Dear Church Family and Friends,
Recently, as I drove around town, I listened to a CD of Mitch Albom reading his new book “Have a Little Faith.” For me, the best part of the CD is hearing Mitch Albom imitate the singing of his late rabbi. His rabbi would frequently interject singing into everyday life. One could be talking with him about almost anything and suddenly whatever he had to say would be put into song. Albom writes:
Hebrew Scripture Reading-1 Chronicles 6: 31-48
Last week as I listened to the choir sing “Kyrie” and Natalie sing her solo I kept wondering what is it that makes music and the music of our choir in particular so powerful. This past week I tried to find an answer to this. I read books about neuroscience and music. I read about how music effects the brain, but nothing seemed to really answer my question until our choir came out with their new album: “The Spiritual Misfits: Hits from the Heavens.” I read the liner notes last night, and they contain an outstanding essay that I thought I would share with you this morning for my sermon. It is written by Georgnoff Milinski, an esteemed professor of religious music history at Northwest Washington University. It reads as follows: