When the music stops

In my previous post, I had mentioned a young Praise and Worship leader who was so humble in his words and actions and yet so very anointed. I was happy to see him at the second day of our Novena again. I wanted to go shake his hand after mass but couldn't find him.

I had a chance to compare it to another group who was loud, noisy and 'talkative'. Most of the time, the mic was going 'pop', 'pop', 'pop' because of the force of voice spoken into the mic. It was distracting, I couldn't make out what the Praise and Worship leader was saying and he was so wordy that I felt nothing. It's a horrible thing to say, seeing as people gave their time and effort to lead worship. But it affirmed in me that you do not have to be a loud, charismatic, dramatic or wordy leader to be effective. You have to be humble and let the Lord work through you. Because at the end of the day, you're not standing in front of the congregation to let people know how good you are or how glorious you are. You are letting the congregation know how good God is and how glorious God is!

In all honesty, I used to think the Catholic Mass was boring zzzzzzzz......If many of you are honest, you would have to admit that at some time or other, you've felt the same way as me. It's especially tough for the younger generation to 'dig it'. I used to yearn for a bit more jazz, the music played and sung in the manner of what I call the 'jumping' churches (where most of the congregation is reaching their arms upwards to God and yearning for 'more', 'more'!). Instead, we're subdued during mass. But I've come to love mass now. It is rich and meaningful to me. I am respectfully subdued because I am honouring God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I yearn for communion. I yearn to have the Body of Christ in me. I yearn to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I love the Angels and Saints watching over me. I love Mother Mary inteceding for me. It was when I started feeling positive about mass that I started looking at the 'jumping churches' and their beautiful music/singing in a different light. What happens in a black out? What happens if the world had no more electricity? What happens when the music stops?

I'm not saying the lively music of those churches don't help any. No, on the contrary, our Praise and Worship segments during Charismatic Prayer Group meetings can also have the same music and songs. It can be uplifting. But it is not in totality. You sometimes need such music to draw the younger generation. But we also have soft, slow moving songs too and they too move the Spirit strongly. We need the slower pace to cater to the 'older' generation too. We have Praise and Worship animators who are loud, who are wordy and who are soft, humble and quiet. They each do God's work in their own way. But what I have learnt from my observation of the various characteristics of Praise and Worship leaders is that I need not be the centre of attention. I need not let the focus be me. I need to refocus and let the focus be on God. It should NEVER be about me. It should ALWAYS be about JESUS. It is then, that the Holy Spirit works in me for the best outcome of others. I can be an instrument of God's work in the most subtle way and you can too.