The reflection this week took the form of three short scriptures, followed by a quote, a short reflection and a question to ponder.
Scripture: Psalm 57:7-8 – New Revised Standard Version (Updated Edition)
My heart is steadfast, O God;
my heart is steadfast.
I will sing and make melody.
Awake, my soul!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn.
Quote
“Music reveals more than all wisdom and philosophy. It is the mediator between the spiritual and daily life. Music is a doorway, an entrance into a higher knowledge, a knowledge which comprehends humanity, but which humanity cannot comprehend.”
– Ludwig van Beethoven (paraphrase)
Reflection
A religion built on answers is a poor one: it shuts the door to mystery and silences wonder. Music resists that impulse. It does not explain; it invites. It draws us into an awakening of the soul. What we need is not more answers, but to have our souls awakened by beauty. Music asks us to leave the ego behind and surrender to the experience. Jesus describes this as losing your life in order to find it. This is a deeper knowing—one that holds us, even as it exceeds our grasp. Artists have trusted this truth since the beginning: we are not here to master the mystery, but to be transformed by it.
Question to Ponder
When has a song or a piece of music helped you feel closer to God?
Scripture: Psalm 40:1-3 – Inclusive Bible
Unyielding, I called to you, YHWH,
now at last you have stooped to me
and answered my cry for help.
You have pulled me out of the pit of destruction,
out of its mud and quicksand;
you set my feet on a rock
and made my steps firm.
You put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to you.
Many will look on in wonder
and so will put their trust in you.
Quote
“I am a hole in a flute that the Christ breath moves through, listen to this music!”
– Hafiz
Reflection
Author Joyce Rupp writes, “I yearn to have the song of God sung in my soul but…I get so preoccupied with the details and pressure of my schedule, with the hurry and worry of life, that I miss the song of goodness which is waiting to be sung through me.” The music of divine love plays uniquely in each life. Through our personalities and experiences, God’s goodness takes on a melody all its own. Every piece of music needs an instrument to make it come alive. A piano is only keys until someone touches them. A violin is silent until someone draws the bow across its strings. So it is with us. We are called to be the instruments through which the melody of God’s love finds expression. Through our lives, that love longs to sing, to move, to become music for the world.
Question
When have you felt like an instrument that God was playing?
Scripture: Luke 15:25-28 – New Revised Standard Version (Updated Edition)
Here we join one of the most well known stories or parables told by Jesus, the prodigal son, toward the end of the story as the elder responsible son discovers that his father is throwing a party because the younger son has returned home, broke and broken.
“Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.”
Quote
“Just these two words God spoke
changed my life:
Enjoy Me
What a burden I thought I was to carry–
a crucifix, as did He.
Love once said to me, ‘I know a song,
Would you like to hear it?’
And laughter came from every brick in the street
And from every pore
in the sky.
After a night of prayer, he
changed my life when
He sang,
‘Enjoy Me.'”
– Teresa of Avila
Reflection
The heart of religion, the heart of following God, is joy. Not the weary obedience owed to a stern taskmaster, but the joy of being drawn into relationship with the One who loves without caution, without measure. The music never stops. It plays on whether we enter or stay outside. We can linger at the edges, arms folded tightly around our certainty, comforted by the cold safety of being right. Or we can step through the door into the music, into the dancing, into the reckless grace of belonging. But no one enters untouched. To come inside, we must surrender: lay down our self-righteousness, loosen our grip on certainty, release the lonely satisfaction of standing apart. I know a song, would you like to hear it? That is the invitation. Music communicates a great spiritual truth, the end of all seeking is joy.
Question to Ponder
What if God is less like a set of rules and more like a song or a piece of music? What difference might that make?
Rev. Joe Gaspar