Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Book Notes: God's Cycle of Music by Mark Paulson

There are many ways to look at God’s amazing relationship with humans: people with different talents, interests, and backgrounds see different aspects of God more clearly. It enriches us when we try to see from another person’s perspective. “God’s Cycle of Music: A Musician’s Explanation of God’s Purpose and Meaning for Our Lives” (Hope Publishing House, 2009) is a look at God’s redemption from the viewpoint of Mark Paulson, a professional pianist and piano teacher in New Jersey..

Some of Paulson’s analogies are expected: it’s almost automatic to cast God as the Composer of the music of life. Yet several of his analogies delightfully caught me off guard. I had never thought of the Holy Spirit as a Conductor, or Jesus as an Agent. In a compact style, Paulson brings up images for several aspects of the Christian experience; then allows us to expand and develop those images, creating our own variations on .the theme. For example, he suggests comparing spiritual disciplines like prayer and fasting to practicing scales and etudes. He spins off a list of nine disciplines, gives a paragraph or two on each one for a starter, then encourages your imagination to expand and apply the idea.

Occasionally an analogy gets weak and seems overshadowed by more familiar, non-musical expressions. Any metaphor can only be stretched so far before breaks down, but before that point the metaphor enriches and expands the mind and the heart that considers it. “God’s Cycle of Music” is well worth reading and then building upon. You can purchase the book here.
-- Jerry Starks

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The bible gives us more information on God than we can ever fully comprehend. However, one of the most incredible things about God is that He desires to have a personal relationship with us. We are unique individuals but yet God is able to interact with all of His people in very special ways. This book presents just one perspective of God. However,the information in the book is always based on verses that are found in the bible.

Jerry has written a wonderful summary of the book. I especially appreciate his suggestions to take the examples and expand them further. Apply the concepts to your own life and use them to develop your own ideas of the true and living God. The book is a simple book that anyone can understand. However,the personal applications are endless.

The book is available at Amazon.com. If you would like to see an unedited version of the book on line before it went to the publisher, go to www.godscycleofmusic.com However, the hard copy of the book gives a much better presentation of the material.

Daily Inspiration

The Blind Side

Read about the real life mom from "The Blind Side."

Lifeway: http://www.lifeway.com/article/?id=169816

Guideposts: http://www.guideposts.com/story/sandra-bullock-blind-side-football?page=0,1

Read Matt Mungle's review of the movie at http://www.buddyhollywood.com/.

Lauren Yarger, Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the 2000 Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists.

Yarger trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Three-Day Training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run.

In 2008 she was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She writes reviews of Broadway and off-Broadway theater with a Christian perspective for Reflections in the Light (http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/) and is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection. She also is a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com

She also reviews books for Publisher's Weekly and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. She formerly was Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp, a national theater web site bsed in New York and a reviewer for American Theater Web.

She also served as Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. and worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.

She is a freelance writer and member of the Drama Desk, The Outer Critics Circle, The American Theater Critics Association, The League of Professional Theatre Women and The CT Critics Circle.

A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger lives with her husband in West Granby, CT and has two adult children.

Copyright Notice

All contents copyright © Lauren Yarger 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. All rights reserved. For reprint permission, contact masterworkproductions@yahoo.com.

Scripture from THE MESSAGE Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

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