April 17th 2019
(Originally Posted April 20, 2019)
As I write to you, today is April 17th, 2019. Today is significant for me as it is my 100th straight day of Ceremony this year. On this morning, after waking at 2:30 am and completing my morning preparations for the day, I chose to listen to Yo-Yo Ma play the Unaccompanied Cello Suite No.1 in G Major by Johann Sebastian Bach.
The reason I chose this solo cello piece is evident to me. It blends my love of sound with my love of the cello. I find a delicate and delicious appreciation comes with any excellent sound. It speaks of a synergetic relationship between the instrument and artist, intention and movement. As Yo-Yo Ma played, I could feel him listening to the instrument sustain notes deep within the wood and the cello’s body, and then he layered other tones upon them. In my mind’s eye, I see the bow caressing the strings, allowing them to sing out as he moved to other strings, exciting them into song. As a solo artist, I appreciated that there is nowhere to hide, and whatever he created would be applied to him.
I anticipate that the cello played was Yo-Yo Ma’s famed Davido Stradivarius, previously owned by British cellist Jacqueline du Pré. I say “anticipate” because I read that though she loved the cello, she found it had some unique tendencies that made it hard to play at times. Yo-Yo Ma recognized that it was a Baroque style cello and played only Baroque pieces on it. It further suggests that Yo-Yo Ma saw the original divine design of the cello and embraced its origins. As such, he developed a synergetic relationship with the instrument.
The cello is genuinely a piece of art, crafted by famed master Luthier Antonio Stradivari of Italy in 1712. It is regularly appreciated as an incredible gift of sound. So this cello, created by the hands of a master, becomes itself a master, in the hands of a master cellist, playing a piece written by a master. Whew, what a sentence. In the sound, this cello is exalted and honoured. What I also find interesting is the Cello Suite No.1 in G was written, or so it’s believed, in 1717-1723. The instrument and the music were made for each other. Yo-Yo Ma’s cello needs a master to woo those delicate harmonics from its perfection. This morning he did so.
To bring things into perspective, I played the cello for years when I was younger, and I was pretty good. I wasn’t the first chair. At my best, I was third. Back then, I had many passions, yet my love of the cello helped me develop a full and rich appreciation for a cello played well, to see and hear what is possible in the hands of a Master. I appreciate the sounds of truth, spoken joyfully or less than so by an incredible creation of Divine design. This ability to recognize the gift in another, stand in amazement, and bear witness as someone shares and develops their exceptional talent inspires me, for I know that there is a Master, our Higher Self, waiting to be expressed within each of us.
Here, now, we come to the main point. I see you as a sacred instrument created by a Divine Master. You are also a Master consciousness embracing life. I believe you are infinitely more remarkable than the illusion you once thought was true. I appreciate my role is to help the intention and the expression, instrument and Master, see beyond what seems like a blind spot, a disconnect. It may help to know that from my perspective, as Divine light radiates from pure consciousness, it comes in contact with different levels of awareness until finally, it meets this physical realm. Within that radiant light are many strands of separate consciousness and one of those strands is you.
The point where that consciousness meets the physical world is what you call your body, your sacred instrument. Our Higher Self is a point just before the light meets the material, and it understands why you are here and why now. When embraced, it becomes our inner knowing that offers insight into the physical part of our life. As light meets our physical realm, it fragments, similar to pure white light passing through a prism. The coloured strands are noticeable (chakras), and they make sense, yet on the other side of the prism, the light is crystal clear. This is why each morning, as the sun rises, I prepare to meet you wherever you are. I do so to meet the truth about you. Here, your inner Master shares the perfect harmonics of truth that resonate throughout the physical self. This is why every person in 40Days is encouraged to recognize their mastery and let it sing out, be both Master and the Instrument of Peace in their lives, and share with others.
Lastly, the best part of this morning’s pre-call preparations was Yo-Yo Ma, and the Davido completed their dance of sound, leaving me only a few seconds of silence, of delicious rapture before my chime told me to start my daily calls.
Perfect, I thought. I’m ready.
As I write you now, I can still hear Yo-Yo Ma’s cello singing in my mind. It is reminding me of something quite profound, something extraordinary. Oh yes, I remember,
We live in amazing times.