Music and Religion

I have led a mostly secular existence for the duration of my time on this planet thus far, but that does not mean I have no beliefs, no sense of direction or faith. This just means that whereas some people may be more religious beings, I am a more spiritual being, pulling from all manners of sources for my own belief system.
I was raised on my heritage which consisted of Native American and Scotch-Irish on my father’s side and Swedish, Australian, and Indian on my mother’s side, and all of these different cultures have their own religious beliefs and customs that I take into consideration when I think about the divine. Mainly, when I speak of my beliefs, most people can see the Native American faith most clearly, so I’ll mainly focus on that aspect of my faith and how it regards music.
Like we learned in class, music is a sort of prayer, or can be used as a sort of prayer to praise The Creator and thank Him for all that he has done for us and given us. All life is a gift, and we honor that gift as best as we can through the songs. The old saying “When words fail, music speaks” holds true in this moment, as does the saying that “God gave us music so that we might pray without words.” Music serves as one of the many ways that we as human beings can become closer to The Creator, or The Divine One, or whatever you choose to call your own personal divine being. With the music, a spiritual awakening takes place—if you allow yourself to give yourself completely to the music and its message. The music may not have words that all can understand, but the emotions evoked and the ideas presented with the styles and interpretations of those involved deliver the sacred right into the hands of the people.
With my own personal philosophy—again, taking from many different belief structures—there are no rules as to how anything should be performed or viewed. All that is requested is that you leave yourself open to whatever may come your way that you leave yourself vulnerable to the awesome power that the music holds. Nothing is required but your belief that there is something out there in the world that is greater than you; you are not the highest authority on this planet, neither am I nor anyone else on the planet. There are things in this world and things beyond this world, transcending space and time that are beyond your control and beyond your knowledge, but with the music you find some sort of peace and are able to reconcile this fact. One way of reaching the divine is through music—if you truly believe and are willing to give yourself up to that authority.
Since I pull from all manners of sources and have never really spent any time in a church that I remember well at all, I cannot say as to whether or not any particular religion has influenced what I believe to be aesthetically pleasing in music. My belief system is as eclectic as my music choices. I pull from Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism (among others) and I listen to anything from soundtracks to the angst-filled rock of the 1990’s. I do not belong to any one religion and I do not belong to any one style of music or preference in music. I listen to music the way I regard religion: I find what works best for me and what speaks to me, what makes the most sense to me and what truly touches me.