Program note

My relationship with religion has never been simple. Some days I reject it entirely; other days I remember the beauty it can hold. That beauty is captured in a poem by Thomas Merton, the American Trappist monk and mystic. In his words, a walk on a sunny day becomes a mystical experience. Nature is not something apart from him—it is “him.” Merton strips away the walls we build, until he stands as one with everything, and in that unity, one with God. His vision of spirituality—a non-dual, all-embracing way of being—is the one I feel closest to.

The music reflects this vision. It begins with a djembe rhythm, steady and insistent, echoing the heartbeat of nature. This figure shifts and evolves as it meets the piano and the clapping chorus. The voices rise from simple gestures to a joyful climax, proclaiming: “I am Earth, Earth.” It is worship without restraint, a celebration so bold that like the last line of the poem, it embraces seeming foolish.