June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

Anne Strader

Warm Greetings, dear friends! The garden is in, flowers are growing and blooming, and summer is coming on. The seasons turn according to the music of creation, listening for the crescendos, andantes, rests, and allegros, as all of nature follows the Great Conductor in the eternal symphony of life. We, too, are part of the concert, even when we may feel a bit off-key or appear to be out of step with the rest of the instruments. At such times, especially, we must listen with the ears of our hearts for our cues, trusting, knowing that the music of the universe flows through us. We have only to enter the silence and "tune in" to pick up the beat and find ourselves back in the flow. As we listen to the strains of our own melodies, may we feel ourselves immersed in Great Music of our lives, guided and directed to perfect harmony with all of creation.

The prayer was singing itself to me

James Twyman | June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

As I read the prayer I began to sense something amazing. I could hear music, as if someone were playing an instrument in the next room. Then I realized that I wasn't hearing the music with my ears, but with my heart. It was prayer. The prayer was singing itself to me. I picked up my guitar and played along. The music was beautiful, and it continued until I finished the entire song . . . When it was over I realized I had just received an amazing gift. I also knew that one is never given a gift of this magnitude unless one is meant to share it.

~ from THE SECRET OF THE BELOVED DISCIPLE by James Twyman

We will sing a song for every season

Jerry Estes | June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

Music is a universal language
Taking our differences away.
And when we stand together singing,
We are all the same.

We will sing a song for every season.
We will sing a simple song of peace.
Dona nobis, dona nobis pacem.
Grant us peace, grant us peace

~ by Jerry Estes

The harmony of the spheres

Proclus | June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

We have lost sight of the original harmony: If you could hear the sound that is produced by the sunflower as it keeps on turning its head toward the sun, the friction between the flower and air, and if you could hear the sound produced by the galaxies, you would hear the symphony of the spheres; and you would realize that this symphony is based upon a basic harmony, the harmony of the spheres.

~ by Proclus (c. 410-485)

The world was sung into existence

Linda Tagliaferro | June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

Two years ago, I heard about a singing class "for people who think they can't." That described me. I mustered my courage, signed up, and found that with proper instruction, I can sing decently! Every week, the deep breathing exercises inspire me; the songs I sing make me and those around me smile. I now understand what I once read: The Australian aborigines say the world was sung into existence.

~ by Linda Tagliaferro in "Spirituality and Health," July/August 2004

All one's life is music

John Ruskin | June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

All one's life is music, if one touches the notes rightly and in time.

~ John Ruskin

Many kinds of musicians praising the joys

Hildegard of Bingen | June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)
Next I saw the most lucid air, in which I heard . . . in a marvelous way many kinds of musicians praising the joys of the heavenly citizens . . . And their sound was like the voice of a multitude, making music in harmony.
~ Hildegard of Bingen

How songs are learned

Cathie Katz | June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)
For some birds, songs are learned by listening to their parents and neighbors during the first year. For other birds, songs are hardwired -- the music is scored in their brains from the beginning. For mockingbirds, singing is a lifetime of choir practice and talent shows, picking up new tunes and modifying old ones.
~ from NATURE A DAY AT A TIME by Cathie Katz

When the bird forgets it is afraid and opens its mouth to sing

Deena Metzger | June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

Sometimes the bird turns away. Sometimes it does not open its mouth to sing. Sometimes it is afraid of the dark. But when it forgets it is afraid and opens its mouth to sing, it fills the world with light.

~ by Deena Metzger

The Music of your heart

Nan Merrill | June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

Silence and music
Ebb and flow:
Beauty of bird-song,
The silence that follows:
Afterglow which warms the heart
Sets us yearning
For our own soul-song:
Journey in silence
Take the path of Mystery
To the music of your heart.

~ by Nan Merrill, April 2003

This world of music is immortal

Mozart | June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)
I have never written the music that was in my heart to write; perhaps I never shall with this brain and these fingers, but I know that hereafter it will be written: when, instead of these few inlets of the senses through which we now secure impressions from all without, there shall be a flood of impressions from all sides; and instead of these few tones of our little octave there shall be an infinite score of harmonies -- for I feel it, I am sure of it. This world of music, whose borders even now I have scarcely entered, is a reality, is immortal.
~ by Mozart

I sought thee with my songs

Rabindranath Tagore | June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

Ever in my life have I sought thee with my songs.
It was they who led me from door to door,
and with them I have felt about me,
searching and touching my worlds.
It was my songs that taught me all the lessons I ever learnt;
they showed me secret paths
they brought before my sight
many a star on the horizon of my heart.

~ from GITANJALI by Rabindranath Tagore

The rise and fall of a songline

Marv and Nancy Hiles | June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

We will never "solve" life, crack its ultimate code, or frame it with consistency. It is forever enigmatic and resists control by words or concepts. What is left to us is the rise and fall of a songline and the vision of a Great White Rose.

~ from ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE by Marv and Nancy Hiles

The music that ushered in the cosmos

Brian Swimme | June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

The music that ushered in the cosmos plays on, inside us and around us.

~ by Brian Swimme

Music and my communication with God

Elizabeth H. Neeld | June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

As I was listening I thought about being in conversation with God, and I was struck by how much Bach's Fugue in G-Minor mirrors my relationship with God. When I first began conversing with God, it was very simple. In reply, God did not repeat my melody but responded in a harmonic way, just as Bach has his instruments do. Over time, our conversation -- the Divine and mine -- has built in richness, complexity, depth and beauty, like the fugue builds. Ebb and flow occur in the dynamics of both music and my communication with God, but my soul is constantly stirred by the heartbreaking beauty of what I hear and what I know.

~ from THE SACRED PRIMER by Elizabeth H. Neeld