• By John Krull, TheStatehouseFile

  VIENNA, Austria—The crowd traipses into the old opera house as the orchestra continues warming up.

  Ladies of mature vintage cloaked in elegant gowns and shimmering jewels search for their seats alongside college students wearing jeans and scruffy sweaters. One elderly man a couple of boxes over from where my wife, our daughter and I sit sports an ascot—the first one I’ve ever seen worn by someone other than an actor in a movie or a play.

  We all have come to the venerable Vienna State Opera House, which in its earliest days when the Austro-Hungarian Empire still reigned was the Vienna Court Opera House, to touch a bit of history and embrace, in an ever-changing world, something that endures.

  We are here to see and hear Richard Strauss’ “Elektra,” an epic co-mingling of ancient Greek tragedy and modernist classical music. We have come to an opera house where Gustav Mahler once served as director at a time when kings, queens, emperors and empresses sat in thrones all over Europe … before World War I upended their world and ushered in a new one.

  Opera is about passion.

  In our 21^st-century world, when we use the word “passion,” it carries with it a positive connotation. It speaks of strong feelings that move or inspire us, that make our hearts beat faster and our spirits sing.

  Earlier generations, though, used the term more warily. To them, passion was a force that could overwhelm reason and restraint, a force that, left unchecked, could lead to ruin and tragedy.

  That’s why, so often in opera, passion is a power that destroys lives, breaks families—and even shakes the world. It is something as elemental as a flood or an earthquake, an entity that can shatter everything before it.

  “Elektra” is no exception.

  It tells the tale of Elektra, daughter of Agamemnon, who before the opera begins has been murdered by his wife (and Elektra’s mother) Clytemnestra and Clytemnestra’s lover. Elektra is consumed by rage regarding the murder and grief over her father’s death, so much so that the maids and everyone else in the house consider her mad.

  She rails for much of the first two-thirds of the one-act opera that justice must be done so her sorrows may be soothed. She bemoans the fact that her brother, Orestes, is not there to exact vengeance on their murderous mother and the man who shares her bed.

  Orestes, though, does return.

  Both vengeance and escalating violence ensue. Clytemnestra and her lover die at the hands of Orestes.

  And in the end, Elektra perishes, too, her passion burning away her life and spirit like a dry leaf in a flame.

  “Elektra” premiered in December 1909, less than five years before the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, Sophie, were murdered.

  And the world plunged into World War I.

  That sweeping and tragic conflict was, like “Elektra,” itself a tale of extended family dysfunction. Many of the crown heads of state on both sides of the fighting were cousins, family members who destroyed each other, themselves and much of the world because they could not redress—or in some cases, even acknowledge—wrongs.

  “Elektra” explores its ancient themes accompanied by the dissonant tones of Strauss’ score, as if in anticipation of the jittery ages to emerge following the global smash-up soon to commence.

  The opera is a marriage of the eternal and the ever shifting, a reminder that, no matter how much we humans may change over time, many of our struggles do not.

  When the performance ends, the crowd rewards cast and orchestra with an extended standing ovation. Operagoers in jewels and evening attire stand beside those in sneakers and sweatshirts and applaud lustily.

  When the applause dies, it is time to retire.

  We all traipse out as we came in.

  We leave the venerable building that has been home to so many tales of performed passion and we venture into the night.

  And we step into an old city that once, in days now lost, was home to an empire and out under a sky as vast and cloudy as the future itself.

  Just one more assortment of human beings paddling our way down the river of time.

  John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students. The views expressed are those of the author only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.

SAM SNIDEMAN , indiana capital chroniclr

Affordability has become a national political watchword recently, but the challenges of making ends meet are all too real for many across Indiana.

For over a decade, more than a third of Hoosiers have been in or near poverty. The challenges of affording to live in a state that touts its low cost of living have long been clear to many Hoosier families.

Simply put, everything in Indiana continues to get more expensive, and wage growth in the state fails to keep up with household survival budgets.

Most of those in Indiana experiencing hunger earn too much to qualify for federal SNAP benefits. With rents rising and not enough rental units available, half of all Marion County renters are cost burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their monthly income on rent and utilities. The average age for first-time homebuyers is now 38 in Indiana, in part because of soaring prices and high interest rates. Utility rates are growing faster now than they have in two decades. Child care costs also continue to grow, and Hoosier families are spending on average 11% of their incomes on care that feels increasingly out-of-reach but never has been more essential. The number of Hoosier students going to college continues to decline, in part because of growing tuition and concerns about returns on investment.

These problems do more than just keep people stuck in place. They prevent Hoosiers from achieving some measure of the American dream.

Hoosiers need policy responses to these cost pressures if they are to thrive. Too many in our state are delaying — or foregoing — things once seen as central features of what it meant to be successful and stable in America: college education, marriage and children, financial savings, home ownership. This is happening because of a chronic affordability crisis in our state.

Nonprofits and philanthropies are doing their best to support those most in need. They raise money to alleviate hunger; they step up to help develop new housing; they are, despite waitlists and rate cuts, providing essential services like child care and health care to people with few other options. Americans have always supported one another by donating and volunteering through nonprofits. But today, fewer people have the means or the time to help.

Private philanthropy alone cannot solve these challenges. It needs partners in government to create conditions that allow all families to be economically stable.

As the General Assembly reconvenes in 2026, its members must make affordability its focus. Indiana needs its leaders to deliver policies that create economic opportunities, and that address the high costs of getting by for all Hoosiers.

Power in the name of Jesus! by Jerome Stewart

After the birth of Jesus and He grew older, He was on the move doing the things necessary for all mankind to become recipients of His salvation. The reason that Jesus was born into the world was because of the mercy and grace of a loving God. The words in Romans chapter 9 vs. 15 come to mind. The bible says; ‘For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy, on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”

After the Apostles were given miraculous gifts Jesus said to them in Matthew 10 vs. 8; “Heal the sick, cleanse lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you have received, freely give.” Before we go any further be advised, there are no Apostles today who can heal the sick, cleanse lepers, cast out devils and raise the dead. 

Acts chapter 3 vss. 1 thru 3 says; “Now Peter and John went together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain lame man from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple, who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked alms.” The lame man was hoping to receive something. He was about to receive a tremendous blessing!

Vss. 4 thru 6 says; “And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said; “Look at us.” So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” Instantly the lame man was healed, because of the goodness of the Lord, who had endowed His apostles with miraculous gifts. 

Vss. 7 thru 10 says; “And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple praising with them—walking, leaping, and, praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God.  Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.” 

Remember Peter said to the lame man “in the name of Jesus of Nazareth rise up and walk.” Believe it to the fullest extent possible that today there is power in the name of Jesus! 

Philippians chapter 2 vss. 11 and 12 says; “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

Which begs the question? Do you know Jesus? If not you need to.