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Music
I'm sorry guys. I know that I annoy you with my random questions here on this website, but I have yet another. From reading a lot of these topics I keep sensing a feeling that music is wrong. So I want to ask out in the open, is music ok to our coptic orthodox society?
sleepy
sleepy
Comments
God bless,
CS
they say: the words r inappropriate but the sound is just awesome... so what do u say to them then?
like the words r so bad.. but the music is great.. any thoughts? ???
sleepy
btw alot of times i get this from people
they say: the words r inappropriate but the sound is just awesome... so what do u say to them then?
like the words r so bad.. but the music is great.. any thoughts? ???
Well, you could tell them not to pay attention to the words. That's what I do with songs that have amazing sounds but stupid words. If you want to ignore the words, you will, trust me...lol Make sure to let them know. ;)
sleepy
btw alot of times i get this from people
they say: the words r inappropriate but the sound is just awesome... so what do u say to them then?
like the words r so bad.. but the music is great.. any thoughts? ???
Hey there,
There are numerous issues here.
1) what are the music videos of that artist like?
2) what is their lifestyle?
3) can i guarantee that I can keep myself from thinking thoughts about something that i keep hearing over and over?
4) the musical rythms themselves are very destructive (psychologically speaking) the music doesn't promote peacful thoughts or actions
I can try to discuss these points in more detail if need be...
God bless,
CS
sleepy
The lyrics are always very clean and are about praise. Praising God in music is very important and in the Bible like in the Tasbeha we sing so many things from the psalms and the teachings of the fathers. It is a huge part of our worship when we gather together to praise and worship God together. We have also remember that some of the songs like Omongenees were written by saints (St. Athanasius and St. Didymus) and also St. Ephraim wrote lots of songs too.
There can be problems with beats if they are fast or loud because they can have a negative psychological impact on us. There was an experiment done with a plant put next to a speaker playing classical music that made the plant grow much quicker and even began to move towards the speaker. Then the put it next to a speaker playing rock music and the plant moved away from the speaker before withering and dying. They did a similar experiment to mice in a maze and played musing and found that rock music hindered the ability of the mouse to find its bearings and it got out slowly.
In nature sounds like water of a river help calm the nerves. If a person suffers from depression they may persricbe that he play gentle soothing music to help calm and focus him. It is the same with womb music (a mothers heart beat) if played next to a person even when their old it has a calming effect.
So in the church we have very happy slow celebrational music that we use to praise God. It is carefully chosen so that it is fit to praise God with and helps our physical, emotional and spiritual state.
God bless,
CS
sleepy
God bless,
CS
sleepy
CS
sleepy
I know what I'd do in that situation...
God bless,
CS
sleepy
The problem is we don't have much experience dealing with God and we need to be guided along a path so we can learn to think for ourselves.
This comes back to your FOC.
St. John Climacus wrote that a person learns discernment by giving it up, its happens when we say that the judgement of our father is better than ours and it has to be because they're close to God and know the path to God but we're still young and the devil can trick us. It trough a relationship with our father that we can really start to see and hear God and communicate with Him because that is what our father is trying to help us do. Basically just ask your father specific questions and follow them. Its very very rewarding in the end even if it feels bitter. Just think about the story of St. John who planted the stick in faith and it grew into a tree or Abraham who went to slay his son (he walked for 3 days before he got to the mountain) submission of this kind is a great act of faith because if we can't trust our FOC that we can see, how can we say we can trust hear and respond to the invisible God we can't see?
God bless,
CS
sleepy
CS
sleepy
God bless,
CS
In the desert fathers the gift of discernment is thought attained by compliance and involves a person letting their FOC do the discerning for them until they get to a point where the FOC can start to disappear from the picture when the believer reacher a fuller level of spirituality.
What I personally find is that the devil beguiles me too easily, its a common problem.
I mean look at the music analyse it like you would and then speak to your father and say I found such and such a song what do you think? This way you get to examine it and your father rubber stamps it for you...
I woudn't really recommend doing it at your own discretion though...
God bless,
CS
it would really please god
god bless
david
That sounds like a real problem...
The best thing we can do is be honest with God in a situation like that. If we stand before God honestly and say God I really like this music but I know you don't like it and I need your help to stop me listening to it, you'll be surprised how effective something simple like that can be.
God bless you,
CS
sleepy
sleepy
I personally fully agree with Sleepy - you can balance the two. However, the line is thin and fuzzy. My ideas on how to make it clearer.
Firstly, what's my intent/reason for listening to secular music (ie. non-Coptic/spiritual song/Christian)? Is it just because I can't stand Coptica or liturgies? Is it because I need to have my daily dose of Snoop? Or is it because I simply enjoy music for lyrics and composition?
Like I said in another post, knowing our reasons for anything we do makes it easier to deal with anything that we face. It's not a brain-crunching exercise that requires meditation and the Jesus prayer. It's a simple ask-yourself moment. Do I genuinely like this music or am I 'hooked' to a part of it - the lyrics, the beats, the feeling it gives me, etc? A lot of people think they listen to hip-hop for just the beat, but the lyrics end up sticking in their head. And if they're listening to the sell-out, cheap commercial end of the scale, those lyrics do stick and they get hooked. If something is catchy, it will stick in your head. (Max Martin is smiling now) So I do agree with CS on the count of music does have a powerful effect on us. I don't agree though that we should abstain wholly just for the sake of abstaining.
It's down to yourself. Can you listen to your favorite music in moderation and still be able to pray, meditate, serve, and know Christ? Or does it mean you have to dump it all for His sake? Granted that those who grow in their spiritual life reach the stage that they choose happily not to listen to any other music. But we shouldn't force that choice on everyone and make it church 'doctrine'. It has to stem out of a person's heart and choice. For those like myself and others who are embryos in the spiritual life, we can't just cut all these affinities to music we love. Christ doesn't want us to dump everything and then regret it, ending up to blame Him for 'making things too difficult'. Let us choose our music wisely, know why we like the music, and not let it be exalted on music that is important to our diet (ie. praises, liturgies, hymns).
My thoughts.
Mina.
sleepy