Holiness in our Midst: Session 48

SESSION XLVIII: ON MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

STORY CIRCLE PROMPT: What is your favorite musical instrument? Why? What is your favorite song featuring it?

My heartstrings happen to be tuned to guitar strings. A fervent hope is that Heaven’s music is not limited to harps, with all due respect to those fine instruments. If my life were a melody, there would be guitar licks as accompaniment. Different chords transport me instantly back to places where the guitar reigned supreme. Suddenly, I am back in the 1960s listening to Joan Baez sing Bob Dylan’s“Forever Young.” Or I’m sitting around the fire at campsites singing along to “Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying.” Or I’m at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, hearing original Midwest musicians sharing their tunes. Or I’m back in Brazil at a restaurant overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, the sensuality of Spanish-inspired guitar music completing the experience.

A grace in my life is that my church, First Christian Church Disciples of Christ in Ames, IA, frequently features the guitar rather than piano or organ. My favorite music composed for guitar is Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” When I sing it (with revised, gentler lyrics) to persons with disabilities, they get a celestical light in their eyes. Such is the effect of great guitar music!

FOR PERSONAL/JOURNAL REFLECTION:

1. Read the above reflection.

2.   Write about your favorite musical instrument. What memories do you have of learning to play it or first hearing it? What is your favorite song featuring it?

FOR GROUP STUDY:

1.   Read aloud Session XLVIII.   

2.   Ask each person to answer the Story Circle Prompt.

[View Past Sessions Here]

Note: Holiness in Our Midst: Sharing Our Stories to Encourage and Heal is a monthly on-line feature created by Janis Pyle to facilitate sharing of our personal experiences, thoughts, beliefs, and spiritual practices with one another, especially through stories. Barriers are broken down when we begin to see all persons, even those with whom we disagree ideologically, as sacred and constantly attended to by a loving Creator. Each column is accompanied by a “story circle” prompt and study guides for personal and group reflection. To share your stories, contact Hannah Button-Harrison at communications@nplains.org. Janis Pyle can be reached at janispyle@yahoo.com.