As I was considering the concept of beauty and the nature of music, a revelation came to me.
Why do we find something to be beautiful anyway? What purpose does beauty serve? What good is it? How does one's visual appreciation of a sunset or the way a tree sways in the breeze moving us to emotion have any benefit to our existence?
And what of music? We create it, listen to it, dance to it, cry to it, mark Time with it, and even worship God with it. And we say a piece of music, a chord, a melody, even one note on a violin or of a soprano's voice -- 'tis such a beautiful sound.
Why is this so?
Scientist and reductionist might try and explain our sense of beauty or love for music as some inherited trait, something that helped us win the dance contest of macro-evolution madness. But this is indeed madness to even consider such mental constructs seriously.
By faith we believe . . .
Man is made in the image of God. God is the Source of every good gift. In His very essence was ultimate, unspoiled, limitless Beauty and matchless Music was the voice of endless Worship streaming forth in the presence of Elohim in Eternity Past -- before Time began.
By faith we believe . . .
Soon comes forth the New Jerusalem to a rescued Earth and we read of the redeemed ones singing a new song before the Throne of God. Beauty uninhibited will reign supreme and the first Music from before Time's birth will continue long after Elohim's eternity engulfs all of Time.
And the revelation?
Our inherent and mysterious love of beauty and music are both of God's creative nature, existing long before Creation. They are a blessed gift He gave to mankind, made in His image -- that we might acknowledge Him in His glorious Creation and sing to Him our praises of adoration.
May we remember our heavenly Father with every beauty we see that reflects His Glory. May we lift our voice and make a joyful noise to Him!
As a medical research photographer, graphic artist, singer, and musician -- I many times dwell deeply in His gifts to us and I see His work of complex yet simple beauty in even the tiniest of unseen things of His Creation. So much is yet to be revealed!
Please feel free to sample some newer music of mine. The piece is called "Face of the Deep" because I think of the Spirit brooding over the waters of the Earth from Genesis 1.
Click to listen and stream this "musical cry to the heavens":
"Face of the Deep"
God bless you my friends!
Art is a mystical exercise that can bring union. I agree with your conclusions and think God is within each one of us so opening our consciousness to the unity of God's pure spiritual consciousness in Christian Mysticism reveals God in the condition of love, which is a kind of spiritual and physical unity.
ReplyDeleteSome clarification:
ReplyDeleteOur consciousness, (in the common usage), is typically a thing of the mind, being a function of soul, emotion, will, thought, and such.
Being made in God's image goes beyond a consciousness being locked or sourced out of our soul and workings of the mind.
How does it go beyond these?
I reason now from the teachings of the Judaeo-Christian bible:
We are also spiritual beings. One huge problem exists in much of humanity, the sin nature causing us to exist with dead and darkened spirits. We feel very much alive in our minds and bodies but our spirits are empty. It is this condition that brought God to earth as a Man. That God-Man, Christ Jesus, came to open the Way, the Truth, and the Life to all mankind. Through His sacrificial life of perfect obedience, His sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection the dilemma of mankind's dead spiritual nature was addressed with a holy answer.
By free-will man could now respond to the Spirit of God, with the revelation of Christ as the sacrificial Savior. Jesus stated, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." In Him mankind can be free from spiritual death. By faith we accept the life of Christ and His Spirit then moves into our once-dead, once-empty spirit. This is eternal life. This is how God dwells in mankind.
This alone is the way.
Without the presence of Christ within, mankind is stated as being dead to God. Only those born from above via this process are truly alive to God. God does not dwell where Christ is not dwelling.
And so this, renewed spiritual consciousness, with the possibility of direct revelation from the Spirit of God is true Christian Mysticism. Anything else is merely soul, merely a mental construct, sometimes impressive but not of the Spirit.
Through the love of Christ Jesus within us we then know God, know His love. And then, only then, can His fullest beauty be seen and in this holy union will our musical worship of Him rise as purest light from the depths of our spirit, then flooding our soul, our minds, and ultimately our physical bodies cry out, "My Lord, my God! Holy is your name! You alone are worthy!"
In true worship, we find ourselves in the very presence of the eternal God: within us, around us, and among us. This is what Jesus meant when He stated, "The kingdom of God is within you."
Any more links to your music?
ReplyDeleteTry searching via this link:
Deletewww.SourceCodeX.com
or searching SourceCodeX at CDBaby.com, Amazon, or iTunes