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<\/p>\nThe older I get, the more tangibly aware I become of God\u2019s presence through beauty. Among the world\u2019s beautiful things, music is\u00a0perhaps the most powerful and the most difficult to resist for even the most hardened un-believer. It releases\u00a0a wellspring of longing in the soul that can\u2019t be contained or denied.<\/p>\n
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One of my favorite movie quotes\u00a0comes from the film\u00a0The Soloist<\/em>, based on the true story of a homeless musical savant named Nathaniel Ayers. An LA Times reporter named Steve Lopez discovered and befriended him, and the popular newspaper columns he wrote about their experiences together were eventually published in book form. Although Ayers never fully overcame the mental problems he struggled with, their friendship changed both men forever.\u00a0The film takes some liberties with Lopez\u2019s character, but the core story remains utterly compelling. In this scene<\/a>, Steve and Nathaniel receive private access to an orchestral rehearsal at Disney Hall. As they sit and listen together, Nathaniel closes his eyes, enraptured, seeing the music in his mind as only he can. When Lopez tries to describe the experience later that night in a karaoke bar, he\u2019s lost for words. <\/span>He shouts over the din,<\/span>\u00a0\u201cIf you had seen him, if you could have felt him\u2026 I\u2019m watching him, he\u2019s watching the music, and while they\u2019re playing, I say \u2018My God, there is something higher out there! There is something higher!'\u201d As Billy tells the story, it was around Easter time, \u201cwhich is one of those \u2018holy\u2019 times of year, you know?\u201d He was in his car, moving slowly through traffic on a rainy, \u201cgloomy\u201d day. Flicking on the radio, he heard the \u201cAdagio\u201d coming over the airwaves, one of the most famous and most sad pieces of classical music. As he listened, something began to come over him:<\/p>\n I hear this music and it goes like this [begins to play it on synths]. Now this is a piece called the \u201cAdagio for Strings.\u201d It\u2019s one of the saddest pieces ever written\u2026 and it builds and it builds, and I\u2019m short-cutting it here, I\u2019m not playing it right\u2026 and it builds to this peak [plays it]. And as it gets to that peak, the sun shoots\u00a0<\/em>out of the clouds, it stops raining\u2026 the traffic clears up, I had to pull over!\u00a0I pull over to the side of the road, and I burst out crying. And I\u2019m saying, \u201cWhat\u2019s happening<\/em> to me?\u201d I lost control, I just lost it. What happened?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n You have to check out the whole story in his own words. If you click here<\/a>\u00a0and skip ahead,\u00a0it\u00a0starts at 3:40 on the Q & A video.<\/p>\n Maybe there\u2019s part of an answer in the rest of that conversation from The Soloist. Of the \u201chigher\u201d thing, Lopez continues, \u201cI\u2019ve never even experienced it, but I can tell! I don\u2019t even know what you f\u2014ing call it!\u201d \u201cGrace!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll right! That\u2019s grace?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThank you!\u201d<\/p>\n Herewith, a bit of grace.<\/p>\n[Note: For my expanded thoughts on grace and transcendent beauty in\u00a0The Soloist<\/em>, click here.<\/a> There I also discuss a short film project I created pairing it with the Marc Cohn rarity \u201cOne Thing of Beauty,\u201d the last link below.]\n
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\nHe\u2019s far from the only one\u00a0to be so surprised by joy. Just ask Billy Joel\u00a0to tell you about his encounter with Samuel Barber\u2019s \u201cAdagio for\u00a0Strings.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe woman he\u2019s speaking to (his ex-wife in the film) smiles and says \u201cGrace.\u201d It\u2019s lost in the noise. \u201cWhat? What is it?\u201d<\/p>\n