Religion and music belong together like fishes and the ocean – like light and life, like a voice and ears… .
Fish are the backbone of ocean life. They range from tiny reef fish to giant predators. Fish keep the sea healthy by balancing food chains and maintaining habitats. Sadly, overfishing and warming waters threaten these vital creatures.
Why fish are important for the health of our planet.
Fish play important roles in the health of our ecosystem. Despite this, many people believe them to be boring, when the truth is fish are feeling, smart, and complicated beings.
Given their ability to feel both physical and emotional pain, it’s not a far stretch to say that fish suffer. Little causes so much suffering to so many fish as fishing, including the recreational variety.
We know that fish suffer when they’re caught because they try frantically to get away, a classic sign of pain. As they pull against the hook stabbing through the flesh of their mouth, the injury gets worse.
But the pain doesn’t end there. Eventually they’ll likely be reeled out of the water and into a boat where they immediately start to suffocate, unable to breath without water. Everything down to their organs and blood flow are impacted by the stress of being taken out of the water.
In the entire universe, we humans are probably the only beings capable of creating and listening to music. The ability to hear is one of the specific gifts that our Creator gave us. Our fragile blue planet is surrounded by a thin layer of gases only a few kilometers high. Only this atmosphere is the reason why sound waves can spread through the air. Everything behind this atmosphere is ruled by the sheer endless vacuum of outer space, where galaxies and stars explode and implode in impenetrable silence.
According to the biblical narrative, the world began when God broke through thies deadly quiet: “And God said: Let there be light!” (Genesis 1:1). God spoke – and light and life resulted from his audible voice. Because life was created by the word. That is why it is in the nature of every person to listen. Like a parabolic mirror, our souls are created to listen to the eternal space of the hereafter, to try and sense whether a word, a sound or a voice is trying to reach us from there, in order to fill us with a meaning.
It’s nothing new that I love music. And, I know that Filipinos also love big tunes with great words and beautiful melodies, especially when it comes to classical music.
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