Beethoven should send a bill

On the way to camping in Idaho I stopped on The Extraterrestrial Highway. My children were with me and wondered what was going on when I pulled the car over in the middle of nowhere. We were hundreds of miles away from the closest city and there was no moon.

As we got out of the car there were questions about where were, what we were doing, and when would we “get there”. The dome light of the car went out, we looked up, and the reality of the cosmos engulfed us. It felt as though we were on a different planet. I’ve seen the Milky Way before but not like that.

The sky was glowing with stars and feelings of peace and connection flooded through me. Then I realized I had done nothing to receive this. The stars didn’t send me a bill. This one was free. Granted I had to drive to where they could be seen in all their glory but no one was selling me a ticket.

I stood there in the silence with my arms around my children’s shoulders and had this celestial experience which used to be a common occurrence. We can talk about what civilization has given us versus what it has taken away, or what technology is giving or taking, but there is really no way to influence those behemoths.

What I can do is find elements within our context which interact as the stars do. I can also avoid those things which ask a lot but give little in return. What things would those be? Mostly thing things. Many consumer items appear to ask for a little but give little in return. The significance of the consumer-good "ask" gets bigger once we start considering the time and effort we are trading for the money to buy the thing.

Of course there was nowhere more obvious than Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 when it comes to something which asks a little and gives a lot. When I think about how much that music has given me over the past 30 years I feel lucky that Ludwig doesn’t have an invoice service.

It just so happens that one of Beethoven’s primary ideals was per aspera ad astra. The phrase originated in Virgil’s The Aeneid and roughly means, “Through struggles to the stars.”

It might feel like something of an assignment to go listen to a Beethoven symphony but what is Beethoven asking of us? Really. What are his demands? Sit there and listen. That’s it. Now balance that against what Beethoven gives us back. We are running a huge deficit.

When it comes to the established arts, they always give back more than they ask. Conceptual art and music is hit-and-miss in my experience. However, the pieces which have escaped being devoured by history always deliver.