrackBack