An die Musik

“Oh gracious Art, in how many grey hours,When life's fierce orbit ensnared me, Have you kindled my heart to warm love, Transfigured me into a better world! How often has a sigh escaping from your harp, A sweet, a sacred harmony of yours Thrown open the heaven of better times, Oh gracious Art, for that I thank you!”

Sometimes you just have those days. I was having one of those days today – thinking to myself that a job selling books door-to-door wasn’t sounding so bad after all! I really love music –obviously, but sometimes I think I just can’t hear it anymore, can’t write it anymore, can’t teach it any more, can’t grade it anymore!

Today was one of those days. But then, ironically, the words to one of the hundreds of lieder by Franz Schubert started running through my mind. Schubert’s hymn to the art of music, “An die Musik,” was written in 1817 and, in German, is still sung the world over today. So what is it about music that is so captivating, so ensnaring and inescapable? I can honestly say that some of my deepest personal hurts have come at the hands of music – or I should say musicians. But on the flipside, some of my deepest joys have come as a result of it. I guess that’s what happens with things we love, right?

I often wonder, what is it about the power of music, of song? Surely we have all talked about its ability to captivate our emotions, to order the atmosphere, to shape the very direction of our lives. What a fascinating creation it is! What a fascinating creation any art form is– as my friend Laura Jurek has taught me. Her beautiful paintings, stained glass and simple drawings have shown me a dimension of beauty that could never be expressed the same in any other venue. (Thanks, Laura)

When I contemplate all this – the beauty, the captivating power – I have to stand back in amazement that the Lord whom we worship created such a thing. Surely it has to be one of the most special of all His creations. I believe it is part of the essence of his being:

“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17

Imagine the sound of His music!

I realize my ramblings here seem more like a stream of consciousness than organized thought, but I do have a point here. When gratitude rises in my heart for this art that I am privileged to be a part of, what my heart is really speaking is praise to my heavenly Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, who chose music as His means to express the essence of His being – His love- to me, his daughter. “Oh gracious Art,” oh gracious Lord, “for that I thank you!”