I read a devotion recently by a former music minister. He said that with certain passages of Scripture, “the music makes the words come to life, and I descend to a deeper level of consciousness that tunes my soul to the frequency of the Holy Spirit’s song.”

That’s so beautiful. In my post-pastor life, I love being part of our church choir, no doubt subconsciously gathering up more music to carry Bible texts. But probably everyone recognizes the notes of Handel’s Messiah underneath key Bible texts for the Christmas season, or as part of their general, secular pre-Christmas musical fare.

Years ago, my Biblical Hebrew professor said that every word in the Jewish language has its own unique musical tone. No wonder some people think Hebrew is the language of the angels! It must be amazing to hear a trained cantor sing from the Jewish Bible, with every word a unique expression set in the silence. Those scriptures are the majority of our Christian Bible, as well. Only Gregorian chant or an earlier type of chant could speak to the rest of us in an equally mystic way.

All of this reminds me of the phrase, “the music of the spheres.” I have pictured the phrase as a poetic way to describe the planets, stars, and all the universe. C.S. Lewis uses it once or twice in his incredible speculative fiction books.

It turns out “the music of the spheres” began as a philosophical concept in ancient Greece, relating the movements of the sun, moon and planets to music. It described a song of balance beyond our ears but heard by our souls. That philosophy lasted until the Renaissance.

We cannot prove that all of God’s creation is in perfect balance. But we have plenty of poetry in the Bible that describes all parts of God’s creation singing to God’s glory. Maybe part of living in what comes after this life includes getting to listen to what our whole selves, our souls, have been hearing all along.

Your partner in wonder,

Betsy