As in the previous post, this starts with a broadcasting theme. At the end of last month, one of the great music radio voices was heard for the final time.
From the days of pirate radio through to Sounds of the 70s on BBC Radio Two, Johnnie Walker has connected with listeners both here and across the world – and his listeners with him.
At times encountering controversy (he was sacked by the Beeb on more than one occasion…) his was a recognisable style of presentation backed by extensive knowledge of music and those who made it.
I regret not being able to listen to him more but life led to managing only snatches both in recent years and the more distant past. Indeed, my memories stretch back to the early years of his favourite decade. In my first couple of years at secondary school I could go home for lunch. Sat listening to Radio 1 with my Mum (whether she enjoyed or tolerated it I know not) his was a third voice at the dining table. Tuesday lunchtimes were a particular favourite – the run down of the singles’ charts.
Music has been a constant ever since – albeit now more ‘snatches’ at times rather the years of records and CDs being played around the house. (It’s a strand in Eastwood Stories too.)
Continuing the music theme, a different connection. I have just finished reading Finding the Language of Grace by the Benedictine Abbot Christopher Jamison (who came to public prominence with the excellent BBC series The Monastery). As well as a short and somewhat unexpected reference to South Korean boy band BTS, Jamison writes in a more substantial way about the work of British rapper Stormzy. Known to be a Christian, Stormzy’s Blinded by Your Grace Pt 2 is a powerful song with powerful lyrics telling of God’s saving (and, yes, to use another musical link, amazing) grace. Jamison encourages us to seek and receive such grace in our own lives and not just in snatches.
Prayer is just one way of both seeking and receiving such grace. I am now reading In the Stillness, Waiting by another monk, the Franciscan brother, Nicholas Worsamm which I referred to in a previous post. Within it I find another unexpected reference relating to the world of music.
Worsamm reflects on the nature of prayer, and in particular contemplative prayer – often so difficult to practise in today’s busy and distracting world. Contemplative prayer requires, he writes, ‘A necessary spring clean before the dust is too settled in the recesses of the mind.
‘This is the skill of watchfulness or attentiveness, the guarding of the heart. Realising just how crowded the mind is becomes the beginning of stepping back from the crowd, discreetly exiting the dance floor of the nightclub of the mind and walking out into the cool, refreshing air of a night sky full of stars.’
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