The idea came from both the Bob Franke song called "Thanksgiving Eve" and the Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger tradition of playing NYC during this holiday weekend. When I was in seminary, we took the kids and went ALL the time. So our little tradition is just a small way of keeping up the celebration and helping folk reclaim the goodness of group singing. It is a whole lot of fun and the music is always incredible.
+ Sometimes it takes on the air of an early Pete Seeger gig with TONS of group harmonies.
+ Other times it has become a little gospel revival with Bruce Springsteen overtones.
+ And often I've been able to find a few great story tellers who bring a "Prairie Home Companion" feel to the event.
This year feels like an "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" groove and I am lining up both our folk/gospel choir for "Down to the River to Pray" and "I'll Fly Away" as well as some other stunning musicians to bring their guitars, banjos and harmonies together. We'll raise some funds for the emergency heating fund in the process.
Now let's be clear about the point of all this wildass music making:
+ First, for me it is all about community building in the best way. Americans have lost touch with what it means to sing in a group. Schools have been stripped of their free music programs, much of what takes place in the public realm is rhythm rath
er than melody driven and more and more congregations emphasize "praise" choruses sung by professional worship teams than ordinary hymnody. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE hip-hop rhythm and think there is much to be gained in the new music realm of the church. But... without union halls and public school programs, more and more Americans just don't know how powerful it is to sing together. That is, of course, why Springsteen did his "Seeger Sessions" tour a few years ago: not only did he re-educate a whole generation on how to sing together but he reintroduced our songs of protest and hope, too.+ Second, as the tradition puts it: when you sing, you pray twice! This is prayer time even when the words are earthy. It opens our hearts, it opens our imaginations and it opens our mouths to make something beautiful out of the harsh realities of our lives. Music, to me, is one of the ways we experience the blessings of incarnation: the word takes form and creates beauty within our flesh.
+ And third the experience of reconnecting with our roots in song and stor
y is healing. Most of us don't know the truth of the American story: we neither appreciate the depth of race hatred nor the power of our authentic cross cultural heroes - and we need to know both. There are stories in our songs that help us find hope and courage. And these stories aren't being shared widely these days so why not in the local church.Once, in Arizona, there were 100 people singing "Oh Freedom" slowly and with passionate rhythm. It gave us an opportunity to speak of places all over the world where the struggle for freedom needed prayer and encouragement. So when the song resumed, the intensity was electrifying. Another time, in Michigan, we found ourselves able to laugh at ourselves by singing the "new" words to "Old Time Religion" - and to my way of thinking, whenever we can laugh at ourselves the gift of humility is present. And on and on it goes. We get people singing gospel and the blues - country, folk and rock, too - and sometimes, if we're lucky, we get a little line dancing! I think Ry Cooder caught the spirit in this version of "Jesus Is on the Main Line." It can be al little bit Pentecost, a little bit Christmas and a whole lot of Thanksgiving!
So... while it is just a month away - Wednesday, November 25th @ 7 pm - if you are going to be in the area, plan on joining us. You won't be sorry!
3 comments:
This posted resonated with me in several ways: back before I rediscovered rock and roll (thanks to my wife Joyce), I was immersed in the Anglo-Celtic music traditions of our country and the "big male voices" traditions of the loggers, fishermen and sailors, and miners. It's a tradition that's all but gone, and certainly the lusty, funky singing of the lumber camps and fo'c'sles never really made its way into our churches (black congregations excepted, hallelujah!). I really appreciate the idea of a folky get-together!
To just be able to throw your head back and bellow the songs, to enjoy the roar of breath through your throat, to be a part of something greater than yourself, what more could you ask?
At our Thanksgiving up here, the climate being generally colder than yours and therefore we celebrate it sooner, and as you've seen on my blog, RJ, how could we keep from singing?
I think we appreciate the togetherness and the music more as the colder air drives us indoors, the days shorten and the nights roll over the land.
Thanks for this.
I am glad it did, Pete. It is such a rich and full time to sing together and experience the love and power of the sacred within our bodies in song. You sure got it right: how can we KEEP from singing!
I have to say, it feels wonderful to have music and song back in my worship life again. It had been a very long long time. It's something I hadn't realized how much I had missed it until I stepped into the church a few months ago and the sweet, sweet sounds swept over me.
B.
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