1.8.11

In the Beginning, Music

I thought perhaps the world had started in silence.

Then I remembered Genesis. Hadn't there been a wind?

There are different ways to translate this stream of air that played across formless void and darkness. "A wind from God swept over the face of the waters." Or, "In the beginning God created mighty wind."

Wind, by itself, doesn't make a lot of sound. It needs something to push against, to lift and turn, to ruffle and rustle. So I'm not sure what the first sounds might have been like. If it was a mighty wind, perhaps there may have been a rushing, a roaring, as it swept across the waters or pushed liquid into certain boundaries.

When did the world come to understand such sounds in a way that felt more "musical"? Who first hummed along, added a drum to the rushing of wind? Perceived the tapping of rain as a rhythm?

I don't know.

But this morning I am thankful to God for the gift of sound, and a voice to echo what He began.

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5 Comments:

Blogger Maureen said...

Such a lovely post. Makes me want to write a poem.

1.8.11  
Blogger Megan Willome said...

I'm deaf in one ear and always fear losing the other one because then I would not be able to hear any new music.

1.8.11  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

According to John Chapter one, "In the beginning was the word." The first sound?

2.8.11  
Blogger Kelly Sauer said...

Oh now that is going to stick with me all day. I'm thinking of Pentecost, perhaps the first time we KNEW the Wind who spoke us into being...

4.8.11  
Blogger L.L. Barkat said...

Kelly, I love that. And the idea that Wind and Spirit and Word are probably somehow all tied together.

4.8.11  

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