Liberation through Sacred Music
Delvyn Case of Deus ex Musica believes that listening to sacred music drawn from biblical texts, outside the context of worship, can be liberating in three ways.
- Jay McDaniel
- It can liberate us from the idolatry of always have "clear answers," because the music itself does not provide them.
- It can liberate us to experience and know God in deep, fresh, and new ways, not only from the lyrics but also, and sometimes more deeply, from the musicality.
- And it can liberate us from thinking that our experience of interpreting the music is normative for all, because others will have different ways of interpreting it. The latter then widens opportunities for friendship and community.
- Jay McDaniel
The questions that sacred music asks us to consider are deep, personal, and spiritually powerful. And as is the case for most of these kinds of questions, the music doesn’t provide clear answers. For Christians who are used to looking at Scripture for those answers, the Deus Ex Musica project may be challenging. Since sacred music is a form of art, it actually asks more questions than it answers – by opening up our hearts and minds to deeper and deeper dimensions of Scripture.
So though I believe that the Scriptures point us toward Truth, I also believe that we Christians need to maintain an attitude of humility when we approach the Bible – especially when we discuss our faith with our spiritual sisters and brothers. In a time when Christians are deeply divided by our own beliefs, I think that the Deus Ex Musica project is valuable because it creates an environment that promotes open, honest, and humble questioning and discussion – the kind of environment that allows true ecumenical conversation to happen.
Maybe, if we learn how to listen to music, we can also learn how to listen to each other.
- Delvyn Case
The Alphabet of Spiritual Literacy *
a helpful guideline for listening to,
and learning from, sacred music,
in conversation with others, and
outside a worship setting,
as inspired by the work
of Deus ex Musica
* Developed by Spirituality and Practice
(www.spiritualityandpractice.com)
click on each for a description
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attention - beauty - being present - compassion - connections - devotion - enthusiasm - faith
forgiveness - grace - gratitude - hope - hospitality - imagination - joy - justice - kindness - listening love - meaning - nurturing - openness - peace - play - questing - reverence - shadow - silence teachers - transformation - unity - vision - wonder - x, the mystery - yearning - you - zeal |
For me as for many others, music is a primary way that I am touched by the radiant yet mysterious source of the universe, by the Soul in whose life the hills and rivers, trees and stars, have their being. I meet God through sound.
Accordingly I am immensely grateful for the work of Deus Ex Musica founded by Delvyn Case described above, and I want to heartily recommend it to all. The focus of Deus ex Musica is on what is traditionally called sacred music and, more specifically on Christian sacred music as heard and reflected upon outside the context of worship. The artists associated with Deus ex Musica are especially interested in the ideas that can be considered during and after the listening. They see theology as coming from music.
Lures for Feeling
As a process theologian I am interested not only in how ideas come from music, but also in how moods come from music. However, I do not sharply distinguish moods from ideas. Moods are not simply inner feelings; they are also, to use the language of process theology, lures for feeling: that is, invitations to look at and perceive the world, ourselves, and God in a certain way. The sounds of music are lures. They will be interpreted in different ways by different people relative to context, but they are lures. When I listen to music I am enjoying the sounds and listening for the lures and for what they might tell about the world, myself, and God. In the very act of listening there is a doing of theology, albeit in a private way. If and as I discuss the lures with others, theology becomes collaborative. It becomes engaged conversation, and this is what Deus ex Musica seeks: engaged conversation after the listening.
Thirty Seven Moods
As I learn from the work of Deus ex Musica, I bring the alphabet of spiritual literacy developed by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat with me. You will see its 37 letters above. For me the alphabet has four values:
All of this works quite well for music without lyrics. Of course, if music does have lyrics and these are part of its meaning, then the possibilities are to some degree more circumscribed. If, for example, the lyrics are Christian, we will naturally want to think about the music in terms of Christian theology rather than, say Islamic or Jewish theology; and if the music is about God, then it may indeed seem ‘religious’ rather than ‘secular.’ But even here, at least for me, it is the moods and emotions – the qualities of heart and mind – that are most important, and they can themselves be uncoupled from the lyrics to a certain extent. We can hear the moods of The Messiah with Buddhist ears, even as it is about Christianity. In any case, let the work of Deus ex Musica flourish and, where possible and desirable, let the spiritual alphabet be among its resources.
- Jay McDaniel, September 17, 2020
Accordingly I am immensely grateful for the work of Deus Ex Musica founded by Delvyn Case described above, and I want to heartily recommend it to all. The focus of Deus ex Musica is on what is traditionally called sacred music and, more specifically on Christian sacred music as heard and reflected upon outside the context of worship. The artists associated with Deus ex Musica are especially interested in the ideas that can be considered during and after the listening. They see theology as coming from music.
Lures for Feeling
As a process theologian I am interested not only in how ideas come from music, but also in how moods come from music. However, I do not sharply distinguish moods from ideas. Moods are not simply inner feelings; they are also, to use the language of process theology, lures for feeling: that is, invitations to look at and perceive the world, ourselves, and God in a certain way. The sounds of music are lures. They will be interpreted in different ways by different people relative to context, but they are lures. When I listen to music I am enjoying the sounds and listening for the lures and for what they might tell about the world, myself, and God. In the very act of listening there is a doing of theology, albeit in a private way. If and as I discuss the lures with others, theology becomes collaborative. It becomes engaged conversation, and this is what Deus ex Musica seeks: engaged conversation after the listening.
Thirty Seven Moods
As I learn from the work of Deus ex Musica, I bring the alphabet of spiritual literacy developed by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat with me. You will see its 37 letters above. For me the alphabet has four values:
- Touches of Transcendence. The alphabet gives me language to hear where music touches, or is touched by, God. I listen to a piece of music and hear “silence” or “shadow” or “devotion” or “mystery” or “love” or “reverence” or “playfulness,” understanding these as touches of transcendence.
- Individually Engaged Theology. The alphabet helps me ‘hear the sacred’ in music while allowing me and others to bring or develop my own theology and experience to this understanding, without insisting that there is one ‘right’ theology by which the many touches can be understood.
- Widening the idea of Sacred Music. The alphabet does so without drawing a sharp distinction between secular and sacred music, which means that I can hear the sacred in both kinds or, if I wish, avoid such distinctions altogether.
- Potentially Interfaith. The alphabet is open to many interpretations within a given tradition (e.g. Christian) and among different religions. It is ecumenical and, in principle, interfaith.
All of this works quite well for music without lyrics. Of course, if music does have lyrics and these are part of its meaning, then the possibilities are to some degree more circumscribed. If, for example, the lyrics are Christian, we will naturally want to think about the music in terms of Christian theology rather than, say Islamic or Jewish theology; and if the music is about God, then it may indeed seem ‘religious’ rather than ‘secular.’ But even here, at least for me, it is the moods and emotions – the qualities of heart and mind – that are most important, and they can themselves be uncoupled from the lyrics to a certain extent. We can hear the moods of The Messiah with Buddhist ears, even as it is about Christianity. In any case, let the work of Deus ex Musica flourish and, where possible and desirable, let the spiritual alphabet be among its resources.
- Jay McDaniel, September 17, 2020
Bonus: A Sample of Contemporary Sacred Music:
Delvyn Case's Strange Energy
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