Beyond Reason...

"Ah, music. A magic beyond all that we do here."
-Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling.

There are some things in life for which logic and reason are no help at all. There are people in the world who don't like to hear this, but it's true nonetheless. I find these places, these non-reason places, most often in artistic ventures like music, writing, fine art, film and so on. There is a power in these things that transcends explanation and analysis. This is not to say that people don't try to analyze and explain, but there doesn't seem like much can be said in the way of explanation beyond descriptions about what's going on in the brain at a chemical level.

I feel that these non-reason places are the places where the spiritual world is laid open to the nerves and we can momentarily touch the very essence of our spiritual selves. It is here that we feel ourselves instead of simply thinking about ourselves. We can encounter in these times of spiritual alive-ness a brand of truth that is inaccessible to the reasonable and logical mind. What is more this non-reasonable spirituality is in many ways more important than the reasoned brand. Reasoned truth and spirituality tend to be little more than extensions or extrapolations of the physical world which we encounter each day. Artistic or emotive or intuitive truth (I'm still not sure which of those labels I like, but all of those words apply to some degree) impacts us so deeply precisely because it is both completely foreign and suspiciously familiar. We encounter in this brand of truth a remembrance of the divine fingerprint on our natures, and simultaneously an expectation of the future to which we are continually being called.

Put another way, that feeling you get when you hear great music, or read a great novel, or see a beautiful and powerful piece of art, is the feeling of Eden and Heaven all in one breath.

Breathe deep friends, breathe deep.