03/10/2022
Lynn Murphy Mark
Once in a while I think about my senses fading with age. I know it isn’t inevitable, but I wonder if my sight will be affected, or my hearing. When I think of all my senses together I put hearing at the top of my list. I am an auditory learner and I make my way through my world by listening to what is going on around me. I want to cling to my hearing ability so I don’t lose my way.
Growing up, our house was friendly to music. My parents had an extensive collection of vinyl discs, an invention in the 1940’s that replaced records made of shellac. My parents were both opera buffs and classical music enthusiasts so those styles were what I grew up with. As I got older I was given my own portable record player to keep in my room. Of course, by that time I was highly influenced by what my friends listened to. Rock and Roll became my music of choice.
Since I grew up overseas, it became a habit when we were on homeleave in the USA to purchase the latest hits. We would carry them back to our home beyond the border and share them with friends. I remember in Brazil in the early 1960’s when people brought records by the Beatles and we would wait impatiently until it was our turn to take the precious discs home and listen to them over and over.
As an adult I have moved through the different modes of listening – from records, to cassette tapes to 8 track tapes to CD’s to today’s digital download age. I played plenty of music for my kids as they grew up. I have been known to be captivated by a piece of music and promptly calling one of my kids and making them listen to my latest find through the phone. Both of them were in Band in High School. My son played the trumpet and my daughter became an accomplished flautist. I loved every minute of every recital and band concert.
Ted, my son, is a vinyl geek. He has a turntable and some of the other pieces that make records come to life. I have gotten used to the purity of digital music, but there’s something about the soft crackling that comes from a record player that takes me back to my youth.
This morning I am writing about music because I read a tag line from PBS news saying that people in Ukraine are playing music in bomb shelters to lift people’s spirits. Groups of Ukrainians spontaneously break into their national anthem to remind themselves that their freedom is the most precious thing.
I think about the thousands of minutes I have spent being transported by music to a plane beyond real life. It can bring me to tears. Music gives me goosebumps sometimes as I hear a sublime voice, or a gripping harmony, or an instrumental piece. I have spent years of my life singing in church choirs and feeling the presence of Spirit, or God, or both.
I have been blessed to attend concerts by some of the most talented musicians in the world. In 2009 I was able to see Aretha Franklin in concert in Manhattan. After the concert I announced that I can now die, having fulfilled this wish. I have cried through performances. I have felt the presence of the Most Holy when a human being’s God-given talent is on display. Every November before Thanksgiving I start playing my favorite version of Handel’s Messiah. I know just about every word and every part of this two plus hour masterpiece.
So, this morning I pray for the people in Ukraine who are given a few minutes of peace by listening to music. I can’t think of a more precious gift than music meant to move us beyond despair to hope.