The Music of God
John Michael Talbot

God is perfect spiritual music. Many of the world's major religions say that God created the universe through music. The Judeo- Christian heritage is no exception. The analogy of a well-tuned harp was already used by the early Church fathers to describe the unity of the Church. But the music they speak of is no mere earthly song. It is profoundly spiritual, and mystical.

In scripture this is seen in the creation accounts of Genesis and John's Gospel. Here God creates through the Spirit in the Word, followed by light, and then form. All else flows from this basic beginning. A pattern of Spirit/sound, light, and form, can be seen in the creation accounts of scripture. The mystics would say that this is God's music. But it is not only the music we can hear with the human ears. This music is the perfect harmony of various waves of created energy in sound, light, and form, all animated by God's creative Spirit.

Sound and light are both simply waves of energy perceived by the two different sense organs of ears and eyes in human beings. Further, even solid physical objects are waves of energy vibrating at various speeds to create a solid form perceptible to the touch. In this all of creation is simply the music of energy waves moving in perfect harmony, proportion, and rhythm.

The mystics say that in the mystical state you can see sound, and hear color. The scriptural accounts of heaven describe a similar state of existence. I believe that this was our original mode, and will be again in Eternity. To some degree it is also possible now through meditation and prayer.

This harmonious music is part of God's very being. God is a perfect harmony of transcendent self-sufficiency and self-diffusive goodness and selfless love. This awesome balance and peaceful harmony is perfectly manifested in the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is perfect logic, but beyond the grasp of logic alone.

He created humanity in a similar "trinity" in his image in a perfect balance of spirit, soul, and body (I Th. 5: 23). The spirit is our deepest, and most essential spiritual being beyond sensual form, emotions, or ideas. The soul is our cognitional self-aware energy of that deepest essence. It is sometimes called "mind." The body is the sensual and emotional house for soul and spirit. The harmony of God works in us when these three separate, but intimately linked, aspects of our personhood are working in right order and priority.

Originally humanity was in perfect communion with God, within ourselves, and with all creation. There was a total oneness in diversity between all of the various aspects of our own being, all species of animate and inanimate creation, and all individuals of human life. All was perfect concord and peace. All was beautiful music.

But somehow we decided that we could make better music on our own without God. We turned the priority of spirit, soul, body, in reverse, and the world has seemed upside down ever since. Now we operated with the senses and emotions of the body first, followed by the cognitive awareness of the mind, or soul. Unfortunately, the spirit of humanity was lulled to sleep, covered up, and substantially lost in the great feather bed of life. Humanity, and all creation with us, was lost to the devious illness of self that kills our deeper being in the sleep.

All religions seek to get to the root of this problem of discord. They all recognize that something essential has been lost, or covered up. They all point the way back to the perfect harmony of divine music again. They all more or less agree that this can only happen through total death to the old self, and the rebirth of a new person in that original harmony where the spirit is primary, followed by the soul and the body. They often use different language and metaphors to describe the process, but it is very much the same.

Jesus came to fully reestablish that original music of God in compliment to all that has come before or since, and in perfect completion. Rather than only pointing the way to reestablish the original music of God, he actually IS the way, the truth or reality, and the life in His cross and resurrection. This is utterly unique among the religions, and is utterly beyond words, emotions, or senses to describe it, though it includes and fulfills them all.

I invite you to fully enter into this way of Jesus so that our lives may all reestablish this original music of God on the face of this earth. Through meditation and contemplative prayer let go of the discordant noise of your false self, no matter how attached you are to this false self identity. Let your deeper, and real self emerge through the ultimate self emptying of Christ. Then you will hear the music of God everywhere, and in everyone you meet!

This article was part of a 20-week series originally published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper between July 14 and November 24, 2001