Vamping
“Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life, bringing peace, abolishing strife.”―Kahlil Gibran.
Once a week I have played 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. One year Pam also taught me an unfamiliar word, vamping. She said, “I will vamp you in.” She plays a brief series of chords before I start my part of the piece. I definitely like the word. Vamping. It means we play a simple chord or beat, usually as we wait for someone else to start—and then perhaps keep quietly playing the background chords as the other player takes the melody.
I think this best describes what meeting with a spiritual friend is like. I may ask a simple question, such as, “Where did you see God in your life today?” I may then 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 chords.
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 undergird the person we are with. We keep the beat going listening and praying so that the Holy Spirit can be heard, guiding and directing us both.
Joanna. Joannaseibert.com