The gift of music

There is a Jewish legend that says that when God was creating the world, He called all the angels and asked them if there is something missing in what He did. One of them told Him ‘we need somehow to make a sound to thank you, oh Creator.’ And God created the sounds of nature, the wind, birds chirping, parrots mimicking, waterfalls splashing water, the barking and growling of dogs, tigers, penguins and so much more. Then God gave man and woman their voice, and they started to sing, and eventually they created instruments, like drums, harps, flutes from reeds and others. Thus music was created, and through it we can communicate, express our joys and festivities that developed over the centuries. Imagine how boring life would be without sounds, without music. Kahlil Gibran from Lebanon called music the language of our soul. Plato claimed that it’s the medicine of our souls. Pablo Casals, a Spanish musician said that music is a divine way of expressing beautiful things of the heart. And the great Johann Sebastian Bach used to write SDG on each of his hundreds of manuscripts, which means Soli Deo Gloria (to God alone we give glory.) Bach believed that the main purpose of music is to praise God. And when we listen to his Mass in B Minor, and so many of his cantatas and oratorios, we are truly honoring Him by the beauty they evoke.