for the past couple of weeks i've written about doom and gloom. this week i want to write about joy. despite my fears for the immediate future, i am a happy person. every day i wake up surrounded by life's blessings. i live in a comfortable home with a loving wife who is my best friend. i have kind, caring children. i have friends and relatives i enjoy. i eat delicious food and can afford to travel wherever i want to go. my health is generally good, though i am feeling some of the aches that come with aging. my life is a good one, and i love it.
one of my greatest joys is music. i have the opportunity to make music for others several sundays each month playing for a local congregation that seems to enjoy the music i provide for them. each time i sit down to practice or to play a church service, i am transported to a world of beauty. it is wonderful to take part in the creative process with some of the greatest composers in history. this is the unique aspect of music. when one plays music composed by another, there is a mutual sharing of the material. without the player, the notes are static on the page. the music only comes to life when the printed music is realized by a live player or players. just as in a play where actors bring the playwright's words to life, a musical performer brings the creation of the composer to life and participates with the composer in making the music and sharing it with others.
beautiful, thoughtful music speaks to the mind and heart in a way that nothing else can. as i listen to music, my mind is freed from the mundane necessities of life, and i am transported into the mind of another who may have lived far from me in a different time period and who spoke a different language, yet the language of music is common to us both. when i am a part of making the music, the composer and i communicate not only with one another but with any who are listening. there is a sharing of experience across time and space that is nothing short of miraculous.
may i continue to find the joy that music brings. may i long to share that joy with others. may music bridge gaps that are otherwise impossible to cross. may we put aside our differences as we find common ground in the beauty of music. may we make and listen to music that inspires the best in us, increasing our capacity for lovingkindness, compassion, tolerance, and mutual understanding. shalom.
No comments:
Post a Comment