As I read Hear No Evil: My Story of Innocence, Music, and the Holy Ghost by Matthew
Paul Turner, I found myself remembering my church days growing up as a Baptist. Although Turner,
too, was Baptist, his upbringing as an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist garnered more
restrictions in growing up than I did.
This memoir Turner wrote is definitely his explanation of how, why and what he became as an
adult. The limitations on what he could participate in while growing up, and what he believed,
according to the gospel he was taught, forced him to escape whenever he could through music.
Christian music that is. The tone of his stories is full of true faith but light-hearted whimsy.
This made it an easy read. Music gave Turner the means to learn about things he would never have
gotten a chance to learn if he had followed the doctrines of Independent Fundamentalist Baptist
to the letter. For example, Ms. Lansing, his piano teacher, influenced him somewhat when she
understood his attraction to New Age music that sounded like pennywhistle music, the music of
Native Americans.
Music was Turner’s muse. He looked to music for inspiration the way the melody of poetry
inspires us all, because music was poetry to him. His Holy Ghost was music. He also used it
to communicate and explain himself. Having grown up dripping in innocence, without music he
would never have been able to express what he felt. As with his desire to go to Nashville to
learn all he could about music and life, Turner found that what he expected to learn and what
he did learn were not one and the same. He met people of diverse faith, who saw things a
little differently than he did. School and life in the Christian music capital of the US showed
him what he would never have learned at home. He took it all in stride and found ways to live
and enjoy his newfound knowledge.
Overall, if one gets to know Turner through reading Hear No Evil: My Story of Innocence,
Music, and the Holy Ghost, it will help you realize life is full of ups and downs. That no
matter what you think your childhood did to you, Turner’s upbringing was different and
uncompromising for him. Music allowed him to experienced freedom and liberty as he had never
known growing up and surprisingly he turned out ok.