Spirit Become Music

Culture is formed by cult. The liturgy is the first form of culture. What happens in the sanctuary shapes what happens outside. 

Rivers flow from Eden’s garden to the four corners. A spring starts from the throne of God and flows to the Dead Sea, refreshing as it goes (Ezekiel 47).

Is this anything more than metaphor? Is this just a trade in word-pictures?

It might seem so, but the history of Western music shows just how concretely historical these images are. Western music took its cues from the liturgical music of the church. Plainsong chant tunes still appear in contemporary music (Dies Irae). Polyphony was originally literally multi-voiced music.

The Spirit became music and dwelt among us.

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Moral Certitude and the Iran War

Steven A. Long

The current military engagement with Iran calls renewed attention to just war theory in the Catholic tradition.…

The Slow Death of England: New and Notable Books

Mark Bauerlein

The fate of England is much in the news as popular resistance to mass immigration grows, limits…

Ethics of Rhetoric in Times of War

R. R. Reno

What we say matters. And the way we say it matters. This is especially true in times…