PRESIDENT'S CORNER - January 5, 2017

Huston Smith: Word came this week that this beloved scholar of the world’s religious faiths, has passed away at age 97 on December 30.

Smith was one of the first great thinkers I heard speak at Chautauqua about 25 years ago. He got me thinking about religion and lead me to read Karen Armstrong, Marcus Borg, John Shelby Spong, Paul Tillich, and others. When it came time to write my textbook on World Theater and Drama, it was Smith’s book, The World’s Religions, that guided me to an understanding of the religions and to reach the conclusion that ALL religions teach the same things (with different vocabulary) and that all theatrical traditions trace back to some kind of religious ceremony. Some of you may remember that Smith was extensively interviewed by Bill Moyers many years ago for PBS. Those talks are available on DVD and likely on BillMoyers.com or YouTube. You can Google Huston Smith for all kinds of material, videos, etc. Here are some quotes:

Pure science - this vision of the universe as 15 billion light years across - I am bedazzled and awed by it.

Science is empirical, all about physical senses that tell us about the world. But physical senses are not the only senses we have. Nobody has ever seen a thought. Nobody has ever seen a feeling. And yet thoughts and feelings are where we live our lives most immediately, and science cannot connect with that.

God has to speak to each person in their own language, in their own idioms. Take Spanish, Chinese. You can express the same thought, but to different people you have to use a different language. It's the same in religion.

The faith I was born into formed me. I come from a missionary family - I grew up in China - and in my case, my religious upbringing was positive. Of course, not everyone has this experience. I know many of my students are what I have come to think of as wounded Christians or wounded Jews. [All quotes by Huston Smith]

Movies: “Manchester by the Sea” is back at the Carmike and will play through next week. It will tear your heart out but should not be missed. Take 2 hankies!  “La La Land,” one of the best reviewed films of 2016, finally starts today at the Regal Hollywood. It’s a musical!

Opera: “Nabucco" by Verdi will be simulcast Saturday at 12:55 PM at the Regal Hollywood. Placido Domingo does another baritone role. I believe it is the only opera based on an ancient Hebrew story of the Jews being led into slavery in Babylon after the destruction of Jerusalem.

New Year’s Cheer? Amid all the bloviators foretelling doom and gloom, I believe we have to find it within ourselves to use the annual New Year’s Resolutions to explore what we believe, figure out why we believe these things, understand how we intend to practice what we believe, and feel in our hearts that we can make a difference within our family, community and our world by simply refusing to accept doom and gloom and go up higher. How many times have we that teach heard young students wail, “I can’t learn that!”  only to be taught by us that “can’t” is an unacceptable outcome. Actors have it about right: What do I want right now? How am I going to get it? What is my objective in this moment? Anyone that answers these questions CAN and WILL get what they need. Cheerful enough for today? We’ll see.

My medical procedure is next week, so I may or may not have a column next Friday.

Jim Held, President