The Cosmic Chord

Driving home long after midnight, a great meteorite rumbled into view and across the sky. Long and slow, its path could be timed in full seconds. It looked more like a burning bus than a shooting star. Sick, sore, but sated, I followed it home.

Sometime during the second set last night, the afterburners kicked in. My throat was shot but I latched onto Joe's energized tempo and sang my way up and over the tightness. I am voiceless today, spent, but last night was well worth it.

Who would I be if I lost my voice? If I lost my ability to speak, to sing, could I cope? I genuinely don't know. I saw Pete Seeger on TV not long ago. This man who inspired so many with his clear, powerful voice could barely whisper. He managed to croak out a few words before raising his hands like a conductor and urging his audience to sing for him. Of course they did, with nary a dry eye in the house. He can get away with that; he's Pete Seeger for god's sake. 

The time will come when I am reduced to a croak and I fear it will happen long before I'm 90. If I raise my hands, who will sing for me?

Losing my voice would not necessarily mean losing my words. I could still think, write, communicate.  But words aren't nearly enough. Singing transcends simple communication. It is deeper than sex, purer than love, mystical in its ability to align body, mind and spirit with the great harmony of the cosmos. It's as close as I come to the divine.

When I sing with someone else, when I find someone who can match his voice with mine, it is such a profound feeling that it's easy to mistake it for something else. It feels like holy communion, but it's not. It's just harmony. It doesn't have a deeper meaning than that.

Perhaps there is no deeper meaning. When I sing in harmony, I am aligned with the universal order. I channel the great cosmic chord. It is profound. It is enough.

My body will fail, my voice will fail, my words will slip away on the wind leaving no trace. But, the great harmony abides. It transcends me, enlarges me, connects me with something greater.

According ot the second law of thermodynamics, energy cannot be created or destroyed, just converted from one form to another.  When I die, I hope my life force is coverted to a clear note within the cosmic chord and I spend eternity vibrating with the music of the spheres.