If you are like me you like to listen to music in the background while working around the house, on the computer, or driving. But I wish I spent more time sitting and just listening to music to just simply 'hear' the music.
There were a few music classes I took back in college and I remember being assigned "listenings" instead of readings. I would check out a cd and sheet music and sit in a "listening room" like a mini-sound studio, and listen to music and follow along the sheet music. It was an opportunity to focus on the intervals, the phrasing, and all the nuances of how composers take a handful of different notes from different instruments and compose them into something than can make you laugh or cry.
Our organist Paul has arranged a trio of classic hymns into one piece with a unique and profound sound and feeling. We used them in our worship service as background to the Prayers of the People, but they deserve a listen to all on their own. Too often we acquiesce to our consumeristic culture and once we see or hear something, we instantly discard it moving on to something new. I admit I do this more often than I like to admit.
However today, I encourage you to pause for a moment and not listen to this as background music, but as a word from God. Music is tied to memory, emotions, and even physics and the natural world. Music has a way of touching us far deeper than words or images. So please, whatever you are feeling or thinking now, accept this gift of music; cherish a quite three minutes with God and let us bless you today.
Peace,
-Pastor Karl
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