A Sacred Caress

Chanting the Torah, intoning the Gospel, and reciting Quran and mantras all have distinct musical characteristics. One thing that they share in common is that these sacred utterances force the reader-pray-er and listener-pray-ers to slow down and experience the sacred words at a different pace. Singing scripture is an incarnational practice. The words swim and float in the mouths we use to eat and pray, laugh and bless, curse and kiss. The sacred tropes and melodies seem to caress the sacred words so that perhaps, to sing the sacred words is to caress them and be caressed by them.