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Music MUSIC. For many people, outside as well as inside the church, listening to music can be a spiritual experience, leading them into prayer. Not surprisingly there is a rich tradition of explicitly religious music. The sensitive use of music can soothe you when you are feeling stressed and raise your spirits if you are feeling low. It can remind you of the awesome majesty of God and the created order. It can give expression to feelings and moods which are difficult to articulate in words, and help you get in touch with them and then through them to God. The words of songs can say things for us. Some of the most familiar hymns which we sing began life as poems or prayers. There is no reason why the process can't work in reverse, so that singing or humming a favourite hymn can be a way of praying. Moreover, many popular songs which speak of the experience of falling in love, or the desolation of losing the beloved, may be as helpful a means of expressing our feelings to God, as hymns or choruses are. Are there particular songs which might be important for you in this way.? What about instrumental music? For some people classical music is a way into prayer. But for others it may be rock music, folk music, or jazz. In limiting ourselves we may be missing great riches Music can evoke a physical response in us, leading us into dance, where our bodies express our prayer to God. Some music is repetitive, and is designed to take you into a meditative form of praying- e.g. Taize, and monastic chanting . Some music is joyful, some is sad or mournful. You can choose different music for different times of prayer. A a MP3 might be a very helpful prayer aid! Try using one of the C.D.s or tapes available here, as a way into prayer. Henry Morgan