Hymnal of Our Soul ~ Part 8

 

Don Salier writes this, “In our present North American cultural context, the singing assemblies in our churches and synagogues are among the very few remaining places where words and music actually form human beings in communal identity.  The phenomenon of public singing at civic events has shriveled to an occasional ‘Happy Birthday’ or ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game,’ or perhaps a weak effort at the national anthem.  But when people meet to worship, public singing still offers formation in a shared identity.  This identity flows out of an ancient story that continues to take on new life, in the words and tunes that speak today.  It gives voice to individual people in praise, lament, and need, but it does not leave them isolated, surrounding them instead with a great choir.” 

 

To be sure, you may think, “What about concerts?”  We can get swept away in a stadium overflowing with others singing along with a tribute band bringing back the classics from when we were in High School.  This could be the Temptations to the Eagles to Bruce Springsteen to Taylor Swift (whose tour right now has generated over a billion dollars ~ talk about a shared experience!!)  But those moments are fleeting and fading.  Most of us don’t become groupies, traveling around to attend every show.  The experience of that one concert can wedge itself into our soul in meaningful ways, but it is a one-off moment.  The church gathers week-after-week to share our faith in song.  We gather for that collective first breath, we inhale together (literally con-spire), before belting out, “Joyful, joyful, we adore You, God of glory, God of love!”  We also sing how we feel like a “motherless child.”  We get homesick and heartsick (see Frost quote from Monday).  We need to express how we are flummoxed with God and feel like agnosticism has a point or two.   In Salier’s quote, he paints a picture of a spaciousness that welcomes all we bring.  Bring your faith that is strong and where your soul’s wi-fi is weak.  Bring your questions and where you struggle.  Bring your sweet song and your exhaustion that can’t form the words anymore.  Bring all that to church.  Because the truth is, when you can’t sing, the church sings for you and to you.  When the holy reverberation has ceased, the community keeps saying, “We are here with you.”  Maybe we even find the song of silence, stillness, breathing together as a melody of life itself.  Look over your list.  Which hymns are ones of praise, which ones give you strength, which ones help you process pain, which ones can you sing every day and never tire, which ones are you good with singing once or twice a year.  Begin to dive deeper into the hymnal of your heart.  Amen.