The Gift of Music

Yesterday I reflected on the gift of music. Today, I continue that theme.

My friend Amy Camp shared with me about visiting an elderly couple one afternoon. At the end of the visit, the wife wanted to sing the children’s song, “Jesus loves me.” Amy said she couldn’t believe it. The man who could not speak sang right along with them. And he was singing clear as a bell.

Music does have a way of triggering thoughts and memories buried deep within us. It has a way of speaking to the core of our being. It can make us feel delighted in being alive or console our spirits when we are feeling down. It touches on human emotions on a very deep level.

I can tell you, in my 22 years of ministry, more people have been touched by the music ministry of churches than any words that ever came out of my mouth.

A few weeks ago, my friend Juliet was talking about singing. She’s a beautiful singer.

She said: As you are getting ready to sing, you take in a deep breath. Then it is kind of like surfing – you ride that wave, that arc as the song flows out of you. There is something cathartic about it – stress relieving… as you’re dealing with breath.

When we’re angry we can sing to make us feel better… when we feel stuck, we can sing… I know when I taught high school Spanish, I had several songs that I taught the students to help with memorization. We might also sing during an unpleasant task. I don’t know about you, but in our family, we listen to music while cleaning.

As I mentioned yesterday, when I think about music as a spiritual practice, I think about singing in worship… But it can be more than that. Outside of worship, I also use music to shift my mood – and even to shift my heart and mind into more of a prayerful mode of being.

My prayer today is once again that you would come to see music as yet another means by which you might draw closer to the source of life, to the One who gives life. May music for you, be an instrument of prayer. And, may you find yourself singing in tune with the music of creation, the music of love, the music of hope, the music of God’s heart.

Let us pray: Sing a song of faith and hope in our hearts, O God, even as we sing to you. And may the music of your love resound through our lives, by the way that we live and love; in Christ’s name. Amen.