Cadences of God

The phrase “Cadences of God” was suggested to me upon hearing something Ludwig van Beethoven believed in. According to one biography, Beethoven felt that the speech of God was far more similar to music than to human speech. This accords with the Hebrew phrase for “Word of God” which could also plausibly be translated as “Act of God” or even “Event of God”. 

What impressed me most was this: How would you ever trap a piece of music in words? Words might suggest tempo, themes, and experiences of music, but they would never be able to match the pure hearing of the symphony itself. 

Speaking about God is something like that - we hint, suggest, mention themes, but we can never get to the actual hearing of God’s own self in our words about God. The music of God can only be directly experienced, and all writing is after the fact and ultimately and shabby poverty. 

The phrase “Cadences of God” was suggested to me upon hearing something Ludwig van Beethoven believed in. According to one biography, Beethover felt that the speech of God was far more similar to music than to human speech. This accords with the Hebrew phrase for “Word of God” which could also plausibly be translated as “Act of God” or even “Event of God”. 

What impressed me most was this: How would you ever trap a piece of music in words? Words might suggest tempo, themes, and experiences of music, but they would never be able to match the pure hearing of the symphony itself. 

Speaking about God is something like that - we hint, suggest, mention themes, but we can never get to the actual hearing of God’s own self in our words about God. The music of God can only be directly experienced, and all writing is after the fact and ultimately and shabby poverty.