Zadie Smith and Attunement

I have a long-ish commute to Brooklyn Heights. If you ask me about how I like the commute I will probably tell you that I enjoy the opportunity to read the New Yorker on the subway ride. And I do. This morning on my way into the office I read an article by Zadie Smith called "Some Notes On Attunement." It's in the December 17 issue. I should probably begin by saying how much I like Zadie Smith. Her novels always enchant me. So I began the article ready to be enchanted, and I was. The article is about how Smith didn't like Joni Mitchell's music. No, that's not quite it. She hated the music. And then one day she didn't. And not only did she not hate it, she says of it " This is the effect that listening to Joni Mitchell has on me these days: uncontrollable tears. An emotional overcoming, disconcertingly distant from happiness, more like joy--if joy is the recognition of an almost intolerable beauty"(pg 31).  Smith wonders about how such a change occurs. She explains some of the change by saying that earlier in her life she just was not attuned to hearing the music.

I commend the article to you, but more than the specifics of the article there is something I feel like this notion of attunement gets right about life with faith. There are moments where certain Biblical passages, an encounter in liturgy, or a quiet time of prayer just resonate and make sense in a way they never have before. And sometimes one just feels attuned to God. Smith's description of listening to Joni Mitchell above feels like those moments of clarity in my faith. When I occasionally do feel like I really know something about God for sure, it does feel like a recognition of an intolerable beauty. And I like that attunement allows for moments of doubt, moments where where God is in our lives is just less clear, or maybe just feels less aligned with our lives.

Since we are in the season of Advent we are preparing for the radical rediscovery of God's love for humanity made known to us in the birth of Jesus. And this seems like the perfect season to attempt to re-attune ourselves to God's persistent presence in our lives.