A remarkable performance, by any standards. But what made it truly memorable was the conversation as we prepared to file out from the concert.
Earlier this week Jacqui and I went to the Royal Albert Hall for a Proms concert given by the King’s Singers and VOCES8, two superstar close harmony groups. I’ve long been a fan of both, especially through the medium of YouTube. In fact, long before the digital age I happened to attend one of the very first concerts of the King’s Singers way back in 1969!
One of their pieces was especially commissioned by the BBC for the concert: Totality (2024) by the American composer, Melissa Dunphy. This was inspired by her experience of total solar eclipses in 2017 and 2024.
My heart races,
my breath comes in gasps,
stars dance in my staring eyes,
wild thoughts chatter through my mind,
and a strange and ancient laughter pours out of my mouth.
Prolonged applause, at first for the performers for their rendering of this difficult piece. And then the entire audience along with the singers directed their acclaim to precisely where we were sitting in the stalls, just to the right of the stage. Of course, I knew that they were not applauding me – but even so it was mildly unnerving, apparently being the focus of so much attention!
Then the young lady in the row immediately in front of us, just to my left, stood up to acknowledge the applause: Melissa Dunphy herself, no less. She had travelled over from Philadelphia with her husband especially for this concert.
For her it must have been a profoundly moving moment, even surreal as she later explained – to hear your composition being performed with such precision and in such an iconic venue.
Following the concert I was able to have a short conversation with Ms Dunphy, to thank her for her composition. It’s not often you get to thank a composer in person following the first performance of their work. “Well done, Ludwig! Keep it up!”
Clearly she was deeply moved by the whole experience. She told me that she felt that she was in the middle of a dream. And then to my total surprise, she actually thanked me for coming! “Don’t mention it” I should have said, while stifling the impetus for a selfie.
But it must have been amazing for her. What was once just in your brain, your music, your composition – which would have taken a huge amount of energy to create - now has a life of its own. It’s you but no longer limited to you. And of course, the process is not complete until your creation is actually heard. The listening completes the creative process – that’s why Ms Dunphy thanked me. Her music had been enjoyed and now, so to speak, has been fulfilled. Her self-expression is both part of her and apart from her.
This is how the Bible understands the Word of God. Right at the very beginning we read: “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” (Genesis 1:2). God creates by simply speaking: his word is creative. The entire created order is spoken into being.
But then the Hebrew scriptures appear to give God’s Word a life of its own, through the process of personification. His Word is Him, his self-expression but once spoken is in some way distinct from him. So, for example, we read in Psalm 147: “He sends forth his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.” (v15)
However, this process reaches its culmination, its fulfilment even, in Jesus as the Word of God. He is both of God and apart from God, as a word is apart from its speaker and yet one with the speaker. So John introduces Jesus right at the outset of his Gospel as God’s Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1).
And then the astonishing verse: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14). So when we hear Jesus, we are hearing God himself. As Jesus himself tells us: “These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” (John 14:24)
Jesus’ words have creative power. By a word he stills the storm, heals the sick, calls Lazarus out of the tomb. Here we witness God himself, his Word bringing life.
However, in the same way that only when Ms Dunphy’s music is heard does it find its fulfilment, so God’s Word is there to be heard, to be received. There is, as the prophet Isaiah could see, a circular process.
“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth.”
God’s word is wonderfully creative. So the prophet concludes: “ It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10f)
So to receive Christ, to hear to him as God’s living Word is to become part of God’s creative process. For you and I are spoken into being so that we may hear God, to abide in his Word. We are designed to enjoy God’s performance.
At times, such is our wilful disobedience and sin, it may feel at times like tuning into Radio Luxembourg but even so we find our true fulfilment. . As Jesus himself says: ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples.” (John 8:31)
Nevertheless as the Proms audience spontaneously broke into prolonged applause for Ms Dunphy’s creation, so may we with all of creation praise the glory of God, as the Bible concludes:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!”
(Revelation 19:7)
Hozzászólások