"Chant the verses of guidance among the people and commence [the composition of] melodies of great beauty and effect in praise and glorification of the Generous Lord."('Abdu'l-Bahá)
"Melodies of great beauty and effect" sometimes come from the most unexpected, and untrained sources.
This morning it was so moving to watch a friend's home-video of her 4 year old chanting a prayer for children. It's on a social-network so I can't share it with you here. But the effect was very moving, and came to drive home the notion that chanting is really one of the highest and most complete forms of expression. Everyone should feel free to do it. Train the children to chant and sing.
I learned in a poem once, that the cricket is deaf. The purveyor of one of nature's most characteristic and memorable sounds, cannot benefit from the fruit of its oun effort! So it must be with us, then. I think that when we are at our best, when we act in the best way, when we do the right thing, we probably aren't even conscious of it.
We all have these angelical moments. You have surely known someone to do something incredibly selfless, or thoughtful, or brave, ...and you did not expect it of them. And they probably did not even notice that it was particularly selfless, thoughtful, or brave,... they probably just felt it was the right thing to do. Those are the moments when we are like angels, and we don't even realize it.
The thing is to have more and more of those moments, isn't it?
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