Chanting/Singing

 Why do we chant psalms or sing in church?  Think about the difference in talking versus singing.  You use a lot more breath and energy to sing or chant.  It takes more effort for me especially who is not a good singer/chanter.  But what it does is makes me give up more breath, expend my lungs, make more effort.  All this is a form of surrender, of letting go.  The emptying of the lungs is a form of self-emptying.  You hear Buddhist monks chanting.  They are letting go and opening themselves up to receive, to become loving-kindness and compassion.  My church decided a few years ago to have more singing/chanting at the worship services, but in fact it never really took hold.  Places that sang a lot continued to sing and those that were more mute, stayed mute.  It is what it is.  But I like to chant the psalms as a way to empty myself and at 8,000 feet altitude that is a lot of surrender.