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10/12/2016
A short reflection and prayer with Andrea Rea.
Last on
Sat 10 Dec 2016
05:43
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM
Script, Andrea Rea, Saturday December 10th 2016
Good morning.
I saw a photograph recently of a sign outside a high school in the midwest of America β the sort of sign that usually announces school bake sales or wins at football.Β The sign said βcongrats to Bob Zimmerman, Class of 1959, who received a Nobel Prize in Literatureβ.Β
Itβs a pretty safe bet that the words βNobel Prizeβ had never appeared on that bulletin board before.Β Hibbing, Minnesota is known for an enormous open pit mine on the edge of town, and a museum dedicated to the Greyhound Bus Company.
But, Hibbing is also where Bob Zimmerman grew up; talented, rather driven β and because of that, possibly a little bit of a misfit.Β He didnβt stay long, and along the way he changed his name to Bob Dylan.Β Β Β Β Β Β
This afternoon the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony will take place at the Stockholm Concert Hall.Β I gather that Bob Dylan wonβt be there, and not everyone may agree with the Nobel committeeβs choice, but to use just two words of a rather magnificent Dylan song, βitβs alrightβ.Β Dylanβs writing stands apart from any honour or criticism it might receive.Β And whether you love or loathe someoneβs work, it represents them to the world in ways that can sometimes separate from the personal and become universal.
Alfred Nobel himself had reason to be loved and loathed.Β He invented dynamite and made a fortune doing that.Β That fortune now endows the prize that honours, in his own words, βthose who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankindβ.Β How do we reconcile destructive weapons with gold medals for sciences, literature and peace?Β Β Β
Lord God, help us to see and understand the contradictions that are all around us. Show us how to us to navigate through them and stay true to ourselves.Β Β Amen.Β Β
I saw a photograph recently of a sign outside a high school in the midwest of America β the sort of sign that usually announces school bake sales or wins at football.Β The sign said βcongrats to Bob Zimmerman, Class of 1959, who received a Nobel Prize in Literatureβ.Β
Itβs a pretty safe bet that the words βNobel Prizeβ had never appeared on that bulletin board before.Β Hibbing, Minnesota is known for an enormous open pit mine on the edge of town, and a museum dedicated to the Greyhound Bus Company.
But, Hibbing is also where Bob Zimmerman grew up; talented, rather driven β and because of that, possibly a little bit of a misfit.Β He didnβt stay long, and along the way he changed his name to Bob Dylan.Β Β Β Β Β Β
This afternoon the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony will take place at the Stockholm Concert Hall.Β I gather that Bob Dylan wonβt be there, and not everyone may agree with the Nobel committeeβs choice, but to use just two words of a rather magnificent Dylan song, βitβs alrightβ.Β Dylanβs writing stands apart from any honour or criticism it might receive.Β And whether you love or loathe someoneβs work, it represents them to the world in ways that can sometimes separate from the personal and become universal.
Alfred Nobel himself had reason to be loved and loathed.Β He invented dynamite and made a fortune doing that.Β That fortune now endows the prize that honours, in his own words, βthose who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankindβ.Β How do we reconcile destructive weapons with gold medals for sciences, literature and peace?Β Β Β
Lord God, help us to see and understand the contradictions that are all around us. Show us how to us to navigate through them and stay true to ourselves.Β Β Amen.Β Β
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- Sat 10 Dec 2016 05:43ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM
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