Make music, not war
Albert Einstein once said, “If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician…I get most joy in life out of music.” He even attributes the discovery of his famous theory of relativity to, “musical perception.” Surely we have all heard that music is the universal language, the voice of the soul, and a place of solace for the troubled heart. Indeed it is all these things and more, and I challenge you to find one person on this planet that does not enjoy this splendid art form.
That being said, these days we seem to be seeking out (and finding) more and more reasons to set ourselves apart from each other. Our world is in a state of war in its multitude of forms. The dominant political parties in our country are at war to gain power and promote their agendas. We are fighting a winning war against our own environment. Major world religions continue to fight the never-ending war over “the truth.” Class strife and ethnic conflict have a death grip in countries all over our Earth, and if that wasn’t enough, we are fighting the wars of combat, guns, and indiscriminate killing. But we are at war on a very personal scale as well. Distrust and dishonesty exist in our society and in our relationships. Jealousy and anger are as human as our hands and feet. We even go to war with our own self, our heart and mind fighting on the battleground of our soul.
To all of that I say “enough.” The last few weeks I’ve reached out to you, the reader, about the transformational power of love. I have asked you to plunge fearlessly into that which finds us at our most vulnerable, an unguarded heart. I encouraged you to recognize that love truly is blind, that our soul’s counterpoint has no physical presence, only a spiritual one. And now I want to tell you about the very real power music has to make love not war.
John Lennon penned what I believe to be some of the most poignant and hopeful words ever shared through music: “You may say that I’m a dreamer/but I’m not the only one/I hope someday you will join us/and the world will live as one.” In his song we’re asked to imagine a world without all the things we war over; religion, imperialism, materialism, and the notion of heaven and hell. His motive is not to promote an anarchical-atheist world where everyone has a right to anything. He seeks to open our eyes to that which we use to set ourselves apart. The possessions we hide behind, the “words of God” we use to condemn those who disagree, and our cultural arrogance, are just a few of the battle lines we have drawn.
Plato wrote that, “music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul,” the Aboriginals of Australia use songs to find their way through the wilderness, and the Bible talks of the soothing power David and his harp could evoke. Music has, is, and always will be a part of our humanity, and because of that will remain something with the power to bring us together. Its words and melodies are not trite, superficial musings. Sometimes they are an honest expression of the human experience in all its frailty and imperfection. Other times they are an inexplicable voicing of elation. Music makes us feel invincible, it breaks our heart, it gives us hope, it shows us our flaws, and other times it simply calms us down. But forever and always, music will make us feel. It is a reminder that we are made of flesh and blood, as well as soul and spirit. It is a reminder that we are neither the first nor the last to feel the way we feel, and in that it is a reminder that we are not alone.
Perhaps what we love so much about music is that we can let our guard down, without the fear of being hurt. Virgil Thompson, an American composer wrote, “No matter what deceptions life may have in store for you, music itself is not going to let you down.” We weren’t meant to go it alone and to fight to live. We were meant to live beautifully. In the words of Switchfoot, “We were meant to live for so much more.” I implore you to let your guard down, feel the rhythm, and sing the change you wish to see in the world. The truth is that we’re all in this together.
