Sunday, April 12, 2026 - Music of The Spheres
April 12, 2026
Deborah Laforet
“Music of the Spheres”
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by your
Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
This week, I was sitting in the doctor’s office after I had gotten my allergy shot. The rule is that
you stay for 20 minutes after the shot, just to make sure you don’t have an unexpected reaction.
Unfortunately, there was a screaming child in the waiting room. I sat there for as long as I could,
but after fifteen minutes, I had to leave. Nothing against that child and that child’s parent; I know that
sometimes a child just needs to cry, but, on that day, it was stressing my brain and I needed to leave.
Sound affects us in many ways, and it surrounds us from the moment of conception. Even when
we aren’t consciously able to point out a sound, the earth is humming with noises, from insects buzzing,
to waves crashing, the wind blowing to even the seismic movements of the earth beneath our feet. Some
sounds can be pleasing and even enjoyable, while others can feel like nails on a chalkboard, irritating
and harsh, and because we are all different, they affect us differently.
In Hindu belief, the silence before creation was broken when “om” was first pronounced. This
sound set all of creation into motion. The sound of “om” might sound simple, but it’s actually made up
of three parts: a (as in “around”), u (as in “put”), and m (as in “mum”). A-u-m - Om. Your mouth
actually moves from open to closed. Hindus believe that all the sounds of the universe are contained in
this one brief syllable. Repeatedly pronouncing “om” can have a profound effect not only on the body
and mind of the one making the sound, but also on all who are listening.
This might seem strange to us, but we have a similar story in our faith tradition. When does all
life come into being in our Genesis story? I comes into being when God speaks it and makes so. We
read over and over, “God said...and it was so.” The gospel of John begins, “In the beginning was the
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Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Maybe we could say, “In the beginning
was the Sound, and the Sound was with God, and the Sound was God.” Our faith also teaches that we
live in a universe initiated by sound.
For the next few weeks, we’re going to focus on music and how its expressed in our faith. Music
is a part of so many faith traditions. This week, the Coptic church ran services here every day for their
Holy Week. As I sat in my office, I listened to their worship leader chanting. A couple of weeks ago, I
sat in a Jewish synagogue and did my best to follow along as the congregation sang songs in Hebrew
with their rabbi who played the guitar. Whenever I join a indigenous gathering here in Halton with
Grandmother’s Voice, song is always involved, and usually drumming.
Appreciation of music and the ability to participate in it is an innate gift within every one of us.
Music is not taught by our culture, although culture usually shapes the kind of music we appreciate.
Within a society, music creates strong bonds among people, and has been doing so for thousands of
years.
Music is powerful. Even the silence within music holds power. Think of the Pink Panther
theme. (Sing a bit) Or Jaws (sing a bit). When a moment of silence occurs in music, that silence is filled
with our memory of what we have just been heard and our anticipation of what comes next.
People of faith, throughout the eons, have sensed the power of music and its effect on us. A soft
chant draws us into the presence of God because the music evokes a sense of quiet mystery. A hymn
played to a rousing organ accompaniment or keyboard, guitar, and drums enables us to praise God.
When times are difficult, a lament in a minor key can help us to grieve and bring healing. A good piece
of music, through the use of silence and resolution, can evoke within us the same shift from conflict to
understanding.
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Music is such a powerful part of our lives, so how come so many don’t sing or participate in
music in any way? How many of you think you cannot sing? First of all, I’m sorry someone told you
that or you were led to believe that, because we can all sing, just like we can all dance. We may not all
have the skill to be a paid soloist or to lead a band, but we can all sing. This belief that we have to be
exceptional in order to sing is a fairly new phenomenon. It has been less than a hundred years that
music has become more about listening than participating. We pay artists and celebrities lots of money
to perform, to sing for us. Far more people think they can shoot hoops or cook or paint than think they
can sing or play music, but it used to be that anyone could sing, play music, or dance. It was a
community activity and brought people together. There was no question as to whether you could or
couldn’t. You just did.
Is there any place in your life, other than church where you gather to sing with others?
Communal singing is becoming lost as we slowly lose our confidence in singing and as we lose the
knowledge of songs that we can sing together. Christmas is one of the very few times when people
know the music well enough to gather and sing together.
How many of you have seen the Christmas film, “Elf” with Zooey Deschanel and Will Ferrell.
There is a scene where all seems lost because the Christmas spirit is gone, but then one person starts
singing. She starts singing, “You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling
you way...” (Let congregation finish with, “Santa Claus is coming to town.”) We all know it. Slowly,
people start singing along with her, and eventually a whole crowd is singing, and, because they are being
broadcasted live, all of New York City is singing. This, of course, in traditional Christmas movie
fashion, saves the day and saves Christmas. See how powerful it is when we sing together!
When you come into a church, or a synagogue, or a mosque, or a temple, you will hear music -
all different kinds of music, from all parts of the world. Faith and music are tied together in many ways,
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and we will be exploring some of these ways over the next few weeks. We’ll hear scripture emphasizing
the use of music throughout the years with our spiritual ancestors. Today we heard about David, who is
known for his poetry and music making.
We’ll also be reading some excerpts from a beautiful poem, written in 2006, called, “A Song of
Faith.” It was an attempt by the United Church to try and put our faith into words. It’s called a Song of
Faith, as music and singing flows throughout the poem. We’ll read an excerpt each week and then have
a moment of silence to reflect.
Join me in this first meditation.
Meditation: (excerpt from A Song of Faith)
God is creative and self-giving,
generously moving
in all the near and distant corners of the universe.
Nothing exists that does not find its source in God.
Our first response to God’s providence is gratitude.
We sing thanksgiving.
Finding ourselves in a world of beauty and mystery,
of living things, diverse and independent,
of complex patterns of growth and evolution,
of subatomic particles and cosmic swirls,
we sing of God the Creator,
the Maker and Source of all that is.
Each part of creation reveals unique aspects of God,
the Creator, who is both in creation and beyond it.
All parts of creation, animate and inanimate, are related.
All creation is good.
We sing of the Creator,
who made humans to live and move
and have their being in God.
— Moment of Silence —
May we continue to gather and sing of God the Creator, the Maker and Source of all that is, and come
before a Creator who made humans to live and move and sing and dance and have their being