Music and Religion was always something that came in a package. I always believed music was a form of prayer, thanksgiving, or healing. Music comes from your heart and also your spirit. My parents grew up in a traditional hymnal church. My sisters and I grew up later years listening to very free moving church with contemporary music. I went to a Winter Conference in December 2008 to a Charismatic church in Kansas City. I grew up listening and jumping to Hillsongs music, which is a Charismatic church in Australia. When I went to this conference, it was a very open setting of music where people danced, jumped, shouted, sang and prayed in tongue. I grew up in traditional churches but my mother was very free in her worship. Many times she would break down in the gift of tongue and pray to God while others sang in the background. Sometimes, the whole congregation would start to pray out loud and the room will be filled with all different kinds of gift of tongue and the piano would be playing a hymn in the background. I grew up noticing that prayer and music was very much correlated. When I hear the whole congregation pray with piano playing, it almost sounds like the piano was accompanying each persons prayer thus having many songs within one room. My heart starts to pound every time these happen.
Within the Korean protestant church, they usually sing contemporary music through first part of service and end with a hymn before the service. During Easter or Christmas, Hymns are prominent in the service. Prayer with the whole congregation involving is as much important as singing praises. Many people start to move freely. Some people start clapping, raising their hands, or doing something different. Everyone is different and everyone has his or her unique dances during service.
My first language is Korean and my second language is English. Ever since I was 5 years old, my mother always took me to early Saturday morning prayer services as well as Wednesday evening prayer services. They were all in Korean. I did not understand the sermons so my mother always translated for me. Because I grew up listening to Korean hymns and Christian songs, they have more power in them than English Christian songs. My own language is so beautiful in music. It always makes me kneel down in a prayer mode because I see the beauty of God in these music and words. Within me, music and religion is deeply rooted together.
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Thanks for a thought-provoking blog; I especially like your last paragraph. Music puts tremendous power behind words. This is especially true, as you say, in one’s mother tongue, because one naturally thinks using the semiotics of the language one grew up using, and concepts do not always translate between languages. Many religions place much importance on the power of the spoken and written word. For example, you and I are both familiar with its importance in Christianity; for example, some of our central concepts are Holy Scripture, Jesus as the Word Made Flesh, and proclaiming the Gospel (= “Good News”). The Qur’an is central to Islam, especially when studied, read, spoken and heard in Arabic, Islam’s mother tongue, as many Muslims are required to do. Hinduism has its own sacred scriptures, the Vedas. When the semiotics of language joins forces with the semiotic, emotional, and (I agree with you) spiritual power of music, song becomes a powerful, almost essential, expression of and aid to faith. No wonder the music-cultures our class has looked at so far use song in their religion, in one way or another.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is very interesting. I imagine that all the movement and different people praying and singing all at once would be a sight to see. My church is the exact opposite. It is very organized and traditional as you can imagine a Catholic mass would be. Some might even call it boring. I do wonder what the "gift of tongue" is. I have heard of people speaking in tongues. Is it the same thing? I have never seen or experienced such a thing in real life. I have often wondered why these kinds of things never happen at my church but always at other churches.
ReplyDeleteWow. I think that's interesting about your mother translating the hymns for you because that's kind of how it is with me at pow wows because I don't know the language. But for me, as well, it does carry a certain sense of power in its own type of beauty.
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