Gracious living

Post 87 Performing arts and music

My trip to Washington D.C., a national center for the arts, in the 1990s to attend an international conference on education had an added cultural atmosphere. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts situated along the Potomac River is one of the many surprises for music and art lovers.

I remember reading the quotation of President Kennedy who said that anyone who wants to know whether a country is developed or not should look at the number of performing arts centres it has. This is indeed very true. First world countries are strong economically and so their citizens have the means and leisure to engage in gracious living like attending world class concerts, plays and other performing arts as and when they like.

In the Newsweek cover story "The 10 Best Schools in the World" (December 2, 1991), the USA tops the world in two areas: Arts and Graduate schools. Art is the creation of something beautiful and of intrinsic values in painting, sculpture, music, literature, dance, and drama. Music, painting, poetry and the like are known as fine arts. By having the best graduate schools in the world, it means the USA generally has top class scientists, engineers, lawyers,economists, doctors, inventors and other professionals in the world.

When a country is run by capable leaders at all levels, the fulfillment of peoples’ dream of having a gracious living is a natural and logical outcome.

22 March 2011