My Life's Magic

'Performance'   is a word that I find challenging, partly, I suppose, because of it's usage. In  daily news we see the term arise regularly, in connection with car reviews, school exams, hospital treatment, economic policy variations, crime solving rates and so on. Often associated with comparison and the  recognition of 'success' or levying penalties for 'failure'. At work or school our performance is gauged, assessed, compared with others and consequences arise. Even personal relationships don't escape reflections upon one's 'performance'. Thus, in the website  www.businessdictionary.com  'performance' is helpfully defined in terms of 'accomplishment' and 'fulfillment' : The accomplishment of a given task measured against preset known standards of accuracy , completeness, cost , and speed. In a contract , performance is deemed to be the fulfillment of an obligation , in a manner that releases the performer...

Three months without a blog post suggests mental atrophy, but I argue that it's more a case of delay... a blog on 'performance' will follow at some point. However... a vital spark has emerged from other quarters! It's Good Friday today, a mix of emotions and opportunity for devotional reflection as the axis of Christian belief is chewed over far and wide, and its relevance to modern life affirmed or rejected. My preparation to date has happily involved attending performances of JS Bach's St Matthew Passion [in German] and St John Passion [in English], as well as cleaning the 'Eagle' Lectern brass at the local Cathedral, [to make it nice and shiny for the many services held there over Easter]. I thought this year that I would also attend a local country church advertising a service  ''The Road to the Cross'', complete with Church Choir ['tenors and basses needed']. Fair enough... but first  Simnel Cake  preparations intervened. ...