SOUNDS OF HEALING
We seek after the things we can explain or easily comprehend. But what of the mysteries that are an endless marvel, the wonders that can never be fully understood?
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If you were to describe me as a “seeker” I would receive it as a high compliment, whether you meant it to be or not. This is when I ask myself if I am called to be an expert in one thing or another or in cultivating all of life as work of art.
What I can say with all measure of certainty is that life is so much more than what is right in front of us. In truth, the more invisible and illusive, the more intriguing, even valuable it is.
I think this idea of mystery-as-hierarchy has been my saving grace. When fear of the unknown is replaced with intrigue, the entire body opens to the possibilities that healing comes in many different and often unconventional forms.
When my sweet friend with breast cancer reached out to say she was having a “low day,” my first inclination was not to recite my ongoing litany of treatments and therapies. Instead, my instinct was to lead her to worship, a response as intuitive, even primordial as it gets. Here’s the three-word message that I sent—
“Praise and worship.”
Followed by the text, “Psalm 34. Sung by The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.” This is the song that carried me through similar dark hours. You could say that it “soothed” me in my early cancer days. But even then I intuited there was something emerging in the listening that was so much deeper at play.
Worship transports us outside of human form, integrating us with the Father, activating our supernatural selves.
I have often confessed that I live in the land of woo woo now, after being compelled to lean into unconventional answers that ultimately saved my life. It, therefore, shouldn’t surprise you to learn that this extraordinary image [at the top of this post] is what the sound of healing looks like. If you have listened to Debussy’s Clair de Lune you will know precisely what I mean. This is the one song that accompanies me, more than all others, while I write. And when I listen, I am transported into the presence of the Creator of all things.
Look closely at the image. You are literally seeing sound*, the invisible geometry of an infinite Universe. Have we forgotten that our senses are not one thing or another [sight, touch, sound, taste] but a complex amalgamation of our sensory experience of the world?
The vibrations create patterns. ‘Holy patterns’ if you are spiritually awake. Beautiful. Exquisite even. But that description can’t even come close.
Did you know that while we listen we are being healed?
Science boasts that the same sound waves that manifest this divine imagery, oxygenate red blood cells.
Even in the passive listening—while we drive, fold laundry, write a blog—our bodies are receiving the healing benefit.
But what of worship, when we actively participate?
When we sing to our Heavenly Father
Our bodies become a living sacrifice,
We lay down what dis-ables us—our fear, our anger, our disappointment, our grief,
And in the space remaining, literal living breath pours in.
Did you know that cancer abhors oxygen? So does every other illness and disease.
Worship is not simply for our enjoyment [or His].
It is intended to HEAL.
Oh, that we would stop diminishing what we do not understand.
Oh, that we would awake to the power [not somewhere out there] but at hand.
Life as Art. Art as life.
This is the incomprehensible mystery of a Creator/Composer,
Who means every beautiful thing for our good—
The soothing coos of a mama’s voice,
The strings on a violin.
What would your words look like if you could see them? Would they be as intricately exacting, as exquisite as this?
Have we mistaken that what we utter is merely intended to communicate? We are healers with instruments both mouth and tongue. The sounds we make resonate far beyond a moment. They are heard for eternity.
So then, make a beautiful noise.
NOTES:
*We know through the science of Cymatics that the same soundwaves that create images like this one have a dramatic effect on blood cells. Isn’t it spectacular that beauty and life are interconnected like this?
Our stressed and cluttered lives. Is it any wonder that there’s so much of life’s mystery that we miss?
Beyond being a “lovely ritual,“ communion with the Father through worship actually heals.
No terminal disease is necessary to acknowledge the profound truth in this.
Only the revelation that the way we are living is unsustainable.
Contrary to what the headlines illicit, we are not designed to be anxious and against. Harmony is the geometry of the soul.
Excerpt from Twenty-One Days [find in the Journal]—
Somewhere along the way I had developed this notion that the process of healing should be difficult, rigid, bare. In so many ways, I believe our medical system has done its best to instill this belief. Yet, the longer I was at Hope4Cancer, the harder it became to suppress the beautiful imagery of what healing can and should look like: Me on the beach, tan, with the sun in my hair. As I write, tears fall. It has been so long since I have experienced nature like this. God like this. Why is it that we feel so unentitled to this? Ironically, I write about this kind of Sanctuary Living all the time. But experiencing it…and allowing others to witness it in and through me...has been another thing entirely. I have revered hard work my entire life. My body is paying the price. Now, it’s time to share the other side of what productivity can look like. That is, the productivity of healthy cells. This is a message we all need to hear, this message of Restoration— I have rescued places my entire life and now it’s time to rescue myself.
*ABOUT THE IMAGE: This is what sound looks like through the science of Cymatics. Music, the invisible geometry of the Universe. I have chosen Clair de Lune in particular because of all the classical songs ever written, this one blends the arts—music and impressionism—to punctuate the intricacy of His creation and to bring a sense of calm to a chaotic world.