Arvo Pärt: "I'm no cleaner than that pig" - From a Documentary
Arvo Pärt's confession here can only be uderstood in the light of eastern christian theology. The confession "I'm no cleaner than that pig" "is not an exercise in comparative morality – but an exercise in humility and true contrition before God. Dostoevsky’s famous character, the Elder Zossima, speaks of “each man being guilty of everything and for all.” The mystery of inquity, spoken of in Scripture, is just that – a mystery. Our involvement in sin is itself mysterious. Our culture has made of sin either a moral failing, and thus a legal category, or a psychological problem to be treated as guilt. Both are sad caricatures of the reality and neither image allows us to say, “Of sinners I am first.” Morality would reassure us that we have not done as much as others and would leave us as unjustified Pharisees. Psychology would assuage our guilt by warning us that such feelings are bad for us." Fr. Stephan Freeman Arvo Pärt - a deep spiritual and tender-hearted composer who found his own musical language with a love of every note at its heart. This is an extract of the documentary: Arvo Pärt - And then came the evening and the morning [1990] by Dorian Supin. To understand Arvo Pärts music and humility I highly recommend the book: "Arvo Pärt - Out of Silence" or "Silouan the Athonite".
Arvo Pärt's confession here can only be uderstood in the light of eastern christian theology. The confession "I'm no cleaner than that pig" "is not an exercise in comparative morality – but an exercise in humility and true contrition before God. Dostoevsky’s famous character, the Elder Zossima, speaks of “each man being guilty of everything and for all.” The mystery of inquity, spoken of in Scripture, is just that – a mystery. Our involvement in sin is itself mysterious. Our culture has made of sin either a moral failing, and thus a legal category, or a psychological problem to be treated as guilt. Both are sad caricatures of the reality and neither image allows us to say, “Of sinners I am first.” Morality would reassure us that we have not done as much as others and would leave us as unjustified Pharisees. Psychology would assuage our guilt by warning us that such feelings are bad for us." Fr. Stephan Freeman Arvo Pärt - a deep spiritual and tender-hearted composer who found his own musical language with a love of every note at its heart. This is an extract of the documentary: Arvo Pärt - And then came the evening and the morning [1990] by Dorian Supin. To understand Arvo Pärts music and humility I highly recommend the book: "Arvo Pärt - Out of Silence" or "Silouan the Athonite".