Another take on turning...

Image: Donald Knuth

In my last post I included the audio of the Byrds' recording of Pete Seeger's song, Turn, Turn, Turn, in relationship to the turning of the seasons of the liturgical year. In a column in this week's edition of The Pilot, Fr. Richard Erikson also refers to the same tune but from a particularly Lenten perspective which I find helpful. He writes:

I suspect Seeger was not thinking of Lent when he set Ecclesiastes to music, but the beauty of art is that it only becomes complete when experienced by the viewer or listener. My experience of Turn! Turn! Turn! is that it is a beautiful Lenten song that sings to me of three profound spiritual movements of Lent:

* Turn! toward God through fasting, which heightens our sensitivity to our own need for the Lord and to the needs of those who have less;

* Turn! away from sin in penitential prayer;

* Turn! to each other by giving to those in need, shifting our attention from the material to the spiritual, and from ourselves to others.
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(Read Erikson's complete article)

After reading Fr. Erikson's column, have another listen...
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