{"id":22307,"date":"2012-09-11T08:00:14","date_gmt":"2012-09-11T13:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=22307"},"modified":"2012-09-19T11:19:39","modified_gmt":"2012-09-19T16:19:39","slug":"calice-let-this-cup-pass-from-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2012\/09\/calice-let-this-cup-pass-from-me\/","title":{"rendered":"C\u00e1lice (Let this cup pass from me)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Over the past year or so, I have become increasingly enamored of a popular Brazilian song, one that today makes me tear up simply from hearing the opening chords. On the surface, at least, the song, “C\u00e1lice<\/em>” (Chalice), is quite religious. And its refrain is simple:<\/p>\n

\n

Father, let this cup pass from me
\nFather, let this cup pass from me
\nFather, let this cup pass from me
\nThis cup of bloody red wine.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And today, of all days, I think this song is particularly fitting. I will think of it during a moment of silence.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

C\u00e1lice<\/em> was written for a May 1973 show in Rio de Janeiro by Gilberto Gil and Chico Buarque. As my rough translation above makes clear, it alludes to Christ’s suffering in Gethsemane, and its melody adds to the pleading of its chorus: Let this cup pass from me!<\/p>\n

Of course, the song is about much more than this. As always, context is vital in understanding it. In 1973 Brazil had suffered under a military dictatorship for nearly a decade. At times the regime was brutal, harboring little dissent and muzzling any who would dare suggest anything incompatible with its right-wing ideology. Those who were ‘incompatible’ suffered censorship and even death.<\/p>\n

In composing the song, Gil and Buarque were, of course, protesting against the dictatorship and its censorship. To make their point, they not only connected the suffering of Brazilians with that of Christ, but also played with words. In Portuguese, the word used for cup, C\u00e1lice, is a homophone of “Cala-se,” or “Shut up,” and the song is sung in a way that makes it sound like “Cala-se” is interrupting the verse, alluding to the interruption that is censorship. Much of the rest of the song uses similar double meanings and allusions to protest the government’s treatment of its citizens.<\/p>\n

The government censors weren’t fooled, and Gil and Buarque weren’t permitted to perform the song. They tried during that May 1973 performance, but the censors cut off their microphones, and continued to do so as they attempted to switch among the microphones available on stage. The song wasn’t widely available until November 1978, when the regime had relaxed its policies.<\/p>\n

To me the result of all this is a song that is as much a plea for the relief from suffering\u2014unjust suffering due to someone’s political ideology, innocent suffering\u2014than a simple ideological protest. C\u00e1lice<\/em> is a prayer, like Christ’s words in Gethsemane, for the relief of suffering.<\/p>\n

Our history, i.e., world history, is laden with moments of this kind of suffering. From the suffering of the Children of Israel in Egypt, to the suffering of Israel’s children under Herod; from the suffering of Christians in Rome to the suffering of non-Christians in Constantinople. The suffering of Muslims during the crusades and the suffering of Muslims and Jews in Spain and Portugal. The suffering of Africans in Africa, and on ships, and in the Americas. The suffering of Protestants and Catholics throughout Europe and over centuries. The suffering of American Indians in Peru and Mexico and in Georgia and all along a trail of tears. The suffering of Mormons and the suffering at Mountain Meadows. The suffering in Armenia and in Auschwitz. The suffering of stadiums full of people in Chile. And thousands of other places and peoples.<\/p>\n

Oh, and the suffering on September 11, 2001.<\/p>\n

I get a little annoyed and frustrated when I hear September 11th called “Patriot Day.” Only a politician would call the suffering of 2,977 people “patriotism.” Isn’t it clear? There were no patriots on September 11th. There were victims. Victims who suffered. Victims whose last hours were spent in terror. Victims who, in many cases, never even knew why.<\/p>\n

I know it is popular to want to not make people into victims. But, at least in this case, they clearly are. And in general they aren’t patriots. Suffering doesn’t make you a patriot. Patriotism requires intention. Suffering just requires suffering. Mere existence is sufficient.<\/p>\n

If we find meaning in September 11th, the meaning has to come from the suffering. How that suffering, for a time, managed to united our nation. How it discredited, even more than before, the kind of fanaticism that believes causing suffering is justified.<\/p>\n

For me, I hope it will motivate me to try and alleviate suffering. To remember those who have suffered and to think and act in favor of those who are suffering. And to ponder on how I can insure that me and my house, and my country, are not among those who cause suffering.<\/p>\n

So today, as I take a moment of silence, the song C\u00e1lice<\/em> will run through my heart, like a prayer that has the words:<\/p>\n

Father, let this cup pass from them
\nFather, let this cup pass from them
\nFather, let this cup pass from them
\nThis cup of bloody red wine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

.<\/p>\n

[You can listen to C\u00e1lice<\/em> here<\/a>, among many other places. The full lyrics with two different English translations are here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

While I’ve allowed comments, I will moderate them very heavily. I expect respectful, non-political comments only.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the past year or so, I have become increasingly enamored of a popular Brazilian song, one that today makes me tear up simply from hearing the opening chords. On the surface, at least, the song, “C\u00e1lice” (Chalice), is quite religious. And its refrain is simple: Father, let this cup pass from me Father, let this cup pass from me Father, let this cup pass from me This cup of bloody red wine. And today, of all days, I think this song is particularly fitting. I will think of it during a moment of silence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":22308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-politics"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/434px-Christ_in_Gethsemane.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22307"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22312,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22307\/revisions\/22312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}