5/17/24

I had not expected, at a concert in the gym at our kids’ school last month (one of many concerts during this time of year), to hear something that would affect me so much I would still be thinking of it now, several weeks later.  

It was a piece of music called “She Will Hang The Night With Stars,” by William Hofeldt, based on a few lines from Oscar Wilde’s work De Profundis.  I was curious right away when I saw it listed in the program.  Here was something where music and the written word, the two sides of my own creativity that had lately seemed at odds with each other, competing for my time and energy, would be blended together.

The orchestra director could have just mentioned the De Profundis connection when introducing the piece, but instead she actually read the excerpt aloud to us… and for this I will be forever in her debt.  Here it is:  

She will hang the night with stars

so that I may walk abroad in the darkness without stumbling,

and send the wind over my footprints so that none may track me to my hurt;

she will cleanse me in great waters,

and with bitter herbs make me whole.

For me, that night, hearing those words felt like a puzzle piece snapping perfectly into place.  Yes, this is exactly it, my heart said—this is the kind of woman I want to be.  This is what I want to do for the important people in my life.  Wilde had captured in these few lines the very thing that I had been thinking about and trying to offer up in my prayers, so scattered lately.  His words made something rise up and bloom within me and yet were so beautiful that they hurt, like thorns on roses.  

In the few seconds of silence after she stopped reading, I sat completely still in my chair as if pinned in place, just feeling stunned and grateful—and then the orchestra began to play.  

I won’t try to describe what the piece sounded like; I’ll just say that it was heartbreakingly beautiful and that I’ve listened to it several times since then on Spotify.  There's a really good recording of it there that is also available on Youtube—here are links to both. 

It's my end-of-the-school-year gift to you, to be unwrapped at a time when you’re ready and receptive: take a few minutes to listen, while at the same time rereading the Oscar Wilde excerpt, and let the two blend together for you.  Hear what it says to you, and to whom it points you.  

May our eyes and ears always be open to beauty, and to opportunities to love.