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Holy muttering
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Here is a non-incident for you if ever there was one.
I was attending the first in what is hoped to be a series of theology lectures at my old seminary alma mater. It was a rather solemn occasion, with the dedication of a chair to a retiring professor. There was a welcome and announcement by the Vice President for Academic Affairs. And next on the program was “special music.”
The first tune was the beautiful and familiar “Ich will dir meine Herze schenken” by Johann Sebastian Bach, and the soprano sang like an angel. The second was “The Lord is my Rock,” by Camille Saint-Saens.
It was in about the middle of this second song that I noticed what I was doing: I was in that strange mode of listening that is opaque to the meaning of the words being sung, a sort of hearing while not hearing, a sort of being vaguely entertained by the music and words, but not penetrated to the heart.
I was appalled when I caught myself because it is a manner of living that I have repudiated of late. I roused myself mid-way and began earnestly to mutter silent responses, like “Thank you, Jesus, for being my Rock.” I don’t know how many others in the room were infected with a like deadness. But as for me, let me never again hear the word of God in any form without worshipping.
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One more diversion
Let me never let my mind wander . . . uh . . . what was I saying? . . .
Oh if it was as easy to break that habit as a prayer and a steely, self-will:)
The Word of God notwithstanding, communication comes in many forms. In fact, I would say that sometimes we pay too much attention to the literal black and white while missing the Savior passing before us. There is a time for relaxing and letting our minds wander over a thought from inside rather than being driven by external circumstances. Discipline comes in many forms.
Dick Friedrich,
I agree. I can’t speak for Andree’s state of mind and spirit while being “vaguely entertained” by Saint-Saens’ music (a piece I’m not familiar with anyway) - but hearing words and music without giving conscious thought to the words does not necessarily entail “deadness.”
One of the ideas of C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters that particularly made an impression on me is that experiencing real happiness, laughter, or other kinds of pleasure - as opposed to false kinds of pleasure such as thinking oneself smarter or more popular than someone else - is always a gift from God, and has a tendency to make one more open to other gifts from God.
If I am thinking about what items are on my to-do list while “listening” to Bach, I am indeed missing out on something valuable. And my enjoyment of his music may be deeper if I happen to understand the words in German. But my (conscious) prayers of thanksgiving can wait until the music is over.
Whew!! We have just given ourselves permission, once again, to exist!!
Reg,
Not permission at all - just a recognition anew of the joy of being that comes with being a creature of the living God and his great gifts in our lives. Little do we deserve the gifts let alone the recognition of them. Life, reason, music, pleasure are no creation of ours. If we really believe that we are the end to which these things are pointed it would be a very hollow existence indeed.