Music Connects People to The Divine
Inspirational singing by monks at Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
Music connects people to the divine providing inspiration, succor and focus to the seeker, the wanderer and the lost.
I had the pleasure of listening to inspirational songs performed by Russian Orthodox monks in the Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
That experience put the notion of how music connects people to the divine very much into my mind.
How Music Connects Us
Listening to music provides us with all manner of benefits to our physical, emotional and mental health.
Here’s how music is said to help us:
Promotes blood flow
Increases our sense of well-being
Relieves stress
Creates happiness
Folks who might otherwise be crippled by depression find that music relieves their condition by improving their mood and their outlook on life.
Just like a great book or movie music can allow us to escape from our present woes and, when we return, provide us with a way to see our situation in a more positive manner.
Music helps us see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Mythology Connects Us
I have an interest in mythology. For millennia religions have used mythology to help explain the unexplainable.
Since the enlightenment science has challenged the relationship many people have had with religion and, as a consequence, weakened the power religion has had over the masses.
But the power of myth is still very potent and, I believe, essential to understanding our relationship with the divine.
Mentioning the words religion, god or divine can be divisive. As a consequence a well meaning discussion can quickly disintegrate into ridicule and scorn.
It’s for this reason that I try to use other words when exploring notions associated with the cosmic or eternal connections that exist on the edge of our understanding.
For example, I often use the word sublime as a way of preventing discussions exploring cosmic connection from becoming marred in history and contemporary politics.
Let’s face it the Catholic church doesn’t rate as highly on the trust scale as it once did.
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Stories For Then And For Now
These days many people find connection with the sublime outside of a strict literal interpretation of the written word.
In particular I find that mythology and music offer less clearly defined and more abstract forms of connection.
We live in a time when personal, authentic experience is highly valued and sought after.
It’s for this reason that I believe mythology and music are well suited to the needs of so many meaning seeking people in our contemporary world.
I love myths for their ability to engage an audience and present a range of non factual truths that help us examine the moral and ethical issues that underpin our society.
In no way is it my intention to deride anyone's belief system. I have had the good fortune of growing up in a democratic country and freedom of belief is fundamental to my own world view.
What's more I'm a firm believer in the value of mythology. However, I feel that many of our world's problems derive from the fact that so many people don't understand the true purpose and value of myth.
Stained glass window image of Jesus, Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg.
Music and My Favorite Creation Myth
Let's move away from religion and look at Professor J. R. R. Tolkien's creation myth from the Silmarillion.
For those unfamiliar with Tolkien's writings the Silmarillion is the history of the first age of Middle Earth, as told from the Elvish perspective.
Incidentally Tolkien, a colleague and close friend of C. S. Lewis, was a devout Catholic.
The Silmarillion is a beautiful read and, while not wanting to give too much away, let me just say that music was fundamental to the creation myth in what Tolkien referred to as the secondary world.
While a literary work, Tolkien’s creation myth does speak to how music connects us to the sublime.
Where Is The Sublime In Your Life?
Outside of the landscape, or the expression of joy on the faces of young and old alike, music, photography and nature are the means by which I form my own connections to the sublime, however you choose to describe it.
I have no idea if God exists, nor no I think I need to. While I understand how that kind of rock hard faith can be a great benefit to people, it’s not for me.
I’m content knowing that I don’t know. But I’m actively engaged in glimpsing the sublime through the art of photography.
I’m not seeking to uncover or prove anything, just to notice and, on a good day, exist within that space where experience needs do explanation.
