previews of coming attractions

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Like previews of movies I am not entirely sure I want to see, a couple of different(?) thoughts crossed my mind this morning:

-- Without any real investigation, I cannot think of a high-profile spiritual leader among whose characteristics was an enjoyment of music. Did any of them play instruments? Did Jesus whistle on the cross? Did Gautama sing the lullabies to others that had once been sung to him? Did Mohammad have a favorite ditty? Did any of these (wo)men feel the rush and wonder and delicious loss that music can provide? Or was it too un-kool ... too threatening, too indicative of an attachment that they had worked hard to bring into clear-eyed perspective? Can you trust someone whose attributes do not include music? I don't know. I just know that if music is a form of ignorance, I am more than willing to be an ignoramus.

-- One of my building-block biases is the notion that keeping your word is important. Either keep your word or take responsibility for not keeping it ... that's written somewhere in my personality lexicon. Twist, turn, dissect, analyze, wax wise ... still, the bias is there. Anyone who has lived for a while knows not to make too much of a fetish about it all ... people break their word all the time. And I have three children, so expecting too much really is too much. What made me think of this was working with a friend on a project and realizing how pleasant it was to be around someone who would keep his word. It's nothing special -- keeping your word -- until someone fails to keep their word. It's awfully nice to be around people who consider keeping their word -- or taking responsibility for the fact that they didn't -- to be important. It's music to my ears...background music, perhaps, but music nonetheless.
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