“Music opens up a great, perfectly dimensional space of silence within which, when things come about happily, a reality can dawn which ranks higher than music” (Josef Pieper, "Only The Lover Sings")
As I tried to intently focus during Easter mass, my eyes darted from the adorable child flipping through a Noah’s Ark picture book to the family bickering a few pews ahead. I was frustrated at myself for having the attention span of my dog. In a final effort to pay attention (which should’ve been the first), I closed my eyes and asked God for silence, a silence that would allow me to enrapture myself in the beautiful miracle of the mass. God responded quite differently, as the organ abruptly sounded and the choir began to sing their harmonies. Thanks, God. I chuckled. Guess He’s testing my patience and ability to focus.
I adjusted my posture to be a little more upright, and as I turned to look at the altar, I suddenly was overcome by wonder. In the processional hymn’s climax, the sopranos belted their highest, loudest note, and somehow, I was filled with incredible silence. Yes, silence. Perhaps it was not literal silence, in the sense that complete quietness would imply no sound particles zipping through the air, but rather, in the midst of the euphoric music, my soul was silent. It was at that moment when God answered a question I had been asking him to answer for so long. It was in that moment when I truly rejoiced for Jesus Our Savior’s defeat of death. It was in that moment that I felt at peace.
Philosopher Josef Pieper wisely communicates this phenomenon that I experienced for the first time during Easter mass: music transcends the physical realities of this world and offers us a glimpse into paradise. Beyond words and sounds, music inhabits the daily routines of our lives, but it is up to each of us to seek silence—perhaps, through music. No matter the millions of sound waves that buzz past us every second, we must attune ourselves to seek life-giving songs. We must train our souls to rest from the anxieties of this world in order to find hope in the next—and what better way than through a simple tune?
