Beautiful, Matt. Once, after praying with an elderly hospital patient (requested by them) and reporting it to my non-Jewish CPE supervisor, the latter confronted me: why did I think singing was something that a chaplain does, as if a prayer must only be spoken? "Stay in your lane" was the spiritual care department's motto. Singers sing. Chaplains... pray-talk? I offered a brief but similar response to that one you did here. So much grief, and so much is possible to untangle with our ancient vocal prayers.
Thanks, Rami! Interesting - I wonder if singing is too “personal” in some settings than spoken prayer (I could see some brands of Protestant feeling this was over a line). Sounds like a silly distinction— words are only 7% of communication. Tone (38%) and body language (55%) make up the rest — music is 5x as powerful than words so I feel like it’s very pastoral and chaplain oriented.
So beautiful, Matt. I use music in my hospice caring. 🎶=💕
Beautiful, Matt. Once, after praying with an elderly hospital patient (requested by them) and reporting it to my non-Jewish CPE supervisor, the latter confronted me: why did I think singing was something that a chaplain does, as if a prayer must only be spoken? "Stay in your lane" was the spiritual care department's motto. Singers sing. Chaplains... pray-talk? I offered a brief but similar response to that one you did here. So much grief, and so much is possible to untangle with our ancient vocal prayers.
Thanks, Rami! Interesting - I wonder if singing is too “personal” in some settings than spoken prayer (I could see some brands of Protestant feeling this was over a line). Sounds like a silly distinction— words are only 7% of communication. Tone (38%) and body language (55%) make up the rest — music is 5x as powerful than words so I feel like it’s very pastoral and chaplain oriented.