Interview:

There are some obvious answers to this question on the spiritual significance of music: 1). Music is the universal language, 2). Music is an ancient form of oral tradition, and 3). Music is a common and popular avenue for worship. These are all great answers, but I would like to offer some other ideas as to what the spiritual significance of music is for me. Music keeps me sane. I would go absolutely insane if I had to live without music. Music for sleep. Music to read to. Music to speak to God with. Why must I desperately have music? Music is almost a silly concept from a scientific viewpoint. Music is ultimately a mathematical equation of vibration and tones. Why do I thrive on constantly surrounding myself with it? Why has music always been the drug of my soul?

I believe God genuinely enjoys music. Humor me for a minute, but I like to think God thoroughly enjoys Sigur Ros and Radiohead. I’ve always heard a lot of characteristics about Heaven. I’ve read about beautiful streets and huge mansions. I’ve read about crystal oceans. I’ve also read about music that is literally out of this world. I’ve heard that one of the first things that Christfollowers will encounter in eternity is beautiful music. I think it is silly when televangelists or whoever predict what Heaven will be like without God’s prophetic consent, but the Bible clearly mentions the aforementioned events in some way or another at different times throughout the scriptures. Imagine the feeling in Heaven that will come over you. Imagine swiveling your neck back and forth like a bobble-head doll in your Heavenly state, looking for God. Someone announces that God is about to make his entrance. This is not my prediction of how things will go down, but it’s fun to think about. God walks out gloriously to the tune of millions of angels and perfected sinners singing songs and melodies of grand proportions that the human ear has never heard before. It is devastatingly beautiful, so much so that no words can accurately describe it. Somehow, you realize this music is encompassing an example of God’s wonderful splendor. Pure comfort. Complete relaxation. Utter jubilation. These are the feelings I believe would reside in my soul and body. When God created music, I believe He had our sanity in mind.

I read somewhere that at the heart of every piece of art, the artist and viewer subconsciously get enthralled in certain pieces because they feel that in some way or another it is drawing them closer to and even intertwining them with the Creator of natural beauty and, essentially, the original idea and feel that the art is trying to mimic. To me, music is the purest and most complicated form of art. As I discussed earlier, music can scientifically be explained by conjoined and continuous mathematical equations. It honestly makes no sense to me. However, seemingly boring and mundane vibrations and sounds can come together to orchestrate aural pleasures that can sink deep below the eardrum. Ears can become gateways to our souls. The soul can be enlightened and fulfilled by letting this equation take over. At it’s most unbelievable moments, God can make music become a window to a state of the soul that is uncluttered, uninterrupted by the problems of our world, giving the lucky listener who is having this experience a touch of what natural perfection and grace really means. God uses music to show us glimpses of what eternity really looks and sounds like.

Music is not God, make no mistake. It’s always sad to see someone who worships music but misses the deeper, underlying gift that is the heart of Jesus. I think that one of the spiritual significances of music is that God uses it in different ways and different styles. For example, Death Metal may touch you way deeper than it touches me. Music can cater to different people and reach the different spots of the souls that God so artistically designed in each of us. The complex architecture in the DNA of music is nothing short of a creative example that God made to show us that He loves us and to give us a keyhole glimpse into what that means. The spiritual significance of music, to me, is God teaching us to lovingly communicate with Him and the world around us; to tune our souls to Him through a more eternal language.

“When God created music, I believe He had our sanity in mind.”
– Alex Warren, drummer in Jonezetta