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Archway Publishing - B.J. Gonzalvo Ph.D.

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51 pages

English

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Through his experience as a psychologist, a musician, and a spiritual seeker, B.J. Gonzalvo demonstrates the role of music as our guide in recreating inner harmony as well as social harmony. Just like in our gathering songs or opening hymns, music has the transcendent and transformative power to open up our hearts, bring us all together, unite us in harmony, and provide the cadence for our voices and our heartbeats. When we come together with one purpose of making beautiful harmony, there is a sense of elevation of the human spirit up to the heavenly realms where the Divine Author of beauty dwells.
Music is more than just a hobby or a soundtrack playing in the background of our lives. Music is an intentional leisure activity full of possibilities for singers and seekers alike to recreate and experience a foretaste of joy, love, hope, grace, and harmony. As we rethink our relationships today, may we remind ourselves of the power of creating and recreating music together for the sake of harmony within ourselves and with one another.
Music, the art of togetherness, illuminates the true, the good, and the beautiful in our relationships—relationship to self, to others, and to God. In music, we belong. Through music, we discover our own inner sanctuary as well as the inner sanctuaries in others—the sanctuary where God is made present.

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Philosophie et théologie

Spirituality

Religion

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Publié par	Archway Publishing
Date de parution	30 janvier 2023
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781665735445
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

MUSIC: THE ART OF TOGETHERNESS

Unleashing Our Creativity to Find the Path to Inner and Social Harmony

B.J. Gonzalvo, Ph.D.

Copyright © 2022 B.J. Gonzalvo, Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Archway Publishing
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Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3545-2 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3546-9 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3544-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022923494

Archway Publishing rev. date: 01/25/2023
Contents
Preface

Music as a Superspreader…of Joy, Love, and Hope
Thank You for the Music
The Art of the Muses
Come as You Are
How Sweet the Sound
Those Who Have Ears, Let Them Hear
Here I am to Worship
Preaching to the Choir
The Same Sheet of Music
O Come All Ye Faithful
A Culture of Music Bands and Bonds
We Belong to God
Marching to the Beat of the Drum
Come Let Us Sing for Joy to the Lord
From Babel to Beautiful Harmony
We Are One Body
Be Thou My Vision
Redeeming Love
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Bibliography
Endnotes
Preface
I n the early months of the global pandemic, before the implementation of the widespread lockdowns, an outbreak after a church choir practice in Mount Vernon, Washington revealed to us the mystery of how connected we truly are when we make music together. The public had already known that the virus was spreading in the big cities, but in the small agricultural town of Mount Vernon, and in most places across the country, everything was still open. Children were still in school. The restaurants were still operating. The churches were still open and our choir was even scheduled to sing that Sunday. The Mount Vernon choir group’s consensus, based on what was known at that time, was that if they just practiced social distancing and washed their hands, it would be okay to still hold practice. The virus, and the news of the virus, spread quickly, so some members decided to skip practice and stay home. Sixty-one of the members went to the Presbyterian church’s practice hall for rehearsal. A few weeks later, of the sixty-one individuals who attended the rehearsal, fifty-two were infected with COVID-19. Up until that last rehearsal, there were no known cases of the virus in that area. The incident broke national news. It became the global pandemic’s landmark case: the whole world came to the realization that singing together was one major superspreader event.
That news struck a chord with me as well. I have been singing with a church choir for years, so I know firsthand that choir is a lot more than just a one-hour-per-week event. Choir is a lot more than just showing up at Sunday Mass to sing a few songs and then going back home. The handful of songs that the choir performs at Sunday Mass is a culmination of hours upon hours of preparatory work that happens over the week. The possibility of beautiful harmony transpires because of each individual’s efforts, dedication, and work.
For church choir singers, the commitment to sing, even for just an hour or so on Sundays, is a big part of life. In many ways, our choir becomes our adopted family. Before the global pandemic, our choir rehearsed at least once a week in preparation for Sunday Mass. After learning choir singing was a virus superspreader, my fellow choir members and I had to face the heartbreaking reality that all our future choir performances, including the weekly practices that we had happily built into our schedules, would be put on hold for an undetermined amount of time. As the months went on, we slowly accepted that choir singing would likely not be happening for a long while.
For many of us choir members, singing is a lot more than just service to the Church or a donation of our time and talents. Music is a seamless two-way street of constant giving and taking; what we give comes back to us tenfold. Serving, singing, and sharing our talents have become an important source of spiritual rejuvenation, as well as social capital for many. Music is relational, regenerative, and redemptive. I always look forward to our weekly practice days, to singing and hanging out with others who share the same passion for music and serving God. To have that part of the week derailed during the pandemic lockdowns left a huge void, not only in my weekly routine, but also in my life, socially and spiritually. Just as how we use our breathing to align to the music, choir singing helps realign my breathing amid the rhythm of the restless workweek. Choir singing is where I get the weekly tune-up that my mind, body, and soul need.
Music as a Superspreader… of Joy, Love, and Hope
M usic as a superspreader is something we musicians have known all along. It is a superspreader of joy, hope, love, and togetherness. I have had the privilege of witnessing this many times firsthand from the stage while playing guitar and leading worship. Sometimes, in the middle of our praisefest, I would slowly open my eyes as I continued to strum my guitar. I would be awestruck to catch a glimpse of my fellow worshippers with their eyes closed, in complete surrender to the spirit of the moment and the music. It was quite a profound view to behold. I am privileged and humbled to have an “instrumental” role as we all sing our hearts out to the Lord as one voice—a surreal feeling. I am brought back to the time when I was first learning how to play guitar. What motivated me to learn and keep practicing was my desire to sing my prayers and to lead others in singing theirs. That motivation was a blessing and a gift. I do not consider myself a performer, and I often find it a struggle to get totally comfortable playing on the stage. However, honored and humbled to serve as a musician and worship leader, leading God’s people, their voices, their minds, and their hearts to harmony, joy, and love, I forget all the fears and the worries. With God’s grace in the music, I play on. Music is a gift that keeps on giving.
When we are gathered together, two or more, music helps reaffirm that in the midst of our gathering is God’s Holy Spirit. No matter where we come from and where our journeys have taken us, we are there in that space together, drawn to the music by the Holy Spirit. Just like walking into a church cathedral adorned with beautiful architecture, paintings, and statues, our senses are awakened, reminding us that the space we are in is holy. The beautiful sound of music reminds us that the music has sanctified the place where two or three gather in God’s name. Each note gently carries us higher to the beautiful, the true, and the good.
A cry from deep within our being, music is a way for God to lead us to the realm of higher things.
—United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 1
Music is contagious. We feel the sadness when we hear sad songs and the happiness when we hear happy ones. When we make music together, singing with and hearing one another in harmony, there is that inexplicable feeling that lifts the soul, the heart, and the mind to a higher place, a place that is above the mundane and the ordinary, one of the Sacred and the Divine.
Through music, we enter a special place that we have set apart and made holy, to share with one another. Music is a journey. When we make music together, we journey together. We gain courage by singing together because we realize that we are a part of something larger than we are. When we sing “Amazing Grace” together, we recognize the vastness and the power of the Divine Spirit that has brought us together.
In this Spirit , we are inspired and we inspire one another. Together, shoulder to shoulder, soul to soul, we conquer the depths of the valleys in the low notes and the peaks in the high notes. We stay together through the crescendos and the allegros, the mountains and the valleys, from beginning to the end.
Like a mother singing a lullaby to her infant, we let the gentle wings of the melody and the steady beat of the rhythm carry us to higher grounds. We surrender and allow the music to get us through the rough parts, as well as the joyous and the melancholy. There are moments of struggle as we find the right pitch, right key, and right tempo. Nevertheless, through those moments there is cooperation, collaboration, and a deep sense of community and belonging.
In the music, there are moments of tension and resolution. However, together, through it all, we are driven and unified by the purpose of producing something beautiful. Veni Sancte Spiritus ! We open our mouths and our lungs with intentional vulnerability, to let go of everything that we have been holding, and to let the