The Rev Lezley Stewart reflects on the power of music to move the soul.

MEDITATION

I WONDER if there are certain songs or hymns that stir your emotions? Often when I hear a piece of music I associate it with some past experience.

In this season of Remembrance we will often hear the solo trumpet playing Reveille, or hear Karl Jenkins’ Mass for Peace.

In church we might sing O God our help in ages past, or What will we pray for those who died? All of these pieces might speak of different things to us depending on our age, background or experience, but they are all composed to move us beyond the words and music to further mediation.

My own musical tastes are quite eclectic but lie predominantly in the folk tradition. There are some poignant compositions that approach the memories of war and loss from this tradition. The King’s Shillin’ begins from the perspective of those left behind in World War One:

Oh my love has left me wi bairnies twa

And that’s the last o him I ever saw

He joined the army and he mairched awa

He took the shillin

He took the shillin and he’s aff tae war….

While a more recent composition by Karine Polwart, Whaur dae ye lie? tells of the heart wrenching questions that women were asking after Srebrenica.

Whaur dae ye lie, my faither?

Whaur dae ye lie, my son?

Whaur dae ye lie, my ane true love?

When will the truth be won?

Songs, music and hymns all have the ability to sustain questions and shake us deeply. They have a capacity to take us beyond our own experiences into the experience of another.

In many ways the original songs of the Bible – the Psalms – were the soul songs of previous generations who sought to direct their thoughts and questions to God with directness, honesty and at times anger. In the Psalms we find that nothing is hidden or held back, but that every emotion is embraced in a conversation with God.

I’ve always felt a deep connection with the book of Psalms and the questions they raise. I sometimes think we’ve forgotten that God is big enough for all our questions. I also wonder what songs or psalms we might write ourselves if we opened ourselves to that same freedom before God.

As a soul song, I offer these words for further meditation: I do not know what to call you. No one word expresses all I want to say. You are God of many names, Of many people, But I am known and loved.

In anger I have wished you away,

But even as I tried to let go,

You hauled me back

Making me trust again.

“I sometimes think we’ve forgotten that God is big enough for all our questions.

I wonder what you see in me

That I don’t see in myself?

Why do you have faith in me

When I am called to have faith in you?

But you honour my questions and feed

my thoughts,

You draw me close,

Even when I want to be far away.

You are wonderfully yet mysteriously known.

I find I trust you more than anything.

You are part of me –

There is nothing without you.

Bless your people O God with this trust.

Let it not be a choice but a gift.

For in the midst of life

I have seen your light,

And found your salvation.

Praise be to your name.