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June 2010 A Note from the Pastor Music, Mystery and God. These words linked together seem to stir my soul. Music is an important part of our worshiping God and one of HPC’s strengths. Music is mysterious: where does it come from, when did it begin, how and why does it stir our emotions, affect our mind and even improve our health? And how does one compose music? This morning on NPR, they were talking about Paul McCartney, his music and influence on so many people. When he was asked how he wrote his music and where he got his inspiration, he said something like - you have a black hole and a few hours later you come up with some music. He didn’t know how it worked, and called it a mystery and magic. Last night I watched a program about music and the mind on public TV. Another mystery: how music can soothe the mind. One young man blind since birth and autistic, could play the piano beautifully, hear a new piece once and then play it perfectly and even improvise. They spoke of people who lose much of their memory but still can recall the words of a song; they filmed people who cannot walk but yet can dance to music. These mysteries cannot be explained, but they can be experienced. Another mystery we just recently encountered is the Trinity, which we celebrated last Sunday. This topic can be seen as an earnest human effort to describe something that cannot ever be described, which is the nature of God. Robert Farrar Capon says, “That when human beings try to describe God we are like a bunch of oysters trying to describe a ballerina. We simply do not have the equipment to understand something so utterly beyond us. God is a mystery that cannot be explained, but can be experienced.” However we do need something to talk about how we experience the presence of God; how it sounds, how it feels, what it reminds us of. So we use metaphors. The Eastern Orthodox Church emphasizes the Trinity as dancing. This goes along with their image: A professor was talking to a gardener. The gardener had asked him, “What do you reckon about the Trinity?” And he in turn had asked the gardener, “What do YOU reckon about the Trinity?” The gardener’s response: “I reckon God is the dance, Jesus is the dancer and the Spirit is the dancing.” Music, Mystery and God. Let’s dance with God! Blessing of Peace & Joy,
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