Billy Preston (seen above with George Harrison), the soul, funk and gospel keyboardist and songwriter, died in Los Angeles today in 2006. In the 1960s, he was a backing musician for Little Richard, Ray Charles and the Rolling Stones, and he was famous for appearing with the Beatles in their rooftop concert in London in January 1969, playing organ and electric piano. His lifelong Christian faith is expressed in his song, ‘That’s the Way God Planned It’.
It is the feast of St Norbert of Xanten, the 12th century preacher and reformer. Norbert was a very superficial young cleric, getting other people to chant his services, etc., when he was almost struck by lightning while out riding one day, and was thrown badly from his horse. After that, he got serious about religion, and eventually became a famous reforming bishop of Magdeburg.
Carl Jung, the Swiss psychoanalyst, died today in 1961. He introduced Christian mysticism – and the mysticism of various other religions – into psychoanalytical theory, and believed that the individual’s journey of individuation lies at the heart of religious experience. Asked in a TV interview whether he believed in God, Jung famously replied, ‘I do not need to believe. I know.’
‘I find that all my thoughts circle around God like the planets around the sun, and are as irresistibly attracted by Him. I would feel it to be the grossest sin if I were to oppose any resistance to this force.’ Carl Jung
Today in 1844, the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) was founded in London by a group of young men working in the clothing industry. They had been gathered by George Williams, a 22 year-old draper, who had noticed that young men pouring into the cities because of the industrial revolution had very little to do with their lesiure time apart from drinking, gambling and visiting sex workers. The YMCA offered youth activities, sports, Bible classes and learning skills, and quickly grew into a worldwide movement. It was an early example of muscular Christianity.
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