Music Therapy Series

I'd like to start a series of posts about my experiences with the healing power of music. I already have quite a few stories to draw from...hence the need for a series! I'm sharing these stories in the hopes that they might inspire you to use whatever gifts God has given you to reach out to others. One of my gifts happens to be music. Yours might be carpentry, accounting, filmmaking, or janitorial prowess. Whatever it is - use it well, and use it for Him!

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Story One: Car Accident Victim

Two years ago, on a stormy December evening, I got one of those telephone calls that everyone fears they might get at some point in their life. A friend's mother had been in a severe car accident, and was clinging to life in the Intensive Care Unit. The prognosis was not good. Needless to say, when I hung up the phone, the first thing I did was pray. The second thing I did was ask myself, "What can I do, Lord?"

Having been placed on the visitor list, I arrived the next afternoon in the ICU, not knowing what to expect. Although I have worked in healthcare for seven years, and have been at the bedsides of very sick and dying patients, I was not prepared for the state in which my friend lay. She was swollen and bruised beyond recognition, hemovac drains coming out of her chest, intubated and on assisted respiration. What's worse, when I arrived, she was in distress. (I was actually a little surprised that the medical staff attending her allowed me to enter the room!)

I came to her bedside and started talking to her softly, in the hopes that her spirit would understand, despite all of the medications. As I watched her vital signs monitor, it was evident that her pulse was extremely elevated, her repiration rate was all over the map and her oxygen saturation was below normal. She was moving as much as she could in the bed, in a very agitated and uncomfortable manner, and the look of sheer terror on her wide-open eyes was one I will never forget. She had no idea what was going on or what had happened to her.

Speaking to her did not seem to be making much of an impact. I took her hand, and began to hum some simple melodies. She began to calm slightly. Then I began to sing softly -- whatever came to my heart, whether it be sponatenous Scriptures, or worship choruses. The transformation was incredible. Within the span of twenty minutes, her pulse, respiration rate and oxygen sats had stabilized. Not only that, she now lay calmly in her bed with her eyes closed, and as I kept singing, tears started rolling down her cheeks and she began squeezing my hand. It was one of the most remarkable experiences of my life. I left the ICU that afternoon praising God and thinking, "Lord, this is what I was born to do."

As a note, the lady in this story made a full recovery from her injuries! Hallelujah!