It had been an unusually busy day in Admissions due to the absence of my boss, and the stress of completing last minute paperwork in the face of looming deadlines.  As the work day drew to a close, the last thing I honestly felt like doing was staying on campus and engaging my mind any longer. Yet as seven thirty rolled around I found myself walking towards the library.

A friend of mine who happened to be running a fine arts program here at Thomas More College had scheduled various lectures throughout the week, and on this particular day she had invited an art and music critic from New York to speak; “a very exceptional older fellow”. She could not verbalize why, but she thought I would really enjoy hearing him. So partly to support her, and partly to satisfy my rising curiosity, I crossed the library threshold.

Every so often in this life we are given the privilege of meeting very exceptional and beautiful souls, and upon entering the lecture room and observing this older gentleman with abundant white hair, both hands firmly folded on his cane, seated in a weathered leather chair, I had an inexplicable feeling  that I was about to hear something wonderful. His eyes sparkled with youthful vivacity as he began to speak, and his voice was rich and melodic; sounding as though he were on the verge of laughter. 

What was the subject of his lecture? Everything! Having failed to write anything concrete the previous night on account of his excitement, he had settled on sharing a few things he had learned and experienced on his road; a bouquet of reflections. He mused on music, art, love, beauty, poetry, criticism and the Opera. Yet these were not the mumblings of an old man lost in his memories. He was sharp, rambunctious, and even sassy, putting us youngsters, some fifty years his junior, to shame. 

Is there a remedy for the decline of music and art? This was his overriding theme. Is there hope? Will young people stop listening to the mumbles of auctioneer like rappers and tune their ears to the true genius of Bach, Mozart, and Handel? Why disregard the God given genius of the greats? Through their order and harmony we can be directed towards the truth.

Involved in the arts from a tender age, this gentleman had been a professionally trained Opera singer.  He went on to become an art and music critic.  Critic in the true sense of the word, intellectual, honest and not flashy: persons who are publicly accepted and to a significant degree followed because of the quality of their assessments or their reputation, as Wikipedia states.

Why do musicians trade harmony and natural range in instrument and voice for complex technique and disorder?  Why play a flute beyond its range? Why abuse the natural beauty of a voice because of society’s expectations? Why have we exchanged harmony and beauty, for disorder and “progress”, and what is the remedy? 

When he stopped speaking we all breathed again. Was it already over? Couldn’t he share more with us? No, before he was to end he wanted to share some poetry with us. How perfect!

I was reminded of something I had heard when I was a student that stayed with me, and was in fact, formative.  It was about the importance and value of form in poetry.  “When you put new wine in old bottles, the bottles become new too”.  Through form, order & ceremony, contrary to popular belief, you can in fact express more.  We have the tools and we need to learn to use them once again.  

Mr. Keeler ended with hope: excitement and hope for the future, which was a refreshing thing to hear.  Not only was my day saved, but my entire week was energized!  I was again, amid the toils of my every-day, uplifted by conversation and overflowing joy and beauty.