The harmony of nature is an ancient dance to the song of creation, sung by the choirs of angels. The angels are musical by nature, orchestrating the movement of the spheres with the beauty of their love. This harmonious music, underpinning the entire cosmos, is a song of praise to the creator. Reality reverberates with the refrain, “Glory to God in the highest” for all of time. Colmcille (St Columba) wrote a hymn in which he explains the nature of this sacred melody,
“The High One, looking forward to the system of the universe and its harmony, made the heaven and the earth; brought forth the sea, the waters, the shoots of grass, the trees of the woods, the sun, the moon, stars, fire, and all things needed, birds, fish, cattle, beasts, and everything that lives. Then, at the end of his works, the first-formed human so that he could rule with knowledge.
The stars and the great lights of the upper regions were made together, so viewing this wonderful and immense created body the angels burst forth in praise of the Lord, the architect of the heavens; and they with a constant and worthy song of praise rendered thanks to the Lord. This noble harmony in song was not some by-product of their nature, but sprang by choice from their love.” (Trans by Davies)
The song of creation, sung in eternal praise to the creator, is not some mechanistic or deterministic set of laws. It is the living flow of spirit consciously choosing love for we who are created through it. The singular Holy Spirit becomes the multiplicity of the angels much in the same way a ray of white light becomes a rainbow as it passes through a prism. All that beautiful difference and diversity allows for a greater outpouring of love between the heavenly hosts, overflowing into the world around us.
When creatures cease to sing the ancient song, they create chaos. Discord, cruelty, and ignorance result. The soul heals when it remembers the melody uniting all things, in whom and through whom those who sing have their being. Although we are the ones who sing it, the song is our light and our life. The song is the Word, by which all of creation was spoken into being as God said, “let there be light” and the other commands in Genesis 1. When we join the song of creation, it is really the song who sings us.
This is especially true of the Psalms, which are an endless fountain of wisdom and inspiration. As a spiritual practice, psalmody teaches us the prayer of recollection, in which we gather all our senses and faculties together within ourselves in a deep remembrance. Psalm 96 teaches us to sing a new kind of song, in harmony with all the earth. It is a song of salvation, a blessing of joy.
“O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day…Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth.” (Psalm 96)
So rejoice, dear sisters and brothers. Sing with the trees of the forest, the sea and everything in it, and the fields full of mice and flowers. Allow the beauty of creation to captivate you in much the same way a live concert might. Get lost in the moment. Relish in the rapture of resplendent repose. Every rustling leaf, every twittering bird, the late night traffic, and your upstairs neighbour’s crying baby are each instruments in a much larger symphony – at times a proclamation of elation, at times a descent to lament. If we could ever hear the whole song in its entirety, we would know every laugh and every tear that ever was or is or will be.
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