In a modest chapel tucked away in the heart of Austin, Texas, something quietly powerful happened this past Sunday. Instead of a traditional hymn, the opening prayer was replaced with a live acoustic rendition of Neil Diamond’s haunting 1971 ballad “I Am… I Said.” The moment has since rippled far beyond its wooden pews.
The initiative came from Pastor Elijah Monroe, who said he first heard the song during a long, sleepless night of personal doubt. “That line — ‘And no one heard at all, not even the chair’ — it stopped me cold,” he told the congregation, his voice trembling. “It wasn’t just a lyric. It was a confession, a cry, a prayer for the unheard.”
Moved by the raw vulnerability in Diamond’s words, Pastor Monroe decided to introduce the song as part of what he calls a “modern psalm for the disoriented soul.” He asked the church pianist to arrange a stripped-down version for the Sunday service — slow, reverent, and gentle, with no spotlight — only soft light from stained-glass windows.
The performance left the entire congregation in stillness. Some wept quietly. Others simply closed their eyes, holding the silence between lyrics like breath between prayers.
Local parishioners now speak of Neil Diamond’s music as “spiritually present” in the community. “It didn’t feel like a song,” said longtime attendee Martha Hill. “It felt like someone in the room finally understood what I’ve been afraid to say for years.”
Neil Diamond, who retired from touring in 2018 due to Parkinson’s disease, has always infused his songwriting with emotional grit and existential yearning. But in a world increasingly crowded with noise and spectacle, the words of “I Am… I Said” have found new life — as a modern lament, a soul’s quiet protest.
The church has since decided to add the song to its regular Sunday rotation — not in place of scripture, but beside it. “It’s not about replacing sacred texts,” Pastor Monroe emphasized. “It’s about recognizing that sacredness sometimes comes through the unlikeliest voices.”
As word spreads, other churches and spiritual circles across the country have expressed interest in adopting similar integrations of secular-but-sacred music into worship. Some have even started referring to Neil Diamond as a “modern psalmist” — a spiritual voice of the misunderstood.