Grounding Ourselves with Music

Monday night, after a long week filled with activity, I just wanted to sit and listen to something beautiful. Fortunately, the Benedictine College Chamber Singers and Kansas University Bales Chorale were performing a program of sacred music at the Abbey church in Atchison. Given the current ugly political climate in the U.S., it was soul stirring to be reminded that humans can create such beauty just with the sound of their voices and heartening to realize that many students choose to spend their time doing just that. Those of us who attended the concert became a community through our common experience of quieting ourselves and listening to this remarkable music.

Many people are concerned about how to navigate family gatherings in the coming holiday season because of fervent and differing political views. Music reminds us that there is something we can enjoy together, whether we invite the musicians among us to give us a song, groove to some old favorites while cooking, or ease tensions by playing light and calming background music during a holiday meal. Music takes the focus off our separate selves and bonds us with the others who are listening with us.

Furthermore, meditative music can help us stay centered during the Advent season, when much of the world around us is already engaged in a frantic schedule of Christmas celebrations. Gentle songs such as “My Soul in Stillness Waits,” Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella,” “Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming,” and “Maranatha” can resound in us throughout the day like a mantra. I’ll pardon your humming if you pardon mine.

If you’re feeling like you don’t have a prayer of getting through the coming holiday season, take time to ground yourself with music. After all, those who sing pray twice!