Music for the Soul

“See you in half an hour?” I said to my husband early last Saturday morning.

“Half an hour!” he said indignantly. “I’ll be gone ’til noon, I imagine.” He had his portable CD player in one hand and his guitar in the other. This would be the first day of his Music Therapy ministry, and he was on his way to see a friend in a nursing home.

We had known this couple many years ago when we lived in Wichita, Kansas, and had just found out they lived here last year. They were older than us, and unfortunately Mel’s health was failing. Howard remembered him as an accomplished guitarist and singer, but he couldn’t be sure his friend even knew him now. His wife, Barbara, had asked Howard to visit her husband, since the doctor had indicated his time might be short.

Howard had had the vision of music therapy ever since his hospitalization last year, when listening to music made him feel so much better. He’d been reading up on it, and believed in the healing power of music. Of course he was familiar with the biblical account of David and Saul, and how David played his harp to dispel Saul’s moods. David had doubtless had many experiences calming his flocks of sheep with the soothing music from his harp.

A few hours later my husband burst triumphantly through the door, all smiles. “How did it go?” I questioned. He told me all about it, how his friend was unresponsive with his face to the wall when he got there. The man’s wife arrived about the same time, and Howard asked her if he could put on a long-playing CD of worship music he had brought especially for that purpose. As they sat quietly talking while the music played, an instrumental version of the song, “Be Still and Know that I Am God,” came on. The beautiful strains of the old familiar hymn filled the room. Suddenly they noticed movement from the patient’s bed. Mel was raising an arm in praise to God!

“Then when I got ready to leave,” Howard reported excitedly, “I asked if we could sing a song for him with the guitar. We began to sing ‘In the Garden’, and when we got to the part about ‘He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own’, I couldn’t believe my ears! Melvin started singing it, too!” He told me of the great presence of the Lord in the room and their joy and amazement at Melvin’s response.

“So it was a success?” I asked, happy for him. But the expression on his face said it all, as Mr. Music was already making plans for next time.