Why is the Organ Still Used in Church?

Monday mornings I listen to a podcast entitled, Sunday on Monday. It's a great resource put out by LDS Living (an arm of Deseret Books). This podcast hosts a small discussion group on the Come Follow Me Curriculum put out by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Last year the podcast covered the Book of Mormon. This year the podcast is discussing the Doctrine and Covenants. LDS Living produces some of my favorite podcasts. The Sunday on Monday podcast has not only helped me in my personal study of the scriptures, it has also helped me to become a better teacher by asking better questions.

One of the questions in the podcast this week was, "have you ever been given a calling that you thought, or even said out loud, 'You want me to do what? Come again?'"

The discussion group participants shared their experiences and then the host shared hers. Her current calling is the one that is causing her to question. She is called to be the ward organist. But she isn't an organist, she is a pianist. 

One of the discussion group participants asked, "I want to know how the organ even got messed up in the whole thing. Like, why do we still have an organ? Anyone?"

Maybe the question is facetious and maybe the banter is just for fun, but I really want to answer this question. This isn't the first time I've heard it. And much like the Doctrine and Covenants does, I want to answer this question from both a temporal and spiritual angle, and I want to answer even more than this question asks. 

If you hang on 'til the end of the post, I will link to some resources for pianist who've been recruited to play the organ. If you are one of these, let me tell you as a reformed pianist myself, the calling to be ward organist is the best. It is one of the few callings where if you apply yourself and attempt to magnify your calling, the Lord will bless you with a talent and an increased capacity to learn.

Physical Reasoning

Instruments are about space. Their sound is designed to fill their designated space. Chapels are large. If the overflow is open, they are even larger. Without a mic, the mellow sound waves reverberating off a piano soundboard won't fill this space. A piano is barely vibrant enough to support a ward choir, let alone a 300 to 400 person congregation. The congregation needs the support of an organ. The organ is there to lift and inspire the congregation. 

Interesting side note, in Bach's day, the organist played a hymn prelude (in a beautiful arrangement) to give the congregations its pitch and then the congregation sang the hymn a capella. A capella in musical terms is understood as "singing without musical accompaniment." It comes from the Italian meaning, "in the chapel style." Some Christian religions continue to frown on the use of any musical instruments in worship as the only God given instrument is the voice. 

Others see the organ as a wind instrument that can come closer to imitating the human voice than any other instrument. The use of the organ in church services began to creep in around 900 AD, by the 1500s, around the time of Martin Luther and Bach, organs were becoming an integral part of Cathedrals and church services

Spiritual Reasoning

Several years ago, the ward organ I play broke. It took several weeks to get it repaired. In the mean time, I played the piano. It was a fun a stress free time. Plus I had plenty of old piano prelude that the congregation had never heard me play. When the organ was finally fixed, a councilor in the bishopric expressed his disappointment that I had moved back to the organ. I told him, "the piano is nice, but the organ puts the 'fear of God' into you." I tend to answer in as few words as possible when I'm playing. I'd like to explain this idea better than this.

Consider Jacob in the Book of Mormon in Jacob 7:5 when Sherem tries to shake Jacob's faith,  "And he had hope to shake me from the faith, notwithstanding the many revelations and the many things which I had seen concerning these things; for I truly had seen angels, and they had ministered unto me. And also, I had heard the voice of the Lord speaking unto me in very word, from time to time; wherefore, I could not be shaken." That is the boldness of the organ.

When Alma the younger speaks about his father and the people who were baptized in the Waters of Mormon and who had suffered captivity for 25 years at the hands of their enemies, he describes them saying, "And again I ask, were the bands of death broken, and the chains of hell which encircled them about, were they loosed? I say unto you, Yea, they were loosed, and their souls did expand, and they did sing redeeming love. And I say unto you that they are saved." (Alma 5:9) This is the boldness of the organ

The piano, while beautiful in tone, can allow players to "fudge and slur," as Elizabeth Bennet puts it in the 1995 A&E version of Pride and Prejudice. The organ is not so forgiving. Mistakes are loud and out there for everyone to hear.

Mental Reasoning

There are going to be mistakes. This isn't just about the organ. This is a life lesson. What do we do when we make mistakes. 1. Repent 2. Forgive Ourselves 3. Try Again 4. Strive to avoid those mistakes in the future. 

In life, mistakes, forgiveness, and striving can be a somewhat lengthy and stretched-out process. On the organ this is a fast cycling process and it is great practice for the demoralizing failures that happen away from the organ bench.

Social Reasoning

Serving others creates bonds of love. Before playing the organ, I had no idea it was possible to love a congregation. One day during an organ lesson, my organ teacher asked me how many minutes of sight reading I had completed during the week. I asked her if playing the organ for sacrament meeting counted? We laughed and laughed. And then she said to me, "This week as I played, I thought, 'my congregation deserves better'." I couldn't get her thought out of my head because I knew my congregation deserved better as well. Since that time I have reserved time to practice the hymns prior to Sunday and to put thought and preparation into what prelude I play.

I know what my Bishop's favorite songs are and on his weeks to conduct, I can sneak one or two in. When the young women I taught started to leave for missions, I snuck their favorite hymns into the prelude. I didn't ask them. I had worked with them. I knew what they liked. The ward chorister chooses hymns around the stake theme of the month. I support her choices with prelude. 

I've heard that some temples use recorded music for prelude rather than live organists for various reasons. I know that some wards are using Tabernacle Choir recordings for Sacrament Meeting where singing has been discouraged due to the current pandemic. I know some wards have player organs where the "organist" simply selects the hymn from the console screen and presses play. Will the ward organist continue to be a thing in the future? I hope so. 

I like to quote John Milton's Sonnett 19, "When I Consider How My Light is Spent" whenever I think about service. “God doth not need either man’s work or his own gifts; who best bear his mild yoke, they serve him best." God does not need our gifts our our talents. We need God. We need the opportunity to serve and to try hard things. 

Playing the organ is a hard thing. But when the organ inspires a congregation to sing redeeming love, when the organ helps the congregation to hear and internalize the words of the sacrament hymn, when the organ instills reverence before the meeting begins, it can be a tool for the organist to bear testimony that they will not be shaken.

Resources for New Organists

BYU has a free 12 lesson course for new organists. Google it or link here.

Tips for new organists on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Link here

Simplified Hymnal at ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Link here

Manuals (keyboard) only hymnal at ChurchofJesusChrist.org Link here

Prelude for the Bass Coupler Organists at JackmanMusic.com. Link here

Welcome Home Bristol Baby

 In January, I will be celebrating 10 years of posting content on this blog. Some years have been more productive than others. I think there were years that I posted almost weekly. Other years, you could count the number of posts on one hand. 

Ten years ago, my children were young, and they entertained me endlessly with their music. Now they are all grown, I don't have as many opportunities to record them playing. A couple of them jammed together tonight, and I should have played with them. They asked me to, but I worry that I slow them down. I worry that when they play with me, we play songs I know - and those aren't the songs they know and love. But as a listened to them - I realized, they weren't just playing their songs. They were still playing the songs I raised them on.

I've been spending a lot of time playing on my own. My favorite instrument is the organ. It is like having an entire symphonic orchestra at your fingertips. I've written a bit regarding the struggles I've had maintaining a full organ in the home. In my last blog, I wrote that I finished the revamp of my big organ and everything was good to go. The problem is, I think I love fixing organs as much as I love playing them. I stumbled across a listing for an antique pump organ on ebay. That got me thinking, and I started to look at other listings. Joseph told me he had a three day weekend and would be willing to drive anywhere to pick me up an old reed organ. I tried to resist, but the Saturday before Labor Day, I had an urge that I REALLY wanted a pump organ and this was the only opportunity I'd ever get. By Sunday, I had a Victorian Style pump organ sitting in my kitchen. #thankyoujoseph #huntergatherer

I cannot believe my dumb luck -- or Gods tender mercies. This organ is in incredible shape. A couple of stops were not working. Yesterday, the girls and I opened the back of the organ and were able to problem solve and fix them all. I love my electronic instrument, but there is something about playing a live wind instrument. The mechanics of it are amazing!

Pump organs were popular in the United States from approximately 1850 to 1910. The manufacturer of this organ, Milwaukee Netzow, stopped making organs at the turn of the century as pianos had become more popular. I have a lot of work to do to learn how to get this organ to sing. The video below is me trying a non-legato touch. That is the touch I use for pipe organs, but as this organ has a quick note decay, I think I will start playing legato pieces on it. (Mobile Link: https://youtu.be/e_XJTvcGOBE)

As I've mentioned before, Bobo's never met an instrument she doesn't want to play. The video below illustrates how the way into a mother's heart is to play the organ for her :) (Mobile link: https://youtu.be/HmcKdmwrgYo)

One thing both Bobo and I learned, is playing a pump organ can leave a person breathless. More respect to my mother. She learned to play keyboards on the pump organ in her childhood home. She is an amazing pianist and organist! I learned the magic of mornings from her. She would get up and practice before me, and I started practicing at 5 am! Love you mom - you are welcome to come over and play anytime. And Annette - if you read this far, come over and play both my organs :)

Welcome to your new home Bristol Baby!

I'm Finally Satisfied (aka The Battle is Over for Now)

 

Pre-pandemic, my MacMini updated to iOS Catalina. Apparently, Hauptwerks, the software that powers my organ wasn't supported for the new OS. I tried to upgrade from Hauptwerks 4 to Hauptwerks 5, but found out I would have to buy a new "perpetual" license as my old "perpetual" licensed dongle had lost its perpetuity. I decided not to upgrade because I am ever cheap. I grabbed the old PC tower that used to run my organ software and voila, I was up and running again.

Having a full size practice organ in the home is not as standard as I once believed. I grew up in a home with two pianos and a Hammond organ. That was what "normal" was to me. Upstairs, my mother taught piano lessons on a Baldwin Spinet, but downstairs, I practiced on a Hammond with accompanying tone cabinet (rotating leslie speaker) and an Steinway upright grand with ivory keys. I had no idea how spoiled I was. 

 Last week, as I was telling my mother I had put upwards of $4,000 into my organ upgrade, she told me that in 1967 she purchased the Hammond plus the Steinway for $1999. In 1967, that was the price of a car.

 Early in my married adult life I've mustered along with several "fun organs". The small organ pictured here is an old Whirlitzer I owned. These were my desperation organs. I was able to use them to practice hymns, but I had to transcribe as I played to keep the pedals within the single octave available on the short pedalboard. 

My husband hated having an organ in the home (to be fair I also had the upright grand and a digital keyboard). He even convinced me to let him take a small organ to the dump once when we were "rearranging the furniture". It broke my heart to see it thrown in a bin. Once I was divorced I realized "my house, my rules" and I vowed to make room for a full-size organ. The problem then wasn't space, but money.

My search for a practice organ led me to an older woman who, along with her husband, was preparing to go on a full-time mission. She had to let go of her organ and I was able to buy it for $150. I got it for Christmas in 2011.

With a full size organ in my home, I was able to enroll in organ lessons at the local university. It was through organ lessons that I learned about the midi driven Hauptwerk Software. I was super intrigued. My new-old organ (which was built in the 70's) had electronic components that were past their prime. Stops and notes gave up the ghost regularly. As much as I researched, I could not find parts or professionals to repair the organ. Certain stops and keys just wouldn't work. The organ had been manufactured before midi technology. But (due to my IT background) I figured, if I could find an organ capable of running Hauptwerk, it would, in the end, be just another computer I could maintain and repair. I began looking for a computer with midi capabilities.

In July of 2012, I had a bit of money and a bit of an opportunity. Someone had listed a Hauptwerks Organ on ebay for $500. I rented a small U-Haul and my teenage boys drove six hours to a rural town in Northern California on sketchy backroads, got trained on how to set up the organ, drove it home and set it up for me.

This organ was exactly what I was looking for. I downloaded all of the free Hauptwerk sample sets I could that would run on the free version of Hauptwerk, and I soon had German, French, English, Modern, Romantic, and Baroque virtual organs. Not only had the seller set up the manuals as midi inputs, he also had set up mechanical keypistons and stops as midi controllers. He had Frankensteined parts from at least two old organs. Based on wood coloration, the bench and keyboards came from one organ, and the console and pedalboard from another. My organ lessons took on new hope. I was able to practice three hours a day while being happy with the sound and touch of the organ.

 

Ok, full disclosure, the more I practiced, the more I noticed -- things. The upper manual had keys that would stick, and the pedals would sometimes sound two notes instead of one. But what did I expect? This thing was literally soldered together with thin wire and ribbon cables.

Then came the pedalboard issues. The pedalboard band springs had been screwed into the old, compromised wood of the pedalboard. Three hours a day of practice took its toll. The screws began to pull up. I replaced all of the screws with bolts that I threaded through the bottom of the board and capped with a locking nut.

When the pedals started double sounding, I tightened the nuts. I also reinforced weak wood (where the bolt would pull through) with any metal I could find. A couple of band springs lost their spring. At one point, I shoved a kitchen knife under a band spring to keep the note from sagging and sounding eternally.

I had to resolder manual keys whose wires had come detached. And four or five times a year (usually after a power outage) I would tear the whole organ apart and pray that God would show me how to get the midi controller boards working again.  I kept sockets and a socket wrench in the organ bench. The organ and I kept up this battle for 8 years. 

Eventually I gave up on the thumb pistons and stops ever working again. As long as I had my keyboards and pedalboard, I could continue to practice. In the midst of the pandemic, shortly after I started back to work, we had another power outage. I spent the good part of two weeks trying to get the organ working again. I was able to get my Greats back, but no swell or pedal board. I had been trying to buy midi controllers that accommodated the 34 pin ribbon cables since the pistons and stops had gone out. I tried again. No luck.

I figured I could learn to rewire the all the boards to fit newer midi controllers (and still have the sticky keys and a decaying pedalboard) or I could finally put real money into my instrument. Even God knows you can't rely on miracles forever. He also wants us to work and sacrifice. Prayers helped me realize that I now have money and it's ok to spend money on nice things for myself. Not only could I buy quality parts, I could buy the parts I'd been drooling over for the last decade - the ebony and cherry wood manuals from Midiworks.ca as well as a fully midi pedalboard. Thinking everything would be plug and play, I anticipated my organ would be back up and playable within a week. Since I was working on hardware upgrades, I decided to focus on software as well as upgrade my speakers and recording capabilities.

I hate to make this post overly long, but I think maybe it might help some organist somewhere? I want to mention that since Easter, I have been trying to record weekly Sabbath prelude music. Playing the organ is my job at church. With the pandemic, and not being able to attend church in person, recording and posting prelude helps me with my personal worship. And while I realize that neither man nor God need my prelude, I need it. My home needs it. I practiced for quite a while for my Easter prelude. It was my first and only time doing a Facebook live and while it was not perfect, I was happy with the music selection and my performance.

 I was unhappy with the recorded sound, however. I was recording using a webcam, a pc and a microphone. I have found that Hauptwerk sounds better on a Mac. But I was still avoiding the inevitableness of having to purchase Hauptwerks 5. But since I was upgrading the organ, I figured I would fix everything. I had been using a PA system as speakers for my organ. My kids were desperate to get the speakers out of the living room, due to their size and "ugliness". They suggested getting a soundcard for the PC and connecting to a soundbar with woofer.

The keyboards arrived and fit snuggly into the cabinet where the older keyboards had sat. I had a beautiful manuals only computer and recorded prelude written for manuals only that week. Then the pedals arrived and sorrow set in. Apparently the full pedals I had before were not to AGO specifications. And the new set was too wide for my organ console. I set everything up on a table so I could practice while I pouted and considered my options. I would have to cut into my organ console (cabinet) - the one thing I loved about my old organ. It's antiqueness. It's history of being a console for a pipe organ in a church.

But it couldn't be helped. The cabinet would be useless without the components and the components needed somewhere to go. The kids and I gutted the console, sanded it down, refinished with Sedona Red stain so that every piece matched. And then we made the heart-wrenching cuts into the cabinet. Once everything was back together, I felt better. The organ looked good - but I still wasn't done.

The sound blaster improved the audio coming from the PC computer, but the soundbar and woofer combo could not handle the range and polyphony of the organ. If I played the pedals too low or played too many notes, the woofer rattled. I purchased a Scarlett 2i2 external sound mixer, but it wasn't compatible with Windows 7. So many trials and errors.

I went back to the Catalina OS MacMini and installed a trial version of Hauptwerk 5. I routed the sound through the Scarlett 2i2 to a Fender bass amp I had sitting around. It was a great sound for practicing. For recording, I looped from the Scarlett 2i2 back into the MacMini mic input jack and was satisfied with the results.

I have a touch screen monitor that I use for pressing virtual stops and pistons. This monitor works for a PC but not for a Mac. I purchased a program that allows Macs to use the touch capability of a monitor. I paid for the upgrade to Hauptwerk 5. It was slightly cheaper than I anticipated as they gave me credit for having already purchased the perpetual license for Hauptwerk 4. Hauptwerk is pushing users to upgrade to Hauptwerk 5, not for increased functionality, but for increased security for the developers of sample sets. I guess some hacking was going on. New encryption is used with the virtual organs, so several of my old organs don't work with the new version.

I am just finishing up with the process of loading organs. The only organ I am sad about losing is the Composite English Organ that Les Deutsch of nightbloomingjazzmnen.com assembled. It has the best Diapason stops. He indicates that it will work with Hauptwerk 5. I just haven't been able to get it to go as of yet.

Still I have plenty of organs to play. I am listing them below as well as resources where they can be found.

 One final shout-out. In the midst of all this upheaval and revision, I attended the BYU Organ Workshop online. I was uplifted, inspired, and encouraged. I've tried adopted a few tips I picked up. One that involved technology, includes the app ForScore. I have been using iPads to read music for years, but what I didn't know was that if you pay $10 a year, you can get the pro version of ForScore which includes gesture page turns, meaning, all I have to do to turn the page is turn my head. This is amazing and has been a great tool. I've been using my daughters 12.9 inch iPad 11 pro as my iPad mini has a rather small screen. Maybe Santa will bring me my own large iPad? 

 Below is the list of reliable Sample Sets I have installed. I have three relatively cheap organs that I have purchased (Schantz 3-manual-$150 ,St. Eucaire-$150, and Menesterol-$70). The others are available free of cost.

• Azzio (small free organ)
• Bakats demo with good functionality (free )
• Bureau (free)
• Cracov
• Dluga Koscielna
• Doesburg, St. Marini Walcker, Demo - not all stops available
• Enigma
• French Harmonium
• Friesach Extended
• Ghent Carillon
• Giubiasco (has Zimbelstern stop)
• Green Positiv (Small - one keyboard)
• Groningen Demo
• Groton
• Melbourne Town Hall (trial) few stops available
• Scots (trial)
• Jeux D'orgues 2 Stiehr Mockers
• Kanta
• Late Romantic Composite
• Les Cracov Extended
• Les Pitea 945
• Les Expanded Schantz (Purchased copy of Schantz)
• Little Waldingfield
• Menesterol (Purhased)
• Menesterol extended
• Hammond Model 945 (has chime stop)
• Paramount Theater Organ 310
• Piacenza Demo
• Pitea Extended
• Raszczye
• Rotterdam
• Saint Eucaire Cavaille-Coll (Purchased)
• Saint-Jean-de-Luz
• Schantz 3 manual (purchased)
• Skrzatusz
• Sonus Paradise Great Baroque
• St Mary Le Bow
• St. Michel en Thierache
• St Pons
• St Annes Moseley (comes with Hauptwerk)
• Strassburg
• Sygsoft Harpsichord
• Szczecinek
• Velesovo (limited stops)
• Walker1747
• Williams Expanded Schantz
• Williams Lew Jeux D'Orgues

Resources

https://organareginaecaeli.wordpress.com/best-free-hauptwerk-sample-sets/

https://piotrgrabowski.pl/

https://virtualpipeorgans.wordpress.com/sample-sets/free-sample-set-producers/

http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/blog/category/free-stuff/

https://almorse.net/content_freeorgans.html

https://www.lavenderaudio.co.uk/organs/smb/smb-samplesets.html

http://nightbloomingjazzmen.com/NBJ_Organ_Software.html

 

Say Hello to my little (organ) friend

I miss my sister. Especially when I blog. The funnest part of posting on line for me was waiting for her comment. She always had the most genuinely kind things to say to me, as if my interests were fascinating to her. A kind word from Judy was a rare and treasured jewel, because she was the most frank and outspoken person I know. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8hRBx-cs2o&fbclid=IwAR2VobD_FeBBfHMK06LvaBzrPacYPFJz6P3clfdtvr0r0KNYPtpsR1NX_e8

(apparently the visual link to the youtube video of my new organ isn't showing up on Android so the above is the direct link)

On this the Sabbath day, and on a day that pre-pandemic would have included Fast and Testimony meetings in Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saint chapels across the globe, I want to share something that Judy, in her frank and outspoken way, taught me. When Judy was a student at Brigham Young University, she attended a campus ward. One Sunday during fast and testimony meeting, a young co-ed stood and bore her testimony of a miracle she had witnessed. When this young lady had gotten in her car that morning to go to church, her car wouldn't start. Her car had been struggling for a couple of weeks, but that morning, it would not even turn over. After trying several minutes to get the car to start, the girl returned to her apartment, went to her bedroom, got down on her knees and said a prayer. She then returned to the car and it started. The student thanked the Lord for his tender mercies.

My frank and down-to-earth sister was unimpressed with this miracle. She explained to me that we can't expect the Lord to miraculously fix our car every time we need to go somewhere. Sometimes we just need to fix the car. My tender heart was taken aback by this because I know that due to finances, sometimes we can't afford to get things fixed. I do not like to discount the faith-building experiences of others. 

It's been forty years since my sister told me that story with her critical analysis. Obviously the story had an impact on me because I am still pondering it. I thought on it a few years back as I read Trevor Noah's memoir, "Born a Crime." In his book, he tells how his mother drug him to church every Sunday. She drove an old unreliable VW Beetle. One Sunday, they got in the car and it wouldn't start. He turned to his mother and said, "I guess Jesus doesn't want us to go to church today." She responded, "Satan doesn't want us to go to church today and he has thrown this obstacle in our way. But we will show him that this won't stop us." They rode the bus to church.

And I am thinking about Judy's story today. I am thinking about the Lord's tender mercies and how he blesses us by helping us solve our own problems. A couple of weeks ago, my organ gave up the ghost. It had always been touchy. I bought it off a guy in California 15 years ago. He had frankensteined it from old parts from multiple organs as a DIY project. He sold it to me because he had built a better one. My organ ran on faith, five power supplies, and four midi boards. Each key was soldered to a wire in a computer ribbon cable. Every time the power went out, I would have to reconfigure the organ to get it to work. This could take days, and tears, and of course lots and lots of prayer.

Two weeks ago, when the power failed and I could not resurrect the organ, I remembered Judy's story. How long was I going to expect a miracle when I now have the means to repair the organ. I have the means to purchase quality parts - and that is a miracle as well. So I purchased two modern midi manuals (keyboards) and a new midi pedalboard. The manuals showed up a few days ago. The pedals will be here next week. I continue to praise the Lord for his goodness and that, like Judy, he is interested in what interests me, expects me to learn and grow, and work through the obstacles in my way.

Thoughts on the Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum

One of my favorite themes from the musical Hamilton is encapsulated in the phrase, "who lives, who dies, who tells your story." As much as we like to look at history as a list of facts that never change, it is important to note, who lived, who died and who writes the story.

From an educator's viewpoint, I understand society's desire to spin simple tales of historic people who exemplify society's core values. For example, George Washington's honesty, Abraham Lincoln's belief that all men are created equal, and Columbus' divine discovery of America. Real people and real events are much more complicated. The stories we understand as children should not be the same histories we understand as adults. How we teach and understand history should and does affect how we act and react towards current events.

As I ponder on the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, I reflect on the accounts I have read and the political leanings of the time. It took a long time for the Saints to get over the raw emotions brought on by the perceived unfairness of the violence in Illinois and Missouri. I have a great grandfather who was shot in cold blood in front of his family near Nauvoo. So many lost loved ones, and everyone lost Brother Hyrum and Brother Joseph...

From this time in history, hopefully we no longer hold the kind of anger that resulted in The Mountain Meadow Massacre, but what have we learned? For me, I hold onto the idea that I will help others. That I show love, concern,  towards those who worship differently than me. I show love and support towards those who are the victims of unfair policy or policing, and I show support towards who are leaving their homes to find a place of peace where they can raise their children.

It is the 176th anniversary of Joseph and Hyrum's death. I love you. I am thankful for all that you did for us and the world. I am thankful for your influence on my ancestors and your continued influence on me. Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah, death cannot conquer the hero again.

When I consider how my light is spent

My favorite poem is John Milton's Sonnet 19: On His Blindness. It's the line "God doth not need either man's work or his own gifts; who best bear his mild yoke, they serve him best," that gets me every time. And I understand that the Lord does not need me, but I need him.

This week's lesson in the home centered church supported Come Follow Me curriculum is King Benjamin's address. He speaks to his people on service and what a blessing it has been for him to serve his people. He reminds his subjects that he is like them, "subject to all manner of infirmities in body and mind." He has labored to serve them and has not asked for riches in return. He famously tells his subjects, "I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God." Mosiah 2:17

I really can't say if me posting prelude online helps any of my "fellow men," but I know it keeps me practicing so that when we again meet together, I will be able to play my part. I need to serve my God any way I can. Each time I play prelude, I feel my love grow as much as if I were bearing testimony of My God and My Savior and their infinite love for us. Below Milton's sonnet is my prelude for this week.

Sonnet 19: When I consider how my light is spent

BY JOHN MILTON

When I consider how my light is spent,

   Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,

   And that one Talent which is death to hide

   Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent

To serve therewith my Maker, and present

   My true account, lest he returning chide;

   “Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”

   I fondly ask. But patience, to prevent

That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need

   Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best

   Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state

Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed

   And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest:

   They also serve who only stand and wait.”

Decolonizing Star Wars

I am not a Star Wars Uber Fan, but in case you need it, my Force Number is B7203183000 (see accompanying Star Wars Fan Club Correspondence).

Star Wars fandom, for me, comes and goes. I was pretty sure I was forever over it, but then Disney+ released The Mandolorian and here I am taking a stand like 1981 called and wants my Force Number back. This time, however, the force feels different. Back in the 1900’s Star Wars was about the epic battle of good versus evil. To help the audience out, the western symbolism of white and black was used. Good guys wore the white hats (the rebellion, Luke, Leia, R2D2 ). Evil (Darth Vader) wore black.

I was raised a middleclass white girl. My father watched a lot of TV -- Gunsmoke, Bonanza, John Wayne Movies. I know he took the family to movies, but the only vivid memory I have of going to the movies as a family is of Dad taking us to see Star Wars in 1977. Finally, a western the whole family could enjoy! 

The original Star Wars was released 43 years ago. A lot has changed since then. For example, instead of a teenager, I am now a mother who has raised 7 indigenous children into adulthood. My children have impacted my thinking way more than I ever imprinted their thought process. For example – they don’t look upon Star Wars as the epic battle between good versus evil. They see Star Wars as a glorification of imperialist/colonial mindset on both sides. To them, the true heroes of the Star Wars saga are the indigenous peoples who survive the endless warmongering of the Republic and the Separatists/Empire.

Take for example, Mandalore. When the animated series, The Clone Wars, takes the viewer to Mandalore in Season Two (ep 12 – 14), Duchess Satine has taken a position of neutrality. She will not pick a side in a war that has nothing to do with her planet. After some violent acts by the terrorist organization “Death Watch”, the Republic – shadow puppeteered by the evil Chancellor Palpatine – proposes to send troops to Mandalore for their own protection. Duchess Satine declines the offer.

“Defending? You mean to occupy our home. You would trample our right to self-determination…You will turn our planet into a military target, which will bring the war to us.” The clone wars were a mess where two equally corrupt governments each headed by the same shadowy Palpatine fought over who was the most righteous. In the end, it was the indigenous populations of each planet that suffered and died.

That was a pretty lengthy backstory to get to the topic that has been rattling around in my brain since the Mandalorian came out. My children believe that Baby Yoda is a sacred indigenous baby. And it is not just my children. Native Instagram and the Native Meme Staff Carriers have gone into a creative frenzy adopting Baby Yoda into a plethora of cultural content. 

NBC News published an opinion on why Native Americans identify so well with Baby Yoda. In the article, which you can read in its entirety here, the author discusses the concept of  "indigenization". The lack of representation for Native Americans in popular culture causes the community to give certain aspects of pop culture an “indigenous spin”. While insightful, this article does not address the question of why Baby Yoda.

DGO Magazine published an article on the influence of Star Wars on indigenous art. You can read that article in its entirety here. It seems only fair that indigenous artists pull from Star Wars as we all know Princess Leia got her side buns from the Hopi.

 The DGO article also mentions that Star Wars was the first Hollywood movie dubbed into Navajo. So why we’re asking, “Why Yoda?”, we should also be asking, “Why Star Wars.” I’m going back to my answer of decolonization. I don’t believe that Native Americans need to indigenize Yoda. He is an indigenous life form. Here's hoping Season 2 of the Mandalorian will remain focused on returning Baby Yoda (aka "the child") to his people and getting his #landback.