Nicola Benedetti , the violin virtuoso, and passionate advocate of music in education, has thought very interestingly about the ways in which the love of music and the development of faith act upon us. In an interview with Vikas S. Shah in “Thought Economics” she is reported in The Times to have said in relation to music : “people relate to it in the same way they relate to religion”.
“They have a sense of faith and belief, that what music is and what it does for them, can never fully be understood, yet the truth of what it does to them they don’t necessarily need to understand. That’s the humility of faith. That’s how I feel about music”.
That underlies St Paul, I think , when he writes “we know only in part”. What we do know is great enough to inspire us to go on .
She proceeds: “That invisible quality of music gets inside us and attacks thoughts, feelings and things in the brain which we simply do not understand yet. The fact that music infuses all these parts of who we are so powerfully just fills me with humility, faith and awe.”
Find that which is great, that acts on us greatly, and live in the faith of it.
Love your last sentence!!
Nicola Benedetti has succinctly put her finger on something very special. Perhaps poetry art drama can do the same? Natural beauty?