Play for us, Lord God. We wish to hear music; the music of heaven. Play notes to calm our fears, soothing our souls from anxiety.
Our world is ripped apart by sounds, discordant, ugly sounds from the bowels of hell – bombs, missiles, bullets, tanks, cries of painful death – Guttural sounds of soldiers. many far from home, tired too, hungry. bewildered, disillusioned.
Ordered about by those whose only tunes are hatred. a cacophony of crashing disharmony – flowing from cankered, disfigured hearts no longer united with the music of the One who created them.
Wars begin in hearts crumpled by demonic blackness. Is this hell? Despair. The concerto of annihilation. No symphony. No sympathy.
But, if You, Lord, play music to us, It will find a way to soothe and caress our troubled souls. Help us to hear the beautiful harmony as you sprinkle note upon note of your kindness and love upon us, enfolding, holding, re-awakening our vision.
As your music lifts our hearts towards the orchestra of heaven. help us to become in tune with your message which tells that there is more than hell on earth. There is earth raised up to heaven.
I post this on St Cecilia’s Day, November 22nd. Since the 15th century she has been known as the Patron Saint of Music. A document known as the Golden Legend’ described her as a “bride of Christ whose love of music elevated her soul to God. This document also encouraged us to consider the link between earth and heaven. It is a link between the song of heaven, led by the angels and the echo of that song on earth, particularly in religion, poetry and music.
The poet, John Dryden, wrote a Song for St Cecilia’s Day which strengthened that link and serenaded the power of music with the line:
“What Passion cannot music raise and quell?”
For many of us, this is expressed in song and hymns and psalms whilst others use the gifts they have to make music in other ways. (Not a mutually exclusive experience!) Song and music as an expression of faith has been the subject of a short piece of writing by the Taizé Community which is worth pondering over:
Singing is one of the most essential elements of worship. Short songs, repeated again and again, give it a meditative character. Using just a few words they express a basic reality of faith, quickly grasped by the mind. As the words are sung over many times, this reality gradually penetrates the whole being. Meditative singing thus becomes a way of listening to God. It allows everyone to take part in a time of prayer together and to remain together in attentive waiting on God, without having to fix the length of time too exactly. To open the gates of trust in God, nothing can replace the beauty of human voices united in song. This beauty can give us a glimpse of “heaven’s joy on earth,” as Eastern Christians put it. And an inner life begins to blossom within us. These songs also sustain personal prayer. Through them, little by little, our being finds an inner unity in God. They can continue in the silence of our hearts when we are at work, speaking with others or resting. In this way prayer and daily life are united. They allow us to keep on praying even when we are unaware of it, in the silence of our hearts. (Taizé Community)
I love the quotation from Maya Angelou which accompanies the photo above. In the interplay of the Godly song of heaven and our earthly melody of the heart it is good for Maya to remind us that the main reason we can sing and make music is because there is a song in our heart to be sung. A Song put there by God. It raises spirits and lifts our lives beyond ourselves to God. That’s a good enough reason for me to sing.
Organ Case by Charles Eamer Kempe Parish Church of St. John the Baptist, Epping, Essex.
It was St Augustine of Hippo who coined the phrase: “Those who sing pray twice”. The reference is mainly to hymns, spiritual songs and religious musical pieces. I was reminded of this saying on Wednesday when the Church kept the festival of St. Cecilia. (born in Rome about 2000, beheaded 230). She is the Patron Saint of Music.
Her claim to be so rests on quite flimsy evidence. She was called to be a martyr to the Christian faith when, as a young Christian, she opened her home for Christians to meet together. At this time she had married a pagan, Valerian, whom she converted to Christianity along with his brother. Unfortunately they took it upon themselves to bury the bodies of Christians who had been killed for their faith. When the Roman authorities came to hear of this, they were both arrested and put to death. Cecilia continued in her own witness, her life an example of fortitude, steadfastness and faith. The authorities, however, decided that it was time to act against her. On November 22nd, in the year 230, she was martyred. The chosen method was that she was burned in the fire but here, hagiography takes over. Her body remained intact and unburnt despite the ferocity of the flames and she is even said to have continued preaching the Gospel until it was decided to behead her. These are the main facts but her life was so inspirational to other Christians that more was said about her. As with many saints, particularly those who witnessed in the early centuries of the Christian Church, their ‘lives’ where written ‘up’, in which more was claimed than could be proved. That doesn’t mean that it was a pack of lies. There is a kind of Christian writing which is known as hagiography. It isn’t a straightforward biography but rather a piece of writing which introduces legends or stories that praises a particular saint and treats their life with reverence. It honours not just them but what their life stands for. Many hagiographies were written to encourage Christians, especially in times of darkness or persecution, to hold on and live deeply in love for Jesus Christ and His Good News for the world.
It is in this area of legend that the association of St Cecilia with music can be found.It is suggested that on her wedding day, as the musicians played, she sang with all her heart to the Lord. Similarly, as she was martyred in the fire, her soul again, sang to the Lord. This was enough to declare her to be the Patron Saint of Music and musicians. It was finally declared when, in 1584 the Academy of Music was founded in Rome. She was made the patroness of the Academy and this was enough to make sure her veneration became widespread throughout the world. Ever since, Cecilia has been an inspiration to musicians Musicians such as Handel and Benjamin Britten became inspired by her legend and even in literature she was recognized. Geoffrey Chaucer used her as the basis for his 2nd Nuns Tale in the Canterbury Tales. It is probably more about music that we relate to her less, these days, than martyrdom. Cecilia stands for that other kind of witness which comes through Music
The enquiry into the response to Covid-19 which is happening in England right now, will not be looking at the loss we experienced of not being able to be absorbed by the arts in all their fullness. Live Music became impossible to hear. For Christians, and many others the ban on singing hymns in Church was particularly hard. This was part of a huge loss for all who played and sang music and those who simply love to hear it. Our lives were diminished and our need unfulfilled through a loss of music, of hymns, of spiritual songs. It’s true, of course, that we rarely appreciate the value of something until we lose it and now, when we can freely sing, hear music, contemplate words of hymns and make them an essential part of our prayer and spirituality, we must not take it all for granted. Music and singing help to root our meditations and open poetry into our souls. Perhaps, like me, you catch yourself singing when you are still or in the shower or at odd timers of the day. That is when you use best the instrument God gives most of us, the human voice. Better to sing than to shout; better to lend your voice to the music of heaven which surrounds us; better to praise than destroy; better to let God use the music of the soul to enfold people in love.
Whatever the true story of St. Cecilia is, the legacy of her patronage continues to fill our hearts and minds with musical words that can inspire us, especially in this very dark world. We can be uplifted and affirm the great truth that music is a powerful force for good. It can celebrate and rediscover beauty in our world and, most of all, it pours out praise to God. In all our current global unrest, music has a special part to play.
Here’s a poem I wrote a little while ago. Play for me, Lord God. I wish to hear music the music of heaven. Play notes to calm my fears, Soothing my soul from anxiety. I live in a world ripped apart by sounds gurgling up from the bowels of hell. Bombs, missiles, bullets, Angry tanks, guttural sounds of soldiers. Many are far from home, tired too, hungry. bewildered.
Sucked in by masters whose only tune is hatred. Their words a cacophony of crashing disharmony mixed with disillusionment. Such cankered and disfigured hearts, no longer at one with the music that created them. Buildings shake and discard the rubble of their former life. Incessant noise, unceasing ruin. No symphony. No sympathy.
Wars begin in hearts crumpled by demonic blackness. Is this hell? Despair. The concerto of annihilation.
But, if you play music to us, We will find a way out of all this. Your sounds of note caressing note, sprinkles kindness over us, and love; showing us where we need to be.
As the music lifts our hearts, We hear it’s beautiful, clear tune – Telling us that there is more than hell on earth. There is earth raised up to heaven.
Mr G's Ponderings 