Rose witnessed the music springing from God’s Spirit is pleasant, logical and rather meticulous.

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 Vancouver visiting me, she instinctively attributed to me for bringing her such good fortune.  Not only that, with my coaching she learned how to swim—finally fulfilling her long sought wishes one by one. As for me, her second visit also brought me many fresh insights. From the perspective of a professional musician she evaluated our prayers of spiritual tongue.

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 Vienna to compose music, whereas I dreamt of studying law in Germany.  Few years later, she gave up going to Vienna and instead went to U.S. to pursue her Ph.D., get married and settled down.  As for me, dealt with the realities of life after graduation, I entered the workforce to earn a living. Nonetheless, life is full of surprises. Three years ago I too migrated to the North America.

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 New Hampshire, I visited Rose in Boston. She asked for my prayer so she might one day teach at her alma mater. She also expressed how wonderful it would be if I could only teach her how to swim. Today as we reflect on that past reunion, we couldn’t help but marvel who says dreams couldn’t come true?

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 calm before, after searching awhile, I also started to get anxious.

“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 musical sound of the Holy Spirit.

“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 musical garden. It was an immensely enjoyable prayer.  “Wow! Your melody changes a little each time you pray. Tonight’s sounded especially pleasant.  In the beginning you were a bit tired, right?  But you quickly got into the zone.” She couldn’t wait to tell me as soon as the prayer ended.

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 Vancouver, her most extraordinary experience was the praying in tongue. Those beautiful, sweet voices remained in her heart even till that day. “Then, you are in for a pleasant surprise, because the way I pray has changed. I now sing in my prayer. I believe you will like it.”

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 classical tune (Hayden’s The Surprise Symphony # 94) as the base melody, then expanded it into variations.  Your prayer sounded very much like a opera singer performance with wide vocal ranges and accurate pitch. Later I realized you were about to finish, since you sang the cadence (the end of a musical phrase). But the problem is you know nothing about music!” Rose went on to explain when I first told her about singing in prayer, she had no clue what I was talking about. Now she finally got it.

“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 logical and musical. Since there were refrains (repetitions), most of the time I could guess what you were about to sing next. But certain twists and turns were done so beautifully, often gave me quite a pleasant surprise.”  Her evaluation also left me very pleasantly surprised.

“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, logical and rather intricate.  She’s always trying to figure out how is it that a musically untrained person could possibly articulate such beautiful voices during her prayer.  “Usually it’s extremely hard to hit high notes and still carry an air of serenity. And yet you did it!”  She’s always praising my prayer voice, “The notes sound extremely accurate. You carry the tune well no matter on high or low notes, fully utilizing musical techniques such as crescendo or decresendo (gradual increase/decrease of volume).  Nevertheless, on occasions when I casually hum a tune she often complained about my sour notes and had no clue what I was singing about. How frustrating to hear her say that!

“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 musical melodies sounded very much like two voices exchanging dialogue with one another.  As for me I really couldn’t make any heads or tails.  This validates that prayer is a two way medium by which we have communion with God.

On a separate occasion after I prayed for a while, the phone rang. I took the call and three minutes later I resumed praying. Rose wondered to herself if I could carry my tune and continue where I left off.  As soon as she had such thought, she immediately heard my singing returning to the previous melody.  What’s really amazing was that when the phone disrupted my prayer, I had long forgotten the tune I was carrying.  But once I knelt down to pray, very naturally the Holy Spirit reconnected with the prior melody.  This was something which defies explanation. After listening to the spiritual songs for a few days, Rose couldn’t help but wonder whether every musician shares her sentiment – the love for the voice of Holy Spirit?

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 call?” she briefly answered.

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 me.” she said proudly.  As a composer she has an extraordinary sense of hearing.  “I can’t stand noises. Nor can I listen to music or compose music at night. Otherwise, I can’t fall asleep. Even if I did fall asleep, I would be easily stirred awake.”  Nonetheless, she often fell asleep while listening to my prayers.  Oftentimes my evening prayers are more light-hearted since it’s the time I try to snuggle up to God and say good night.  Rose remarked it sounded a lot like a moon light sonata, very sweet, relaxing and helped her get into the slumber land.  Actually such prayers are also my very own lullaby.

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 called to deliver a fantastic news.  After taking the call, she started packing up to go home and ready herself for a new job.  Being so good-natured she also prayed lovingly for me, wishing me to find a good job soon.  “My early departure must be out of God’s good will. Anyway, I have entrusted everything unto Him.”  She too began to speak in religious vernacular.  I was very happy for her, but still longed for Rose to open her heart to accepting Jesus.  Wouldn’t that be joy upon joy?

Instead of saying “Good-Bye,” we bid our farewells with “Peace!”   “I believe I will definitely come back to Vancouver and visit you again.”  She spoke with her usual flare of confidence.  Silently, I smiled back.  Who knows what lies ahead in the future?  Then again, who knows dreams won’t come true?