The Place Where Music Begins

Living in a Body

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The Place Where Music Begins

Episode 12 -- Hal and Harold Share the Mic

Hal Walker

Mar 26, 2022

Hi. It’s been one more week of living in a body and this is “Living in a Body.” My dad (no longer living) “shares the microphone” with me today. Please click the play button to hear Rev. Harold Walker Jr. and me narrate with original music. (15 min) Thank you so much ~ Hal

This week’s episode is a little different. I wrote this piece many years ago for a Sunday Service at the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Kent. In 2013, I had the opportunity to co-lead the service with my dad at the Mt. Vernon Unitarian Church in Virginia. After my traumatic experience in the ocean of Kauai, my lungs were too weak to do much speaking, so my dad filled in on the spoken parts of the service. It was a wonderful father/son road trip that I’ll never forget. To get us started, I’ll ask you: where does music begin? (Feel free to reply in the comments)

The Place Where Music Begins

Music Begins in the Silence

“Silence — that unattainable quiet that lives within us and all around us. We approach it more and more closely and we feel its pull, but our experience is limited to the longing -- a hidden longing for the mystery that silence represents. Maybe willing ourselves toward silence is the ultimate practice. We could do a swan dive from it and enter the unknown directly without making a sound.” - excerpted from “The Listening Book,” by W.A Mathieu

Moving in the direction of silence, everything slows down. There’s no traffic, no chatter and no high-speed connection. There’s only the sun moving across the sky— painfully slow in this sped-up world.

I long for silence, but I run from silence — that un-nameable stillness where the single tone is born. In this birth, ancestors are present, language disappears and beauty becomes real.

So humble is this music -- traveling through time and space without a care in the world. Before her was silence, after her is silence. above and below her- silence.

Let’s dwell here in the silence, the place where music begins.

Music Begins in the Listening

“True listening confirms the sensual nature of the world . It’s a primal and basic act. Pure and simple, Listening makes us feel.” The wind strikes the bell, the waves travel through the air and the tiny bones in my ear canal come alive. Give it a try. Experience the sensation of sound in your ears. Feel how the whole world becomes a flicker inside your eardrums . Experience the wonder of a child hearing a bell for the very first time. (bell)

There’s a miracle in what you are hearing right now. Shh. Listen.

I’m an artist, a thinker, a father and a survivor, but I’m a novice when it comes to listening, that patient surrender that happens with presence. Today though, I’m gonna practice. With my whole self, l’ll welcome what is and be a witness to the vibrations — the sweep, the brush, the shake, the knock, the hush, the cry, the click, the ring and the pull.

Listening is connecting. Act as if your life depends upon the next sound that you hear. (Bell)

Let us dwell here in the listening, the place where music begins.

Music Begins in the Heart

Beneath the breath, before the thought and within the body lies the wounded, softened heart— the source of all musical expression. Behind the walls of shame and fear, we find a pulsating softness here.

Nurturing lover, one with the spirit and all that is living, the heart’s song is never-ending. She’s the mother, the beat and the blood. She’s subtle, constant and she is love. Shimmering is the heart — deep red, blue and black. Her signature is the rhythm. Her gift is the Love and the pain inside the melody. Through pulse and tears, the heart offers only glimpses of her beauty.

Let us dwell here in the heart, the place where music begins.

Music Begins in the Musical Instrument

What if a tree could choose? I’m sure she would choose to become a cello or a harp or a drum. Her sound would emerge from the roots. Her tone would be old and wise and the whole town would be listening.

What if the wind could sing? I’m sure they would sing a joyful tune. Bamboo flutes and pipes would be cheering everywhere, leading the whole town into happiness.

What if the steel could speak. I’m sure his words would cry blues, suffering and salvation. Bright would be the key and sharp would be the signature. He’d make the whole town cry.

And what if the buffalo had a choice. Would they choose the sacrifice? One life, their own life, traded for a song or a drum that will make the whole town dance. Music begins with this sacrifice. An instrument is built and then blessed with Life. Let’s acknowledge our connection to all that is.

Let’s dwell here in the place where music begins.

Harold sitting in his favorite posture. :)

Music Begins in the Unfolding

Through music, we document our world, we share stories and we clarify our experience. It is this walk through life that grants us permission to sing and to dance and to play music. — left step, right step, breathe in, breathe out. The unfolding never stops.

I experience people and travel to places. I move through feelings and then I run from feelings. I commit myself to spiritual practice and then I surround myself with distractions. I experience moments of gratitude and then I refuse to be grateful. I lose myself. I find myself. I was born. I love. I work and I will die. And hopefully, somewhere along the line, I’ll discover that music that’s been hidden inside of me the whole time and I hadn’t even noticed it.

Today, I’m willing to notice. My arms are wide and my hands are open. My song will lead the way and the beat of my step will be my legacy.

Let’s walk together in the unfolding… the place where music begins.

Music Begins in the Community

Here’s an idea. Let’s circle up. Let’s hold hands and sing a song that everybody knows. “Clementine,” “You are my Sunshine” or “She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain when she comes.” Let’s join our voices in sacred harmony — the young and the old, the basses, the altos, the sopranos and the “don’t even knows.”

Over and over, we’ll show up to the circle. We’ll move beyond the illusion of our separateness and we’ll sing. Our song will ring out beyond the confines of this sanctuary. We’ll blend our voices and our voices will become one voice. We’ll sing many languages and we’ll sing no language at all. In harmony, we’ll verify our need for each other. In unison, we will express our love for one another.

Let’s dwell here in community, the place where music begins.

Harold and Hal sing “Underneath the Surface.”

Music begins in the Mystery

For many years, I’ve been a member of a church that doesn’t talk enough about God and a 12-step program that talks too much about God. I guess you could say that’s kind of how I roll. I have a hard time saying the word, but my primary interest is that which is beyond knowing. My only solution is surrender but just give me a few more followers on Substack. The one thing that I’m certain of is that I know nothing and most of my thinking is flawed but my poetry says that God is the source of all music. Spirit is the birthplace of all beauty — the word, the bow, the dance and the breath. Every song emerges from the Great Mystery. There is no beginning and there is no end to the music.

I’ve known failure and success, illusions of power and control and at times have found my own music to be false. But I believe that the True Whom is waiting within for my awakening. This music is not mine and it’s not yours. Her source is beyond knowing and herein lies the essential journey.

Thank you so much for reading and for listening. Thanks to my dad for being such a hero in my life. I’m taking next week off to do a little bit of soul searching. Yay! I’ll see you in two weeks. Enjoy your Saturday. I’m glad you’re here. Hal