This has been one of these craziest few weeks in our house in years, and for the first time in what feels like forever, some routine and normalcy is slowly returning. I finally had a chance to just read again for a short while this morning, and I came across this explanation that Mstislav Rostropovich gave in how to listen to music. Although he was talking about music, I think he can use God and music interchangeably in this explanation.
There is a philosophy which says that in order to feel God, you must begin to believe in Him, just as in order to feel the warmth of a stove, you must come close to it. This is also true with music. In order to feel its warmth, you must come close to it, and open your heart to it. Sometimes that can be awfully hard work. I know many people who come to concerts buttoned up to the last button, so to speak, and who leave buttoned as well.
But music is not so aggressive that it will come through to you without your help. In order to feel its warmth and beauty, you have to shed your emotional insulation, just as if it were a coat, and prepare to listen with your heart.
-Mstislav Rostropovich
