Phillip Wilby, British organist, composer, and conductor has gifted the world with what I think to be one of the best musical settings of verses 15-18 from the Gospel of John. It’s a befitting text for today which is Pentecost. The name Pentecost comes from the Greek word pentekoste which means fiftieth. The holiday is celebrated on the seventh Sunday after Easter which is also fifty days after Easter.

Not only do I think the melody and harmony are sublime, but the form is interesting. It starts out with the choir in unison, ladies only. It then expands into two parts, then explodes into 5 parts. I’m not sure if Wilby intentionally set out to compose for 5 parts, but it makes sense for today’s feast (the Greek prefix pénte meaning 5). It would have been a bit complex if he had taken it literally and written for 50 voice parts! English composer, Thomas Tallis, came close to doing this in 1570. He composed a piece for 40, individual parts. It’s called “Spem in Alium” or the 40-part motet.

After all that part-splitting, Wilby brings us back to a consoling unison on the words “And ye know him.” Sounds like life, really. We come from unity, experience contrast and diversity in human form, and in death, we return to the source of unity. The apostles experienced this kind of metaphysical unity at Pentecost. Through the diversification of language, they experienced a spiritual bond, even though what was being spoken was undecipherable.

The Spirit of Truth can’t be put into words. We sense it behind the words, or in between the lines. Words chop up truth and open the case for more arguments. Just when you think you’ve made a compelling closing argument, someone finds a way to slip through a loophole and prove you wrong. And so, we speak more words.

But words are symbols for unbroken reality, that once described, becomes a concept. Once it’s a concept, it’s broken to bits. Words leave things out, which allows room for interpretation. When we affix words to reality, that allows us to control it, through a narrative. But unity cannot be known without diversity. This can make your mind spin.

The way I like to contemplate this is by diving into the pronoun “I.” Everybody uses the same pronoun, yet we don’t recognize how profoundly unifying that is. In scripture, even God uses it. The English word “I” is the same as the Roman Numeral I. What’s behind this “I” that we all use? It’s a oneness that seems to be hiding. I suppose that’s for each of us to understand at some point. Words can’t quite seem to get us there.

The way Wilby varies the texture in this piece shows us how our minds need both unity and diversity to understand how they are one in the same. Reconciliation of seeming separation is further illustrated at the end by the words, “I will come to you.” That’s the moment when self becomes other, enemy becomes friend, and multiplicity becomes singularity. This unitive, unspeakable truth was likely what was being sensed by the disciples on at that first Pentecost. Even though they used differing tongues, the “I” behind them transcended the literal meaning of the words. I’m sure it seemed disjointed and disorderly to the mind, but to the spirit, wherever the part is, so too is the whole. Soli deo Gloria!