A MESSAGE FROM REV. KAREN KINNEY: FINDING GOD IN MUSIC
Grace and peace to you,
This week, we continue our series focused on Christian mysticism, with special attention on music as a way of encountering the Divine. Now you may not think of the Biblical David as being a mystic, but, music, lyrics and dancing all play an important role in his relationship with God and others.
David is credited with writing more than 70 
Psalms; organizing worship to include music, a skilled musician who could sooth the tortured soul of King Saul, and dancing with all his might as the Ark of the Covenant was brought into Jerusalem. I suspect David found inspiration and courage through the music that brought him closer to God.
We will also lift up two of Dave Macbeth’s favorite music mystics: the 11th/12th century Saint Hildegard of Bingen and the 20th/21st century composer Morten Lauridsen. A German Benedictine abbess, Hildegard was also a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary and a medical writer and practitioner!
She is one of the best-known composers of sacred monophony (a musical texture that features a single, unaccompanied melodic line, played or sung by one or more performers in unison), as well as the most recorded in modern time.
From early childhood, Hildegard’s spiritual awareness was grounded in “the reflection of the living light,” and that she saw all things in the light of God through the five senses: taste, sight, hearing, smell and touch. Hildegard showed great courage throughout her life – think of being a woman in the 12th century preaching to the public!
Eternal light has been a watchword for Morten Lauridsen who said of his piece, Lux Aeterna [it] “is a very, very personal piece…It’s a meditation on enlightenment. I wrote it when my mother was dying, and I simply went through those Latin texts that all related to eternal light — and it brought me great comfort.”[1]
USC Thornton musicologist Nick Strimple has called Lauridsen ‘the only American composer in history who can be called a mystic, [whose] probing, serene work contains an elusive and indefinable ingredient which leaves the impression that all the questions have been answered.’ Listeners of his pieces often experience an emotional and spiritual connection to his works.
Our spiritual practice for this week is to listen to a playlist that Dave Macbeth has prepared for us featuring both Hildegard of Bingen and Morten Lauridsen’s works. Our sermon for this week includes a conversation with Dave Macbeth.
Come and see. Come and explore!
Blessings,
Pastor Karen
1https://music.usc.edu/spotlights/the-eternal-light-of-morten-lauridsen/, accessed 9/10/2025