by Volker Brendel

There are a variety of communication channels, some of which are lost in electronic transmission. We cannot quite see each other in the same way as when we are in the same room.  Certainly, we cannot smell each other. Perception of body language is limited. But then again this is not all that different from any form of communication. Ultimately, we always have to make do with what we have. We use words, gestures, body language, and so forth to convey something of our own experience. And then those we are communicating with perceive this and necessarily filter this through their own associations, related to their own experience. The best we can hope for is to convey with some accuracy what our experience is and that this translates for those with whom we wish to communicate. In that sense, technology doesn’t change too much; it just introduces more factors in the chain of communication that we have to consider.

by Volker Brendel

Today is a beautiful autumn day. Leaves are turning in Southern Indiana and are displaying wonderful colors; a sight to behold. There is comfort in the predictability of the seasons. We know that summer will come to an end, autumn will come, and eventually winter and spring will follow. We take comfort in this orderly progression. We like to be able to predict our future, and yet our experience shows time after time that we don’t do a good job of this. Who among us could have imagined our current life circumstances from the perspective of fall of 2019, looking ahead just one year? As strange as it may sound, a year ago was pre-epidemic. Many of us wouldn’t have known what a coronavirus was, let alone how quickly it could spread across the globe and change almost everyone’s lifestyle. And that is covering only the very small timescale of one year!

by Volker Brendel

Daniil Trifonov – Rachmaninov: Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini, Op.43, Variation 18

I hope you’ve had a chance to look at the night sky in recent days particularly. You may have read the news reports about the spectacle of the comet NEOWISE appearing in the northern sky, right below the Great Dipper after sunset. I have been going out every evening trying to get a glimpse of the comet zipping by, with its sparking dust cloud trailing. I figure this is my only chance: the comet comes around every 6,800 years, and I don’t know where I’ll be next time!

by Volker Brendel

Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World (Original Spoken Intro Version)

Welcome everyone to this wonderful world! I very much appreciate that old favorite song, first performed many decades ago. On first impression, the song might seem to convey a very simple, maybe naïve message. But as we lift our eyes, we must agree that this is a wonderful world. This recognition is particularly easy in the springtime if you are in a nice setting; birds are singing, flowers are bursting forth, life is in full evidence.

by Volker Brendel

Borrowing from a famous commercial years ago, I could say: “Hello new world!” We are obviously faced with a somewhat dramatic situation with the coronavirus pandemic. This is literally affecting everyone on earth, to some more tangibly at this time than to others, but nonetheless affecting anyone, everywhere. And all of this has developed at breathtaking speed. There are many factors to encompass; certainly, more factors than I personally can encompass on my own. So, we’ll spend the hour slightly differently from other times. I will open our consideration with some remarks to set a framework for our consideration, and then we’ll open it up earlier than usual for others to contribute in recognition that this situation requires many voices, many experiences, many insights; channeled, though, through a common framework of spiritual identity.

by Volker Brendel

It is time for reflection. It is good to make time for this, in fact necessary. However, reflection is an activity that is largely being ignored these days by most people. We might ask when we should engage in reflection, upon life in general or our own lives. Maybe when we approach the end of our lives? I think most people would do that if they had a chance to do a retrospective, putting their life experiences into a larger context.

by Volker Brendel

We have just launched the Tone of Life website (www.toneoflife.org). This took considerable effort, both technically and in producing the content. It was not the easiest of births, because of the nature of what we are trying to do and convey. I suppose if you have a business, let’s say you are a car dealer, and you need to set up a website, it is pretty straightforward to determine what should be on the site. You tell your potential customers what brands of cars will be available, what types (new or used or both), what models, your opening hours, maybe some characteristics of your approach to business, and so forth; all fairly straightforward, and there are many examples to follow.