Prayer #45: If Music Be The Food of Love

Alas for those that never sing,
But die with all their music in them!
{Oliver Wendell Holmes}

Prayer #45: If Music Be the Food of Love

Play on, play on, all you musical creatures --
With voices and strings and other fine features
That vibrate our souls in ethereal chords
And speak of vast worlds that live beyond words.

Play on, all you gifted with joy in your hearts!
And teach all you meet their harmonious parts.
Music, like fire, has been with us since dawn,
And like water or blood, we know it flows on.

For music is heard in our joints and our bones,
Our minds and our eyes -- not just ears alone.
Thus no one is tone deaf, and all are musicians
Simply by joining life's symphonic procession.

So gorge on love's food, and gulp up its wine,
And savor each bite, for it's wholly divine.
God gave us our songs not to swallow but sing --
So throw back your heads and play your heartstrings!

Amen.