I heard Barbara Walters interview popular rock star Ricky Martin a few years ago. At the time, he was internationally famous, making millions of dollars. He didn’t seem to have a moment to himself, what with touring and fans, etc. I was amazed, then, when he started telling Ms. Walters that the thing that kept him centered, that kept him from losing his focus was silence, was listening for and to God. “If you have a lot of noise in your life,” he said, “How can you listen to God?”
If you have a lot of noise in your life, how can you listen to God? Oh, how true! For me, one of the ways I find God is through music. Shakespeare once said that music can calm the savage beast…and I have found that to be true in my life. There are several pieces that I turn to to calm my nerves, to bring my blood pressure down, to clear my mind, to turn down the noise of the world so I can be still and hear what God has to say to me. Ralph Vaughn Williams’ The Lark Ascending or Durufle’s Sanctus movement from his Requiem, or any number of hymns as well as other classical pieces.
Sometimes, I’ll listen to them over and over, just trying to push everything else out of my mind, and open it up to the peace that comes with listening like that. For me, being still as I listen, enables me to open my ears, my eyes, my mind, my heart to the soothing healing power of God’s active presence in my life.
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