A soft lullaby to soothe a baby. A gospel song humbly sung in praise to God. A national anthem that unifies and celebrates who we are. Music touches us all.
Music is often described as the universal language, transcending barriers of culture, language, and geography. It can inspire and lift us up. “Music is the rhythm of head and heart,” according to the founder of this newspaper, Mary Baker Eddy (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 213). On a spiritual level, music expresses the harmony that is a law of divine Love, and that carries healing power. Christian Science teaches that there is one governing Mind, God, sustaining universal goodness. So what is substantial and real is the allness and authority of harmony, while discord has no enduring authority.
Music can awaken the underlying current of true spirituality in us, which removes fear and discord. Harmony among us is not imposed; in our hearts, we each recognize it as natural, innate, and good.
The law of harmony is natural and ever-present in human consciousness. In Estonia, the music of the Singing Revolution had a great impact. Under decades of Soviet occupation, Estonians were forbidden from singing their patriotic songs. Yet music – long woven into Estonian culture – became a significant means by which they maintained their identity.
From organized festivals to massive, spontaneous gatherings, sometimes thousands of Estonians would assemble and sing openly and courageously. Consistent actions of peaceful resistance were accompanied by songs that brought comfort, unity, and resolve. In 1989, Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians joined hands and formed a chain hundreds of miles long, singing for freedom. Through song rather than force, Estonia peacefully regained its independence in 1991.
Music has the power to unite a diversity of individual hearts into one song. And when Love is the basis of that song, it leads to positive transformation. Science and Health explains that spiritual harmony allows for no discord: “Harmony is produced by its Principle, is controlled by it and abides with it. Divine Principle is the Life of man. … Harmony in man is as beautiful as in music, and discord is unnatural, unreal” (p. 304).
Our true nature as entirely spiritual children of God sings out in beauty and goodness. Discord – whether personal, societal, or political – is an awkward misfit, unreal. We need not feed into it or fear it, but challenge it as a false tone, correctable by the divine Principle that is Love. Just as the science of music corrects pitch and restores concord, the Science of Christianity corrects the false tones of fear, hatred, and oppression and restores peace.
Mrs. Eddy speaks profoundly of how peace, health, and joy always abide in us. Love for God and our neighbor brings more of these qualities to light. And light does not battle darkness; it dissolves it. Harmony does not argue with discord; it dismantles it. “‘Let there be light,’ is the perpetual demand of Truth and Love, changing chaos into order and discord into the music of the spheres” (Science and Health, p. 255).
Christian Science points to one governing divine Mind, which – like a musical key ordering every tone, phrase, and resolution of a song – governs all creation, holding us as coherent, whole, and loved, individually and collectively.
I remember years ago experiencing this loving ordering of every action. When I gave birth to my first son, my mother and husband were with me. My mother would softly sing a favorite hymn that started with “O gentle presence, peace and joy and power” (Mary Baker Eddy, “Christian Science Hymnal,” No. 207). The song’s familiarity and its beautiful message both soothed and strengthened me; and every aspect of the birth was harmonious.
Whether in a nursery, a sacred space, the streets, or a public square filled with singing voices, music reminds humanity of something essential: Harmony is natural; discord is not. The universal law of harmony defines us. It brings peace to uncertainty, unity to division, and corrects chaos, discord, and the fear of discord. And healing follows as we wholeheartedly yield to God’s infinite song.
