Musical Alone-ness

My parents were both musical. They were not great musicians, but they both participated in some kind of musical endeavor. My mom was a pianist. Again, not great but advanced enough to play for church and for an occasional wedding. My dad, completely untrained, was a tenor. Being Mexican, he had a kind of a European taste in music. He really loved the traditional operatic music and also a lot of what they called "the light classics."

My father had a few records around the house and was always collecting a few more. He really loved Mario Lanza, the great Italian-American tenor of the '40s and '50s. He knew a great deal about some of the great classical singers and sometimes he would share about some of them: Bidu Sayao, Yma Sumac, Richard Tucker, Jan Peerce, John Charles Thomas, Enrico Caruso and many more.

I was hooked from the very beginning. I love opera. I love German Lieder. I love vocal solo music from all countries and in all languages. I also love instrumental music. Brahms, Mendelssohn, Copland, Hanson, Strauss, Bach, Beethoven. I love polkas, waltzes, symphonies, string quartets, piano sonatas, violin concertos. I love Yo-Yo Ma, Jussi Bjoerling, Rafael Mendez, The Boston Symphony, The United States Marine Band, (The President's Own). I love all classical music.

I own about 500 record albums and over 1100 CD's. These represent my aesthetic and artistic beliefs. I listen to music for spiritual cleansing, for musical enlightenment, for understanding. But always, I listen to music for musical enjoyment. This music "speaks my language". The problem is this:

NOBODY I KNOW SPEAKS THIS LANGUAGE

I am the only person in my family that speaks this language. Not my lovely wife; not my beautiful daughter; not my athletic son. Although I think they respect my deep love of great music, they still see me (and it) as some kind of wierd.

Music, to me, has always been a spiritual way of living. It doesn't matter to me what style of music is being played or sung. I am still moved in my soul. Music is my balm and it always leads me to a spiritual place; a place where I am alone with God and where, if I relax and listen with my heart and not my ears, I can feel God come close.

I guess it is better to be alone and be able to feel God's presence, than to be with other people and not be within His grasp!! I am grateful!!