And whistling, for most people, has a strong association with happiness:
Some responded by noting that for them, whistling had become a long-ago memory:
Sometimes not whistling is a mirror of our inner life or current circumstances. I remember one time being surprised by the sound of my own whistling as I "overheard" myself doing so. When I thought about how long it had been, I realized that the absence corresponded with a sad stretch in my life.
It was good to know that the change for the better had found expression in the song I whistled.
Since then, I sometimes make the choice to whistle, hum, or sing, even if I don’t necessarily feel like it. In that case, it does not rise unbidden from within. Rather, it is a kind of summoning up of good intention and then sending it out into the world. I like to think of that as a contribution toward
well-being, my own and others. Perhaps in doing so, I move a bit closer to a time when I will “overhear” myself and delight in what that means.
Spontaneous whistling, humming, or song raises for me the question of origin. From where does such impulse arise? Is it perhaps in response to not only our own inner self, but something we “catch” from the larger world around us?
In my Celtic Book of Daily Prayer, The Rhythm of Life, David Adam quotes a Hebrew prayer, “In your goodness you have made us able to hear the music of the world. The voices of loved ones reveal to us that you are in our midst. A divine song sings through all creation.” A divine song sings through all creation. This seems to attest to a music already there, the idea that melody and harmony are present in God’s creation. Perhaps
we “pick up the melody” more than we create one.
Keenly attuned to the presence of God throughout the natural world, St. Hildegard of Bingen wrote, “There is a music of heaven in all things.” If so, she learned to listen well. She herself wrote music and went on to create the first opera of Western civilization.
Renaissance thinkers pondered the perfection and mathematical resonance of all creation, even to the newly discovered planets. They compared it to the proportionate relationship of musical notes articulated the symmetry as “musica universalis,” or “music of the spheres.” Johann Kepler,16th C scientist, and philosopher, said this was not a sound audible to the ear, but one heard by the soul.
This notion of divine music transcends many boundaries. A Buddhist friend has told me that the Sutra calls humming, “the breath of God.”
I remember being taught that the joys of this world are a foretaste of the joys of heaven, but I confess to the frequent thought, even as a child, that even Jesus, straight from the heaven, must have been simply stunned sometimes by what this earth held for him. I remember learning that Jesus was perfect in every way, and I have thought how much he must have perfectly enjoyed his life, tasted the flavor of food, savored the joy of friendship, appreciated the world around him and, yes, even been surprised at how wondrous all of it was!
It is quite possible that I was a slightly heretical child with some of these ponderings, but they have endured. I still think on such things, just like I still whistle.
THE SUN NEVER SAYS
Even after all this time
the sun never says to the earth,
"You owe me."
Look what happens with a love like that--
It lights up the whole world!
Hafiz was Muslim but enjoyed the exchange of religious thought and wrote:
A HOLE IN A FLUTE
I am a hole in a flute
that the Christ's breath moves through.
Listen to this music.
I am the concert from the mouth of every creature
singing with the myriad chorus.
I am a hole in a flute
that the Christ's breath moves through.
Listen to this music.
Make new friends but keep the old
Meanwhile several groups are lookin ahead to Fall and ordering copies of our two earlier bible studies, SISTERS IN SCRIPTURE: Exploring the Relationships of Biblical Women and NEVER ON SUNDAY, A Look at the Women NOT in the Lectionary.
SISTERS IN SCRIPTURE
SISTERS IN SCRIPTURE, the book that started it all is still available and best purchased through the publisher, Paulist Press.
NEVER ON SUNDAY
NEVER ON SUNDAY takes it up a notch. To learn more go to our website preview and purchase on Amazon.
