Blogpost 4: Music and its Significance in the Promotion of Spiritual Values

Music, along with other arts, as we know it has a time-honored place in many if not most of our past and present history this can clearly be seen in any church institution particularly here in the Philippines. And being a people that are emotionally and traditionally dependent on this art form, it would seem that this particular form of art is credited with a special kind of spiritual value that is better felt when singing happens during worship., this is according to Bob Kauflin, author. Director of Worship Development: Soverign Grace Ministtries.

The association of music with our culture notwithstanding the discipline it involves in learning the songs and the aspects associated with it affects the ethnical complexity of our culture and gives us a moral and aesthetic value that expresses our sense of being a people in a deep and spiritual level.  That being said, it may be less clear how other art genres or forms could be as significant in establishing values at a spiritual level.

The fact is there is a lot of potential that can be used here to promote the right values using the spiritual approach in altering the behavior of an individual. There must be sense of caution especially when using music as a medium for spiritual growth as I said earlier in my earlier blogs music has been proven to not only change individuals but more so societies and generations at large. We therefore, put a premium to its usage and look at with a real value and importance.

In closing, We can quote what English philosopher and expert in aesthetics, Roger Scruton said about how musical and moral superiority, which he wrote in the American Spectator, can better be seen when classical works are used as a medium for spiritual growth over the much popular music that we are sort of accustomed in hearing today. The fact is according to him, is that the classical form of music has the greater structural order, organization, and complexity in comparison to the latter. Scruton would seem to regard musical form, order, and organization as directly linked to emotional and spiritual discipline, so that whereas the classics may be expected to cultivate ordered passion and sensibility, the unmelodic, discordant, and rhythmically unsubtle sounds of much modern popular music can only be expected to engender crude, disorganized, and uncontrolled feelings.