Bonhoeffer:Pastor Spy Assassin

Last night, I have watched a movie titled as;

Bonhoeffer:Pastor Spy Assassin 

Filmed in 2024. My brother recommended it to me a few days ago. I scarcely watch any movie recently. But his recommendation and the title have made me spend a couple of hours for this movie, 

Bonhoeffer is a well known theologian as well as a pator who have founded the Confessing Church against the Nazism in the Nazis era. He has involved with an assasination of Hitler and was executed a few weeks before the end of WWII.

As I have written in a previous post in this blog, here, I thought I had known something of his life and thoughts. This movie has, however, let me know quite few things about his life unknown to me. For example, when studying abroad at Union Theological Seminary in NY, he seemed to have had close relationship with black Christians. It was also a surprise he had privately known Martin Niemoeller, formerly a member of national socialistic faction, later another founder of the Confessing Church. In july 1944, the plan by Bonhoeffer and others of assassination of Hitler has ended in failure. which made him captured by Nazis Gestapo. He was executed only a few weeks prior to the advance of the allied forces toward Berlin. 

To me, this movie for a couple of hours seemed too short to describe about his life, full of dramatic events, private or public. I am still deeply impressed at his life described in it.  His presence as well as his theolgical works and the Confessing Church founded by him and others have enabled the Christianity in Germany as well as in the world to survive the WWII and post the war period. 

No doubt Nazis was an absolute evil in the world. On the other hand, there were people who had supported, either fanatically or not, the authoritarean dictatorship in Nazis era. Even after the war, I have read, those who participated the anti Nazis movements and even their families have been treated like treason to the nation for a while. In this movie, that populism approving the dictatorship was also expressed. The same kind of affinity to fascism of people still exists, doesn't it? The life of Bonhoeffer seems to bitterly ask us about that. 

As I knew what ending would be expected in this movie, it has gone through in grave and tragedic tone. I was relieved to see the ending featuring  the Sermon on the Mount.

https://www.angel.com/watch/bonhoeffer

Versa est in Luctum

An old friend of mine told me to listen to a requiem by Tomas Luis de Victoria. It was a fascinating music. I was as impressed by a motet by Alfonso Lobos as the former coupled with it. The latter is a short religious music in 6 voices a cappella. A homophony maybe transitioned from monophony in the middle age to polyphony in the later period. Absolutely transparent.  Peaceful and calming. Still feeling of sadness on the background. 

It was composed for the funeral of Phillip II in the end of 16th century. It was the age when the religious reformation was going on and the society transitioned from the feudalism to capitalism. The change must be so fundamental as well as drastic that people have felt anxious at own situation. 

I don't know if it has influenced on the music itself. While the melody is soothing, the lyrics are quoted from the Book of Job 30:31. As well known, the Book of Job is regarding theodicy, that is, the question why God allows the absurdity in the world. When I knew what the lyrics meant in this motet, I was almost shocked by it. Is it due to the age when this music was composed or due simply to the style of the motet "Versa est in Luctum", I wonder.

In my young days, I have learned Bible for several years. It's a shame for me that I have only a trace of knowledge I learned those days. The Book of Job was, however, one of the most impressive stories in Bible to me. The problem of theodicy is often a theme in literature as well. At the same time I learned the Book of Job, I was reading The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. The story Nikolai told Alyosha as for why he won't accept God has been overlapped with the Book of Job. This problem of theodicy seems to have been so universal over the age and region.

Have we overcome the problem of absurdity even a little?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWyG4wqU0Tw

Morse Code training in the US Navy restarted

I knew from this site that the US Navy had started training Morse Code to certain personnel in 2022 after 20 years of hiatus. The Navy recognized Morse Code communication was a practical substitute to the modern methods vulnerable to the jamming or other interferences in warefare. The world is changing in an unexpected way. 

Here.

The author emphasizes the simplicity and resilience to jamming etc in warfare of Morse Code communication. The training at the Navy is, as he said, aimed at accurate reception/transmission by the operator. It is the reproduction of the professional Morse Code communication in the past. 

The author also points out that amateur ham radio shares the intention of training with this Navy program, even if they are heading from the other directions. I agree and welcome if this program would increase the Morse Code operators in amateur ham radio as in the past history.

I would say, however, the Morse Code communication in amateur ham radio is ultimately  to enjoy conversation on this simplest mode. Head copying is a prerequisite for that purpose. Accurate character wise copying is not only unnecessary but also obstrutive to do that. Nostalgia for Morse Code of old guys won't attract young people. As I reiterated many times, we should express what this old as well as new communication mode fascinates us. 

Hopefully, the world would become peaceful and won't need a communication mode resistent to jamming any longer.  

More than 2.41 million viewers!

 It's been 15 years since I started this blog. I was surprised to find the number of viewers exceeding 2.41 million. Of course, it must be the cumulative total number but not the total number of individual visitors. Still a big number. It has increased significantly for the past few months. Even 20K viewers a day! I appreciate all of you visiting this blog.

Since I quit ham radio, I wanted to substitute this blog to the communication on the radio. A few good friends are actually visiting here from time to time. Still only a limited number of them. If you are new to me or an old friend, please leave a word or two in the comment. Don't forget put your call sign and, if not a ham, your name to it. Let me know how you knew of this blog as well. I won't advertize it any way but am curious to know how this tiny blog is known to you.  

I don't think I could carry on this blog for a long time now. But, as a proof of existence on this planet, it will be pleasure to converse with you through this media, especially if we share something old in the past.

Thank a lot in advance!   

A few photos of the garden/farm

A few photos from my garden/farm.

 Already started planting vegetables for this winter/next spring. This is a white radish grown from seed. Not much pest damage. No chemicals nor fertilizers. Only compost made from pulled weeds.

Burdock plants have grown like trees this summer and have shed some seeds on the ground. A few seedlings have grown from them. Lovely ones. I have transplanted a couple of them to a farm ridge. So far, it has been rooted. Wondering if they will grow like their mother plants.

Marie gold is flowering as if it was their time now. At a corner of the farm. As told before, they work against some kind of nematodes damaging vegetables. Not only for that practical use but also for appreciation. There are a number of big bushes of this flower everywhere in our lot.

Started gardening/farming as a kind of hobby. Nowadays, considering of spending several hours in garden/farm without beind tired of, I feel it has become the main job for me. Having been a pediatrician?  What is it and where has it gone? 

 

Sweet potatoes harvest

It is the time of harvest of sweet potatoes right now. As already wrtten in a previous post, a kind of Commelina with violent fertility has been growing everywhere in the farm. It bears own "seeds" in roots in the soil. Carefully sorting out it among sweet potatoe plants, I should keep the seeds out of the soil. This is an imported kind of Commelia, they say. Sittin along  the farm ridge, I go on doing that work for a few hours a day. 

Another not very grateful news is that the harvest of sweet potatoes is not what it was expected this year possibly due to the long lasting rain in the end of summer. The harvest is still good enough for us as the savings for a year ahead. Yes, I am half seriously worrying that the possible famine or terrible inflation could strike us in the near future.

Our government plans to grow sweet potatoes for the people in case of a bad famine all around the country or even in the world. The food self sufficiency rate is as low as 36% and, considering of the cost for the agricultural materials mostly dependent on import it will become 10%. Horrible number isn't it? Rice storage could be depleted easily. Sweet potato, as they say, is a good crop to fill the caloric requirement for the people, even compared with rice. It is an advantage sweet potatoes won't require much fertilizer. However, beside that it takes at least several months to grow and harvest it from scratch, it won't grow well in humid soil and high ridge in the farm is necessary. It could be eaten by bugs and its growth depends on the weather etc as well.  I am afraid they reckon it as an easy going project. Whenever growing it in my farm, I feel it is not a very easy task. 　

The sweet potatoes harvested will be stored for 2 or 3 weeks until they get more matured and sweeter. Then they will be served for cooking, mainly as the material of miso soup or of tempura. Steamed sweet potatoes are also good. I will bring some of them to a couple of old friends.

Another farm ridge of sweet potatoes is waiting for me to be harvested soon, at least, before it gets frosty.

The oligarch around Trump

The oligarch around Trump. Don't they realize the economic disparity would cause serious instability and even conflict in the world. 

Recently, I learned the hatred against communism/socialism permiated in the US derived from the Civil War. The capitalists in the south didn't accept the idea of losing slavery which had been their asset. It seems the precursor that people hate sharing the commons discarding the right of private fortune. Of course, the failure of the communist countries after WWII etc were another factor. I believe, at least, social security and medical service should be based on the idea of socialism.

Looking at this photo of oligarch around Trump, I could not help thinking the society in the US is going forward to the opposite direction.