Echoes from creation

Somewhere in Scripture its says that when God created the heavens and the earth, the morning stars sang for joy. Regardless of the poetic nature of that statement, it hints that singing, as well as music, was being performed at the time our habitat was brought into being.

Like millions of others, I take great pleasure from music almost on a daily basis, and always have. I cannot remember exactly what type of music first caught my attention, but there were several loves straight from the start. As my elder brother, four years my senior, was the only one with a sustainable purchase power, his musical favourites became my daily melodic diet as well. And so it was that the American progressive rockers Kansas, the mysterious Blue Oyster Cult, the even more enigmatic Alan Parsons Project, filtered down into my memory after having satisfied my longing for beauty.

For in music there is much beauty, even when the creator of the various songs don't recognize that music represents an exuberant, inexhaustive echo from creation. You see, music isn't an unintentional byproduct from man's cultural rebellion. It derives its existence from the Creator himself. And as the colours possess certain 'immortal' qualities that are there by ultimate design, so each individual note reflects a careful act of volition. God desired music, and music there was. And music there is.

It seems that apart from speech, singing and making music is the second language we all either know how to speak well, or deep down wish we could. The desire to express ourselves through song and melody seems to be woven into the very fabric of our being. When prompted by interior or exterior impulses - the beauty in an image or the loss of a great friend - we often resort to music in order to convey our emotions or ideas. And some, being talented well above average in this respect, produce from the well-spring of their creativity works of such quality that their appeal, or even beauty, never seems to diminish or fade with time.

Evergreens are aptly termed 'EVERgreens'. Because even when dated, the songs of Abba, Peter Gabriel, the Queen and countless others still retain that irresistible pull, that stupefying appeal, that never ceases to amaze. Abba certainly never ever wrote music to glorify God, but their songs testify that behind the subcreative acts of man lies the wonderful, foundational creative act of God. We sing because it brings pleasure to both composer, artist and listener. We make music because in our souls reverberate the echo from creation. The shouts of joy, the strumming of guitars(?), that possibly accompanied the making of animals or plants, are ringing still. Thus we are forever compelled to speak that Edenic dialect, music, in response to what our senses informs us.

I don't listen to any kind of music. I purposely avoid some of its multifaceted outgrowths. Not everything edifies, and not everything is worth my attention. On the other hand, I try sometimes to broaden my horizon, and so I have come to enjoy even jazz, heavy metal, r&b, gospel, folk rock - what have you. There is much beauty there. And where there's beauty, there's an echo of creation.