In Touch With the Vibration — Hallelujah !!

One morning recently my sweetie and I got up very early to go explore the ancient walled city of Siena, Italy. And once inside the city, walking along the bright, colorful, and clean cobble-stone streets, I noticed a particular song — a very farmiliar one from my past — building up inside my head:

I've heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord…

Initially, I didn't think too much of it.

And then we came upon an Ancient Chiesa — a Church which was certainly not "Notre Dame" so I'm not sure whether it was a Cathedral (or Duomo?) or not, but it had huge pillars and a large Dome, so in my mind it's a "small Cathedral". From it I felt a compelling voice that drew me in so I decided to do so, mostly because this one did not have a lot of people around it so I thought maybe I could appreciate it — just for what it is, without all of the usual distractions.

The picture here is from when I first walked into the Cathedral and I was immediately moved by how bright and inviting it was. I noticed only two people near the back of the Cathedral, and as I wandered towards the front there was only one old man sitting quietly off to the right-hand side. The quietness and "echoes of silence" in the place drew a sharp contrast to the music that was now building even more inside my head:

It goes like this: the 4th, the 5th … the minor fall, the major lift…

Very quietly I hummed a few notes from the song and even though it was almost inaudible, I got a sense that this was a spiritual place — one that was carefully designed and built to be acoustically "perfect". So I decided to sit and just feel the presence of spirit, and music, over the ages, watching out of the corner of my eye for the people in the back to leave. And they did, as did my sweetie who wanted to go see something else just outside the Cathedral. Then I stood and walked out into the center / front part of the Cathedral, right under the dome, and allowed myself to very quietly let some of the notes from the song come out more like a quiet humming than actually singing. And the Cathedral responded with just the right amount of vibration… as the old man got up, wandered slowly to the far back of the Cathedral, and after a moment he too left.

So there I was, totally alone in this place where I knew I would offend no one as I started to let the notes and then the words of the song come from that voice inside me, very quietly at first… — standing right in the center of that enormous space that was built for harmony. Louder I sang, with no inhibitions about not really knowing the words, and it grew until I felt like I was completely part of the vibration of that ancient spiritual space.

And it's not a cry you can hear at night It's not somebody who's seen the light It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah…      Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

The whole thing probably didn't last very long, but after the climax I was overcome with intense feelings of joy — and sorrow, combined — something I don't really have words for.

… The embattled King, composing Halleluja …

Completely consumed and spent, I made it back to a sitting place still under the dome, and was literally overcome with tears and exhaustion. And I sat there for a long time… returning to the reality of the place and imagining how many people over the ages have had life-changing experiences in this Ancient place.

I know that I certainly have. It's a “Hallelujah !! ” that will be with me for the foreseeable future.