Sun Ra’s music was influenced by a careful study of the mechanics of preaching. He lived like a monk, and expected discipline from his collaborators.
“It’s about the music,” he said. We are music, and the music our lives play is our ambassador to the Creator. We’d better be sure it’s good, because the cosmos will discard us if we’re out of tune.
“Why does the earth not fall,” Sun Ra asks? “How can we walk upon it?” “If we each play our part, it will be the music that holds it up.”