God and Opera

I recently saw my very first bit of live opera. I have never been an especially big fan of opera. Well, now that I think of it, I haven't really ever seen an opera before. At any rate, I must say it was some kind of mind blowing. I have seen musicians perform live before, with microphones and big bands backing them up. This was nothing like that. It consisted of a pianist and a woman singing with nothing but her own breath supplying the sound. It was an incredibly moving thing to witness. Some of the notes she hit really gave me chills. I won't say it was the most moved I've ever been by a piece of art, because lets face it Avatar was spectacular, but this was certainly a close second or third.

It's funny because I'm not a believer in organized religion, or even the christian notion of God and yet seeing this opera I can't help but question whether or not there is something more out there in the universe besides our little planet. Maybe I should give a little background of my rise and fall from proverbial grace. I was raised saying my prayers every night before going to bed, but nothing more. It wasn't until I started going to catholic school that I got sucked into the whole secret society thing that is the Roman Catholic Church. Going to church every Sunday, saying prayers, eating strange wafers that only certain people could eat. Talk about elitist. At any rate, I went along this way for some time until college when, as I'm sure many college students do, I began questioning everything. I wondered why, blah, blah, blah, etc. Any in the end came up faithless. My only belief now is that there must be some kind of order in the Universe that makes things progress as they do.

What is the point of this religious rant? Well, sometimes when I listen to certain pieces of music I start thinking again. Thinking that something so perfect; Beethoven's Piano concerto No. 5 for example, or said piece of opera, couldn't have been created by an unguided hand. How could man in our infinite fallibility create something so utterly perfect. And before you question me, listen to Beethoven's Piano concerto No. 5. It is perfect in every way. Without question.

Aww. Don't worry. I haven't been converted. I haven't had a religious experience. I am not currently chanting the Our Father while lighting candles at a makeshift altar I have constructed in my closet. I just said it made me think of things. And at the risk of sounding long-winded. I will leave it at that.