{"id":40415,"date":"2013-07-01T13:53:00","date_gmt":"2013-07-01T18:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=40415"},"modified":"2013-07-01T15:44:02","modified_gmt":"2013-07-01T20:44:02","slug":"the-theology-of-sound-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/07\/the-theology-of-sound-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Theology of Sound"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A question for your consideration: Why does music hold such power over the human heart?<\/p>\n<p>Let that percolate for a minute, then read on.<\/p>\n<p>As a Catholic musician, I am particularly enamored with two things: theology and sound. I dive passionately into the depths of the Eschaton just as eagerly as I plunge myself headlong into an Eric Clapton album. I find matchless beauty in the Church&#8217;s doctrines on human sexuality, and I am left breathless by the sheer brilliance of &#8220;Blood of Eden&#8221; by Peter Gabriel.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"630\" height=\"355\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wkXeUE5gvRs?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Anywho, I&#8217;ve begun to notice certain things, certain parallels, between theology and music. There seems to be some kind of revelation of the Divine encoded in music, in that which is, according to Augustine, &#8220;praying twice.&#8221; &#8220;Cantare amantis est,&#8221; he writes &#8211; to sing is a lover&#8217;s thing, and since God is love, singing (and, by extension, all music) belongs to the realm of the divine. It is otherworldly. It is not unnatural &#8211; it is supernatural, something we could not have developed on our own, but were rather given in an abundant shower of love by Love Himself.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>I am convinced, thoroughly and completely, that God intended for music to reveal something about Himself to us, but also something about ourselves to us as well, and it starts with the most basic understanding of sound itself.\u00a0As a disclaimer, please do not consider my word on this to be infallible truth. These thoughts are simply my understanding, and meant for whatever spiritual edification they might supply \u2013 if anything I say should happen to distort or contradict the teaching of the Catholic Church, then I immediately defer to the Church\u2019s wisdom and guidance as greater and infinitely more sound than my own.<\/div>\n<p>To understand music, we first need to understand the general concept of sound. Sound is ultimately vibration, which is ultimately motion. Everything that moves makes some kind of sound, because sound and motion are at their core the same thing. We simply cannot hear the sounds of some things moving because our eardrums aren&#8217;t capable of picking up those sounds. On top of that, science tells us that\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/nova\/elegant\/resonance.html\" target=\"_blank\">all things are constantly vibrating<\/a>\u00a0on a submicroscopic level. That means all things naturally have a constant \u201csound\u201d of sorts, a vibration that never ceases, though we cannot hear this sound because it is too faint, and humming at a pitch we would never be able to hear even if it were loud enough. We call this constant vibration &#8220;resonance.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>So what exactly does all that have to do with us, or with God? Well, God created things this way. He specifically made our universe so that every physical object would be constantly vibrating, constantly buzzing. Have you ever heard of \u201cthe song of all creation?\u201d Scripture, other religious texts, poetry, and Christian song lyrics throughout history have time and again spoken of creation echoing the song of God\u2019s glory, the universe proclaiming His majesty, the hills and mountains resounding with praise (Psalms\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=psalm%2019&amp;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\">19<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=psalm%2029&amp;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\">29<\/a>\u00a0come to mind). We even read the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/usccb.org\/bible\/songofsongs\/1\" target=\"_blank\">Song of Songs<\/a>\u00a0in Scripture, meant to be the greatest song of all, a song of pure love between the Heavenly Bride and Bridegroom reflected in pure love between a more earthly bride and bridegroom. Could it be that perhaps this \u201ccreation song\u201d is more than mere symbolism? Could it be that Heaven\u2019s song is being sung by creation in a much more literal sense than we might have thought?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/index.php\/2013\/07\/the-theology-of-sound-2\/sudden-clarity-clarence\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-40416\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-40416\" alt=\"sudden clarity clarence\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/sudden-clarity-clarence-300x168.jpg?resize=300%2C168\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Heaven\u2019s song is too sublime, too glorious for us to hear. In his book\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Heavens-Song-Sexual-Love-Meant\/dp\/1934217468\" target=\"_blank\">Heaven\u2019s Song<\/a>, Christopher West tells us a brief legend: \u201c<em>It is reported that St. Francis of Assisi once asked God to allow him to hear the music of heaven. The Lord told Francis he knew not what he asked, for the sheer glory of heaven\u2019s song would spell certain death. The persistent saint pleaded eagerly, \u2018Can\u2019t I hear just one note?\u2019 God conceded. As the story goes, Francis awoke from his coma a few days later.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This story may be true or may be simply pious legend, but the message is clear: Heaven has a song, and its sheer glory is too powerful for us to take until we are made ready and finally admitted into the gates of heaven. But the small part of it that we can experience in our hearts, minds, and senses is laid out before us in the beauty of creation. The universe literally does echo the sound of God\u2019s glory. But we are not merely limited to experiencing this echo, in its diminished state&#8230; in fact,\u00a0<i>we<\/i>\u00a0are the instruments on which the song is played.<\/p>\n<p>Try this: sit as perfectly still as you can. Be absolutely motionless. Don\u2019t breathe, don\u2019t twitch, don\u2019t do anything. Relax all your muscles and try and remain as completely motionless as possible. Now try really hard \u2013 concentrate on it \u2013 and make every atom in your body stop moving. Make all electron motion cease. Stop all cell division, stop your blood from pumping, stop your individual hairs from blowing in the microscopic breeze from your air conditioning.<\/p>\n<p>Surely you didn&#8217;t actually try to stop your atoms from moving just now. You can\u2019t. It\u2019s impossible, and you and I both know that; it goes without saying. But what does that mean in light of this \u201csong of creation?\u201d It seems to me that no matter what you do, you still resonate with the power of the song. Whether you are running or walking or sitting perfectly still, you are still resonating on a level so far beneath the surface that you cannot possibly control it. Even if you intentionally try to stop it, you can\u2019t. But even if you\u00a0<i>could\u00a0<\/i>stop it, why would you want to? If your atoms stopped moving and froze, your life would cease. You would be dead and your body frozen in the space where it stopped. Your life, your being, your very existence depends upon the song of creation. A person might verbally deny their reliance on God\u2019s glory, might even actually believe that it isn&#8217;t real or that they don\u2019t need it, but that doesn&#8217;t for a moment change the fact that they are a resounding chamber for His song, a drum ringing from the inside out, and if they were somehow to stop resonating even for a moment, stop manifesting His glory in their very existence, then that would be the end of their existence. That\u2019s the way God made us. Each and every one of us is an echo of His glory and beauty.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/index.php\/2013\/07\/the-theology-of-sound-2\/picture\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-40417\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-40417 aligncenter\" alt=\"picture\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/picture-300x223.jpg?resize=300%2C223\" width=\"300\" height=\"223\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/usccb.org\/bible\/revelation\/14\" target=\"_blank\">Revelation 14<\/a>\u00a0tells us of the song of praise in the heavens: no man can learn it, except those who enter heaven. How is it described? Look at the first half of verse 2: \u201cI heard a sound from heaven like the sound of rushing water, or a loud peal of thunder.&#8221; It is described precisely in terms of the sounds of the created world, and the most powerful natural sounds we know, at that. What better sounds could there be to describe the resonance of all creation?<\/p>\n<p>Continue on to the second half: \u201cThe sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.&#8221; It is also described in terms of humanity, of human praise, of humanity\u2019s song being the same as that of the rest of creation and yet distinguishable from it, two intertwined melodies catapulting the created into the divine. We are part of creation, yet we are set apart from it, and Scripture makes it clear that we add something unique to this creation song; there is something, some quality about us that the all rest of the universe does not possess.<\/p>\n<p>More to come. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A question for your consideration: Why does music hold such power over the human heart? Let that percolate for a minute, then read on. As a Catholic musician, I am particularly enamored with two things: theology and sound. I dive passionately into the depths of the Eschaton just as eagerly as I plunge myself headlong&#8230;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/07\/the-theology-of-sound-2\/\">[Read&nbsp;More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[215,55,514,598],"class_list":{"0":"post-40415","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"tag-bible","8":"tag-catholic-2","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-theology","11":"entry","12":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":105130,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/04\/reflection-the-three-parts-of-dance-and-the-trinity\/","url_meta":{"origin":40415,"position":0},"title":"Learning to Follow (A Reflection on &#8220;The Three Parts of Dance &amp; the Trinity&#8221;)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"April 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm learning to dance. I've always loved to dance, even since I was the little girl in shiny gold shoes tearing it up at my uncle's wedding. True story. I did tap and ballet for about a year when I was four. Since then, it's been all about freestyle. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A couple on the dance floor. The Theology of Dance connects a hobby with the union of the Holy Trinity.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/coupleonthedancefloor-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/coupleonthedancefloor-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/coupleonthedancefloor-550x367.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101542,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/03\/review-cs-lewis-and-the-crisis-of-a-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":40415,"position":1},"title":"Biography, Theology, and You (Review: &#8220;C.S. Lewis and the Crisis of a Christian&#8221;)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"March 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I like C.S. Lewis a lot. He wasn't a Catholic, but he was a convert to Anglicanism, and more importantly, he was an incredible writer. I read The Chronicles of Narnia first, but when I entered adulthood, I discovered his apologetics works. I love them so much that I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Faith&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"\"If we find the gospel message to be true, we need to surrender to God and change our lives. For that reason\u2014whether or not the [C.S. Lewis] trilemma or some form of it works\u2014many will still never assent that Jesus is God.\" \u2014Gregory S. Cootsona","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/acnm_lewiscrisis.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":350798,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2017\/01\/get-through-bible-today-video-john-bergsma-bible-basics\/","url_meta":{"origin":40415,"position":2},"title":"Get Through the Bible Today! (Video: John Bergsma, &#8220;Bible Basics for Catholics&#8221;)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"January 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Are you a member of the Perpetual Bible in a Year Club? I am. I know several people who have read through the entire Bible. Some have even managed it in a year. About ten years ago now, I set out to join them... and like many others, I fell\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/BmxgYU54rgU\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":136347,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/08\/review-bible-basics-for-catholics\/","url_meta":{"origin":40415,"position":3},"title":"From Old Adam to New in 7 Easy Sketches (Review: &#8220;Bible Basics for Catholics&#8221;)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"August 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"You can learn the story of the Bible in seven easy stick figures. Several summers ago, I took a weekly crash course on salvation history. It absolutely changed the way I see the Bible. Have you ever heard the prophets or psalms talking about Israel and Judah as though they're\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Faith&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"My bible with a \"walking\" globe toy on the story of Noah's covenant.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Bible_study_globe-550x550.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Bible_study_globe-550x550.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Bible_study_globe-550x550.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":124986,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/06\/an-open-letter-to-sr-simone-campbell-of-the-nuns-on-the-bus\/","url_meta":{"origin":40415,"position":4},"title":"An Open Letter to Sr. Simone Campbell (of the Nuns on the Bus)","author":"Rachel","date":"June 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This blog is in response to an interview\u00a0aired by the radio program On Being, hosted by Krista Tippett, on June 11, 2015. I invite you to listen to the interview before reading this post, and would especially point your attention to the unedited version of the interview. The time stamps\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Faith&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sister Simone Campbell, left, and Sister Diane Donoghue, right, lead the way as the the \"Nuns on the Bus\" arrive on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, July 2, 2012, after a nine-state tour to bring stories of hardship to Congress. Sister Simone Campbell is executive director of Network, a liberal Catholic social justice lobby in Washington. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/AP120702122892-550x377.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/AP120702122892-550x377.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/AP120702122892-550x377.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":187431,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/popular-misconceptions-about-the-catholic-mass-part-i-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":40415,"position":5},"title":"Popular Misconceptions About the Catholic Mass, Part I: Music","author":"Michael Raia","date":"December 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A number of\u00a0liturgical reforms seen in the U.S. since Vatican II were not actually mandated or even recommended\u00a0by the Council, but\u00a0were reactionary shifts that had more to do with the culture of the\u00a0decade\u00a0\u2013 it\u2019s time to revisit\u00a0those changes. Numerous articles and studies published in recent months and years indicate that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Faith&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pope Francis censes the sanctuary as he celebrates Mass with representatives from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia Sept. 26. (CNS photo\/Paul Haring) See POPE-PENN-BISHOPS Sept. 26, 2015.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/PopeFrancisMass-CNS-550x279.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/PopeFrancisMass-CNS-550x279.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/PopeFrancisMass-CNS-550x279.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}