Connecting with Old Friends

A Facebook post by the Choral Music Sharing Community led me this evening to listen to Rachmaninoff's haunting setting of the Lord's Prayer, the Our Father - Отче наш.

Sung in Russian, I have no idea what they are saying, yet knowing it is the setting the world's most familiar and beloved Christian prayer, I know exactly what they are singing about, and my spirit prays too. This kind of music inspires deeply soul-searching prayer, not a tossed off "now I lay me down to sleep" ditty.

This is a great mystery — how one's spirit can connect in a spiritual bond of fellowship with people far removed or long gone from this world. The Russian singers and director who I will probably never meet; Rachmaninoff the composer who wrote this song (1873-1943); the artist who painted the icon Christ the Redeemer (seen with the video and below, Andrei Rublev, c.a. 1410 AD); and clear back to Jesus who taught this prayer to his disciples back around 30 AD/CE. 

Christ the Redeemer, Andrei Rublev

How this prayer text has survived these 2000 years is a great mystery itself. Indeed a miracle. Is there any other poem, prayer or text that is so widely known and used on a daily basis by millions around the world? 

If I wanted to make an argument here for the veracity of Christianity, that might be a phenomenon I'd consider highlighting. It's no wonder that listening to this music gives me goosebumps and makes my little space here in this room seem to glow with holy light.