10 August
The heart of worship
In this Sunday’s reading, the prophet Isaiah challenges us to look beyond the façade of false piety and return to the heart of worship: cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan and plead for the widow. It is one of my favourite passages in the whole Bible, along with a few others that share the same message.
Since we will explore that more fully on Sunday, I thought it might be worthwhile simply to pause and admire the beauty of worship. I recently came across a wonderful piece that reflected on the beauty of musical worship through the lens of three German theologians. What follows is an ode to worship in the light of the false images Isaiah warns us about.
The first praise song comes from none other than Hildegard of Bingen, the medieval mystic. She wrote:
“O fiery Spirit, praise to you,
who on the tympana and lyre work and play!
By you the human mind is set ablaze,
the tabernacle of its soul contains its
strength…”
What a powerful image. The Holy Spirit dancing on the tympana (eardrum) and the lyre, setting us ablaze.
In a similar spirit, Martin Luther once said: “Experience testifies that, after the Word of God, music alone deserves to be celebrated as mistress and queen of the emotions of the heart.” He continued: “If you want to revive the sad, startle the jovial, encourage the despairing, humble the conceited, pacify the raving, mollify the hate-filled (…) what can you find that is more efficacious than music?”
Thirdly, the cofounder of the Bruderhof Community, Eberhard Arnold, wrote: “The same is true of other songs with a deep meaning. When we sing such songs in real community with the Spirit, we sense something of innermost holiness.” How true it is that the words of hymns stay with us for years, often returning in our most difficult moments.
As a bonus, let us hear from another German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. At the baptism of his godson, Bonhoeffer, himself a gifted musician, wrote: “Amid the general impoverishment of spiritual life, you will find your parents’ home a treasury of spiritual values and a source of inspiration. Music, as your parents understand and practice it, will bring you back from confusion to your clearest and purest self and perceptions, and from cares and sorrows to the underlying note of joy.”
This week I have been listening to the captivating album Four Spirits by the cellist Abel Selaocoe. It has been a source of joy. What are you listening to at the moment, and how is God dancing on your eardrum this week?
Marius Louw