Soli Deo Gloria (“To God alone be the glory”)




Bach quite frequently used the following inscription at the end of his compositions:   SDG.

You can see Bach's signature and the SDG in the image. 

 

 

 

He wrote his musical pieces—“to the Glory of God alone.”  This is interesting as it does something quite extraordinary for us.   It seems to disallow this business we have of that which is ‘sacred’ and that which is ‘ordinary.’

 

Case in point.  I was raised to honour the Sabbath and keep it holy.  This simply meant no playing sports (for example) on Sunday.  Why?  Because “Sunday” was the new “Sabbath.”  And, honouring means a clear distinction of ‘sacred or holy’ compared to ‘ordinary.

 

What then are we supposed to do?  We act “in Christ”. It is like everything we do is sacred and spiritual because we are in Christ.  Everything is SDG!  We are living life "in Christ,"  as "we embrace a kind of apostolate whereby we all things are accomplished for His glory, for the glory of His Kingdom on earth.  We surrender ourselves wholeheartedly without concern about the fruits of our action, placing ourselves in God's hands with no inner commentary about what we did and how it will be of benefit to others" (The Contemplative Life Program, Attention/Intention, p.43) 

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