Artur da Tavola and Interior Life
18/05/2008
- Opinión
On May 10th, Brazil lost one of its spiritual men, the intellectual, journalist, politician and promoter of music as a path to interior life: Artur da Tavola or Paulo Alberto Monteiro de Barros.
He was a man of synthesis. In spite of the societal contradictions, he nourished an indestructible trust in democracy, and in the capacity of the human being to improve.
There was in him a secret fountain, of which he did not speak much, but which his intimates knew, and from which he continually drank the spiritual, or better put, the mystic dimension of life. That observation brings to mind the Secretary General of the UN who was killed in Niger in 1961: Dag Hammarskjöld. After his death, writings of high mystic content were found on his desk. They were of an essential mysticism, and therefore highly confessional, and were published under the title Markings, (Marcas del Camino). There were prayers, lamentations, thoughts endured and carried to the Mystery with which he maintained a secret intimacy.
Years ago, teaching theology in Petropolis, I invited Artur da Tavola to talk to the young theologians about television. He accepted, but with a condition: that he be given a copy of the complete works of Saint John of The Cross and Saint Teresa of Jesus that the editorial Vozes had just published. He said that he lived from journalism and from his political commitments, but the source of the meaning of his life lay elsewhere.
Artur da Tavola wrote a moving endnote to my book, Espiritualidad: un camino de transformación (Sal Terrae). There he said: "We live in an extraverted society. The system of production needs extraversion to sell products. It needs persons with many needs and permanently unattainable desires, because they will be potential consumers. However, what we need are persons satisfied with what they have, conscious, with options, capable of the greatest of freedoms, the interior one, beings who manage to balance the solicitations of the exterior world with the interior demand, the spiritual."
For many years he maintained every Sunday on TV Senado, the erudite and, at the same time, popular program, Who is Afraid of Classical Music? (¿Quien tiene miedo a la música clásica?) He made explanatory introductions, recounted the life of the masters, emphasized the beauty of segments and transmitted enthusiasm for the high spirituality of the music. Nothing is more compatible with the religious experience than the musical experience. Subtly and without words, it speaks to the profound in the people, to that place which the ineffable Mystery inhabits. He always ended with the same thought: "Those who appreciate music, nourish the interior life. And those who have interior life will never be lonely."
Another area where he distinguished himself was in his reflections on love. His considerations are incisive, tied to everyday life. I refer only to a small text that says: "Love alone is not enough. Love needs respect. Love alone is little. There has to be intelligence. There has to be a good sense of humor. Love alone is not useful. There has to be discipline to educate the children. To love just for loving's sake, is not enough. It is necessary to conjure a gathering of feelings to protect the love that comes with a plus of omnipotence. Love can be even enough for us, but love can not be sufficient for itself."
His reflections echo Saint Paul in his well known Canticle to Love. Love alone is not enough. Love has to be accompanied by patience, courtesy and by the capacity to forgive all, tolerate all, to believe all, and to wait for all. Only in that way will love never end.
Our gratitude to the unforgettable Artur da Tavola for his life and for his friendship.
(Free translation from the Spanish by Melina Alfaro, done at Refugio del Rio Grande, Texas)
He was a man of synthesis. In spite of the societal contradictions, he nourished an indestructible trust in democracy, and in the capacity of the human being to improve.
There was in him a secret fountain, of which he did not speak much, but which his intimates knew, and from which he continually drank the spiritual, or better put, the mystic dimension of life. That observation brings to mind the Secretary General of the UN who was killed in Niger in 1961: Dag Hammarskjöld. After his death, writings of high mystic content were found on his desk. They were of an essential mysticism, and therefore highly confessional, and were published under the title Markings, (Marcas del Camino). There were prayers, lamentations, thoughts endured and carried to the Mystery with which he maintained a secret intimacy.
Years ago, teaching theology in Petropolis, I invited Artur da Tavola to talk to the young theologians about television. He accepted, but with a condition: that he be given a copy of the complete works of Saint John of The Cross and Saint Teresa of Jesus that the editorial Vozes had just published. He said that he lived from journalism and from his political commitments, but the source of the meaning of his life lay elsewhere.
Artur da Tavola wrote a moving endnote to my book, Espiritualidad: un camino de transformación (Sal Terrae). There he said: "We live in an extraverted society. The system of production needs extraversion to sell products. It needs persons with many needs and permanently unattainable desires, because they will be potential consumers. However, what we need are persons satisfied with what they have, conscious, with options, capable of the greatest of freedoms, the interior one, beings who manage to balance the solicitations of the exterior world with the interior demand, the spiritual."
For many years he maintained every Sunday on TV Senado, the erudite and, at the same time, popular program, Who is Afraid of Classical Music? (¿Quien tiene miedo a la música clásica?) He made explanatory introductions, recounted the life of the masters, emphasized the beauty of segments and transmitted enthusiasm for the high spirituality of the music. Nothing is more compatible with the religious experience than the musical experience. Subtly and without words, it speaks to the profound in the people, to that place which the ineffable Mystery inhabits. He always ended with the same thought: "Those who appreciate music, nourish the interior life. And those who have interior life will never be lonely."
Another area where he distinguished himself was in his reflections on love. His considerations are incisive, tied to everyday life. I refer only to a small text that says: "Love alone is not enough. Love needs respect. Love alone is little. There has to be intelligence. There has to be a good sense of humor. Love alone is not useful. There has to be discipline to educate the children. To love just for loving's sake, is not enough. It is necessary to conjure a gathering of feelings to protect the love that comes with a plus of omnipotence. Love can be even enough for us, but love can not be sufficient for itself."
His reflections echo Saint Paul in his well known Canticle to Love. Love alone is not enough. Love has to be accompanied by patience, courtesy and by the capacity to forgive all, tolerate all, to believe all, and to wait for all. Only in that way will love never end.
Our gratitude to the unforgettable Artur da Tavola for his life and for his friendship.
(Free translation from the Spanish by Melina Alfaro, done at Refugio del Rio Grande, Texas)
https://www.alainet.org/pt/node/127762
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