Rose witnessed the music springing from God’s Spirit is pleasant, logi
While driving Rose to the airport, we chatted and laughed, without any parting sadness— for very good reasons — she did not leave as early as originally scheduled since she finally found a dream job at her favorite university. As soon as she heard this good news while vacationing in
Time really flies. Rose and I have known each other almost 20 years. In our younger days we once studied German together at a German cultural center. Being a musician she planned on going to
Since then all of our German lingo have long been cleanly forgotten, but our friendship remains. In the year 2000 during my summer study at a law school in
December of last year (2003), as soon as Rose heard that I might be moving back to Taiwan, right away she booked plane tickets and flew over like a whirlwind to visit me her old friend. To reciprocate her warmth and concern, I too received her with great sincerity.
One day as we were heading out to sight see, she told me she couldn’t find her rings. “Don’t you remember? Last night before you went to swim, I especially reminded you to take off the rings and put them somewhere.” “Yeah, but I forgot where I placed them,” she answered helplessly.
It certainly is hard to disguise female vanity. Incredibly, Rose wore 5-6 rings to visit me, one of which with a huge dazzling diamond. “I’d be happy as long as I can find my marriage ring,” she said glumly. “It doesn’t seem like someone broke into the house. I think they should still be somewhere inside the house.” Though I was
“It’s all right. Let’s use my secret weapon—pray!” I thought to myself even though I have a knack for misplacing my belongings, whenever I lose something I always found them after prayer. “Did you find them?” I asked Rose after praying earnestly in the bedroom. “No!” Disappointed I wondered how come my sincere prayer did not help? I continued to search high and low to the point of desperation.
I finally said to her, “If you are willing, why don’t you pray with me and ask the Lord to give us some leads,” timidly I asked, since I feared she might be frightened by my praying in tongue. After a simple introduction and witnessing I instructed, “Ok, just follow the prayer method I told you. I will be praying in spiritual tongue.”
“O Lord! Please show your mercy and compassion so we may quickly find those missing rings. Otherwise my friend will end up miserable on her trip,” with the utmost sincerity I cried out to Lord Jesus.
After the prayer ended, even before I regained my composure she exclaimed with wide open eyes, “Wow! Your prayer in tongue sounded so beautiful. Sorry, I didn’t concentrate during the prayer just now because I was completely captivated by your marvelous spiritual tongues!”
I was totally speechless. She seemed to have forgotten the reason we were praying in the first place was to look for her rings, as she continued to convey her amazement and fondness for the musi
“Well, we’d better keep looking for those rings.” “But it’s already noon time. Why don’t we have lunch first and then head out as we planned whether we find them or not?” Rose accepted my suggestion. Yet, my heart was still troubled by those missing rings.
I walked into the kitchen to prepare lunch. Suddenly, an excited voice yelled, “I found them! I found them!” “It’s so strange. As soon as I went upstairs, I headed straight into your room, saw the bathrobe hanging on the rack, and without thinking about it I drew near and found the rings inside the bathrobe pocket,” excitedly she announced. “Praise the Lord!” I finally let out a sigh of relief and thanked and praised God from the bottom of my heart.
Afterwards, she kept asking me if I prayed. “Please pray louder. I love listening to you,” she asked. On Saturday she accompanied me to the church and had nothing but praises for the collective prayer of the congregation. “Sounds awesome!” Not only was she unfazed by the mighty sound of many waters and thunder, on the contrary, she loved it. This was the first time ever I received compliments from non-Christians, especially considering she’s a musician.
The night before she left, I invited her to pray together with me so the Lord may bring her safely home. Actually, I felt rather exhausted that night. But in less than a minute I had entered into a spiritual bliss and felt like a butterfly fluttering about within a musi
I was amazed. How did she know? “I don’t know how to notate this piece of music. It sounded simply fantastic! You had an outstanding voice and timbre. You’re a mezzo-soprano.” She continued to analyze the spiritual tongue’s grace and beauty from a professional perspective.
“What were you praying about just now?” I inquired. “I prayed, ‘God or Jesus if you have any blessings you wanted to give me, I am fine just now and have no need for them. Please give them all to Phiona.’” I gazed at Rose with tears ready to roll.
August of this year, she visited me once more. As soon as she got off the plane, our lips could not get a moment of rest and chit chat to no end. Rose mentioned the last time she visited
That very night before we went to sleep I invited Rose, “Let’s pray!” Once the prayer ended, she looked at me with wide-open eyes and dropped jaw. “Good heavens! When I heard your prayer I almost couldn’t believe my ears. So I just kept staring at you like this.”
“What’s the matter?” I asked uneasily. “Simply unbelievable! Did you know first you sang a famous classi
“Actually, your praying voice l heard last visit also sounded very nice to me. It’s considered atonal (music without any keys) and harder for most untrained ear to figure out, like some modern music which may seem far out and discordant. But now your prayer has changed to tonal (music with keys), which human brains accept more readily, because it sounds ‘correct.’ That’s why you would perceive such music as prettier sounding.” Her professional insight into spiritual music appreciation certainly sounded refreshing to me.
Done Talking?
The next morning during breakfast, I told Rose I was going to speak with my God. “Go right ahead.” After my prayer ended she told me, “Just now after you sang a high notes segment you suddenly stopped. I was thinking that’s not right. You weren’t done talking yet. Soon afterwards you followed up with another section.”
“So, do you think I was done talking?” I asked. “Yes, the second piece of music told me you were,” she answered. I was quite astonished by her keen sense of hearing. During the prayer’s first segment, I was concerned about Rose and couldn’t really concentrate. So I stopped to have a look. After noticing her in the bathroom, I felt like praying some more, so I continued a while longer and also switched to another spiritual melody.
Later on I thought since she could tell whether I was talking to Lord Jesus, why not just pour out my heart? On that day I pleaded with God with a heavy heart, for there were quite a few things on the prayer list. “Wow! You sounded quite moving today!” “First you sang a really long lullaby, then followed by a somewhat sad melody, much like stanza A followed by stanza B. The finale closed with a more gentle tune to form a complete composition.”
Once the prayer ended, Rose immediately critiqued for me. “The music of the Holy Spirit sounds quite logi
“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” (I Cor 14:33)
Rose witnessed the music springing from God’s Spirit is pleasant, logi
“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” (I Cor 12:4-7)
Now I have come to realize on a deeper level all spiritual gifts spring from God and they’re wonderfully good. No one can boast of themselves and take credit from God.
"Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." (I Cor 1:31)
Truly, only God is the greatest musician.
Two Way Dialogue
Because Rose enjoyed Holy Spirit’s music immensely, she always encouraged me to pray without closing my door. One morning I sang a tune hitting the usual high notes, then turned to a high spirited laughter and then finished the prayer at the climax. Rose agreed it was the right concluding spot. To her the prayer seemed like a two-way dialogue.
Similar situation happened during the evening prayer. She said I sang to the tune of a child’s lullaby “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and expanded it into variations. The assortment of musi
On a separate occasion after I prayed for a while, the phone rang. I took the
In my opinion, Rose has already witnessed God’s miracle and tasted the mysteries of spiritual realm. Thus, I seized the opportunity to preach to her. I explained the difference between the holy and evil spirit. “I am fully conscious during my prayer. There are no inappropriate gestures.” I said. “I know. Otherwise, how could you get up to take the phone
Into the Dreamland
Often, the spiritual tunes sung during the prayers continue to reverberate in my mind, bringing great comfort and delight. While driving or strolling I often unknowingly hum those tunes. Rose would also hum along with me. I was surprised she knew my tunes. “This is nothing. Memorizing music is second nature to
On Saturday I invited Rose to attend the Sabbath service with me. Like the previous visits she also had nothing but praises for the voices of prayer in the chapel. “The opening morning prayer sounded rather weak, but the closing prayer felt much stronger and awe-inspiring. The congregation’s prayer sounded like many strings tangled together. At first I could still differentiate, but toward the end it was hard to tell apart. I could tell these voices were shaped like patterns of wave after waves.” Although she did not participate in the prayers, but like a fan she observed and appreciated all the details and nuances of a music concert. She also praised some members’ spiritual tongue really fascinated her. Unlike other non-Christians or truth-seekers, she was not at all attracted by the hymnal praise or sermons. Only the prayers drew her attention.
Bidding Farewell
That morning while I was still asleep, Rose’s husband
Instead of saying “Good-Bye,” we bid our farewells with “Peace!” “I believe I will definitely come back to