Psalm 137 reflects the time when Israel was captive in Babylon. The message and its relevance to contemporary interfaith projects seem clear. I wonder how people really view these projects. I wonder how any ecumenical venture could ever be workable. Although the challenges are wonderful, they are also daunting.
Questions arise daily.
But these beg the core questions. To tackle these and similar issues, I have been seeking a center, a point of balance and focus, that allows not only for tolerance of diversity but also for the flowering and marriage of music and prayer that can be powerful as well as useful beyond the concert stage. For me, but perhaps not for all, this center derives from my belief system and its attitudes towards art, creativity, and music in the sacred world. Many composers and listeners have become quite fond of Eastern Orthodoxy in recent years. This is welcome and wonderful on a sensual plane, but there is something deeper and in some respects more obvious to investigate in the relationship between Orthodox prayer and art.