Vamping
“Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.” ― Kahlil Gibran
Austin Chan Unsplash
Once a week I play harp duets with a very talented harpist who tolerates my missed or absent notes and tries to teach an old harpist new tricks and fingering. Today Pam also taught me a new word, vamping. She said, “I will vamp you in.” She plays a short series of chords before I start my part of the piece. I really like the word. Vamping. It means we play a simple cord or beat usually as we wait for someone else to start and then perhaps keep quietly playing the background chords as they take the melody.
I think this is what meeting with a spiritual friend is like. I may ask a simple question like, “Where did you see God in your life today.” I may repeat the question when the subject seems to change. Often I keep saying prayers that the Holy Spirit will guide us. These prayers are my cords. Our job is to stay connected to the beat, as we listen for the rhythm and melody of the presence of the Holy Spirit. We are to stay in the background and support and stay present to the person we are with.
We keep the beat going and listen and pray so the Holy Spirit can do its part guiding and directing us both.
Joanna joannaseibert.com