Heaven Is Just

Song Notes

Shaman and author Martín Prechtel speaks of the Tzutijil Maya of the highlands of Guatemala as being a people who hold that “Heaven is not a place that you go to, heaven is just a place that you notice”; that the invisible world of life-giving spirit interpenetrates this one, and that the making of beauty, whether in our speech, food, clothing, all tools and implements, and of course in our music, is the way we give back to that heavenly world of spirit, how we ‘feed what feeds us”, and thereby begin to sense its presence all around us. And author Byron Katie speaks of answering someone’s question, “How can I live in the moment?” with “You already do, but you just haven’t noticed.” I thought these two notions somehow fit together, and sitting on the stern of the Coho ferry from Victoria, BC, the rhythm of the propellers stirred up this song. It definitely helps to have a drum holding the beat in this song. I suggest teaching the “heaven” parts first and get them going strong, then stop and teach the “you ask” parts separately until they’re solid, then get the two groups going together for a while. After they’re having fun with it, stop it all again and teach the “just got to..” parts and see if you can get three groups holding it all together. It’s a lot of fun when it’s all running, and lends itself to more percussive embellishment, if you’ve got the folks and instruments for it.