Post 128.
Elizabeth Johnson is a Catholic sister, and a feminist theologian, who taught at Fordham University. Her books are used extensively in theology classes, including her 2007 book, Quest for the Living God, which was later criticized and disqualified from use in Catholic institutions by the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine.[i] She works widely to gain for women greater influence in the church, including criticizing the male-only priesthood, and centers the experiences of Latinos, the poor, and people of other religions. She encourages the use of more feminine images of God.
For Johnson, Because God is a trinity--koinonia meaning community—and this understanding transforms everything for the Christian. “The symbol of God represents what the community takes to be its highest good, its most profound truth, its most appealing beauty.”[ii] Beauty is one thing that is transformed by this communal understanding of God as loving relationship. This trinitarian awareness emerges at a deep level, more than merely logical, but also heartfelt and instinctive. Loving relationship is the maximum good, motivating communities' responses to the mystery of the trinity, and inspiring the challenging of social and ecological injustices: “the trinitarian mystery of God actually empower[s] relationships of mutuality, equality, and inclusiveness among persons and between human beings and the earth.”[iii] Partaking in the trinitarian mystery of love is the purpose of all created beings.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age
to those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm,
dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy,
according to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever. (Luke 1:46-55 NABRE)
Johnson specifies Mary’s Magnificat as an expression of the triune God of relationships that offers “not dominating power but the power of love that seeks and saves in order to shape all into a new community of sisters and brothers, connected in kinship with the earth.”[iv]
As music teachers, the beauty we highlight in classrooms must also be the beauty of merciful relationships, dissolving arrogance, and decentering the powerful to elevate the lowly. As my friend Vince[v] might say, it would be better to center country music than classical, hip-hop over the baroque, folk music over sonata. For me, whichever genres we include in classroom music, we need to cultivate love for each other and earth.
DS
Link to Image: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virgin_of_Guadalupe_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
[i] Paul Vitello. “After bishops attack book, gauging bounds of debate.” The New York Times (April 11, 2011). Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/nyregion/12fordham.html
[ii] Elizabeth A. Johnson. “Trinity: To let the symbol sing again.” Theology Today 54, no. 3 (1997), 300.
[iii] Johnson, 300.
[iv] Johnson, 308.
[v] See Vincent C. Bates. “Critical social class theory for music education.” International Journal of Education & the Arts 18, no. 7 (2017), 1-24. Link: http://www.ijea.org/v18n7/v18n7.pdf
Elizabeth Johnson is a Catholic sister, and a feminist theologian, who taught at Fordham University. Her books are used extensively in theology classes, including her 2007 book, Quest for the Living God, which was later criticized and disqualified from use in Catholic institutions by the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine.[i] She works widely to gain for women greater influence in the church, including criticizing the male-only priesthood, and centers the experiences of Latinos, the poor, and people of other religions. She encourages the use of more feminine images of God.
For Johnson, Because God is a trinity--koinonia meaning community—and this understanding transforms everything for the Christian. “The symbol of God represents what the community takes to be its highest good, its most profound truth, its most appealing beauty.”[ii] Beauty is one thing that is transformed by this communal understanding of God as loving relationship. This trinitarian awareness emerges at a deep level, more than merely logical, but also heartfelt and instinctive. Loving relationship is the maximum good, motivating communities' responses to the mystery of the trinity, and inspiring the challenging of social and ecological injustices: “the trinitarian mystery of God actually empower[s] relationships of mutuality, equality, and inclusiveness among persons and between human beings and the earth.”[iii] Partaking in the trinitarian mystery of love is the purpose of all created beings.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age
to those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm,
dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy,
according to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever. (Luke 1:46-55 NABRE)
Johnson specifies Mary’s Magnificat as an expression of the triune God of relationships that offers “not dominating power but the power of love that seeks and saves in order to shape all into a new community of sisters and brothers, connected in kinship with the earth.”[iv]
As music teachers, the beauty we highlight in classrooms must also be the beauty of merciful relationships, dissolving arrogance, and decentering the powerful to elevate the lowly. As my friend Vince[v] might say, it would be better to center country music than classical, hip-hop over the baroque, folk music over sonata. For me, whichever genres we include in classroom music, we need to cultivate love for each other and earth.
DS
Link to Image: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virgin_of_Guadalupe_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
[i] Paul Vitello. “After bishops attack book, gauging bounds of debate.” The New York Times (April 11, 2011). Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/nyregion/12fordham.html
[ii] Elizabeth A. Johnson. “Trinity: To let the symbol sing again.” Theology Today 54, no. 3 (1997), 300.
[iii] Johnson, 300.
[iv] Johnson, 308.
[v] See Vincent C. Bates. “Critical social class theory for music education.” International Journal of Education & the Arts 18, no. 7 (2017), 1-24. Link: http://www.ijea.org/v18n7/v18n7.pdf
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