The week is winding down. I feel much like a shop owner after the “Closed” sign has swung into place, and all the bustling marketplace has gone home to warm hearths and lit windows in the autumn night.
This 31-day series will be coming to a close soon as well. I’ve received so much from traveling this month-long road, and I’ve loved meeting new friends most of all, but the thought of November now is a bit like a homecoming: I’m looking forward to returning to ordinary rhythms with brighter eyes and a spirit eager for more pauses.
There is something I’ll mention next week — a favorite part of my life that I’m weaving into my writing here — but for today, I have some other favorites to mention: wordless songs.
I would say that these are tracks I’d include if I compiled a soundtrack of all my days, but some of them are simply too big for that.
Valley of the Shadow, by Thomas Newman
God and Nature, by David Arnold
Life As We Know It – Mercy, by Roger Hooper
Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” – 2nd Movement
Gabriel’s Oboe, by Ennio Morricone, played by Yo-Yo Ma
Holst’s “Jupiter, Bringer of Jollity,“ especially 2:54 – 4:41
My violinist suitemate in college introduced me to the last song. “You’ll like it,” she said. “It’s very evocative of The Fellowship.” She was right, and so I’ve included “Jupiter” here. As for her allusion: I’ve listened to “The Breaking of the Fellowship” many times, and am still startled by how it makes me yearn to be engaged in a greater story.
All these songs have that effect on me. They open a hidden wound of homesickness, each in its own way. I’ve often found myself caught up in their plaintive beauty, and I deeply appreciate the intricate intentionality that makes their chords and melodies into stories in their own right, works that beckon to “things beyond” in piercing ways.
To me they speak of holy stillness, of awe found in ordinary and momentous times, and of battle-won peace. And when I’m truly listening, they do more than speak; they usher me in to those spaces. I think, in essence, that what I hear in them is what I hope to bring about in my writings here.
So happy listening, friends — with wishes for a happy weekend,
Amy
This post is part of a 31 day series about Loving God as an Introvert.
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