You gotta have friends...

So the music and friends theme continues to run deep: in just the past 24 hours I have received notes from friends saying things like one of the songs I recently posted evoked tears while another reminded me that if it wasn't for music and friendship his life would be over. And over the past few weeks other dear friends have written to me about the unique love, spiritual friendship and joy we have shared through music.

After worship last Sunday, another musical buddy and I were sharing some hot tea when he observed that the bands harmonies that day were soooo Crosby, Stills and Nash-like. "Yeah," I confessed," those harmonies are like prayers to me. So much so that I even went out and bought David Crosby's solo album on CD..." With this my friend started to hum one of the tunes from that album and I added, "... I felt like I really needed to wake up to "Music is Love." (It is totally the right way to start out the day!)

And as I think about it, there are two reasons why this musical/spiritual friendship connection is so important to me:

+ First, it has helped me experience and search for reverence in the midst of every day living. Last night, on Bill Moyer's last TV show, he was speaking with Barry Lopez. As the conversation ripened, they wound up highlighting how important reverence is for the health of people, creation and our souls. Beautiful music in the midst of every day life - whether that is a song by the Beatles or the Stones, a goofy/sexy pop ballad or simply a heart-felt country tune - awakens me to the presence of the sacred in the secular. Actually, it proves that such a distinction is phony and unhealthy. So, first there is a sweet renewal of reverence in the midst of a life that is often too fast, too harsh and too cynical.

+ And second, singing the Lord's song (or Yusuf Islam's song for that matter) in an earthy way as a part of worship with friends (and I think the wilder the connection between heaven and earth in this realm the better) is like being a jester in the court of a king. In his new book about travel as a political act, Rick Steve's notes that the job of the ancient jester was not simply to make the king laugh. No, the jester spent most of his time hanging out with the wounded and rejected, listening to what the rumors and gossip of the community was communicating and then observing how the elite was being portrayed in the bars and brothels.

It was only after spending lots of time with ordinary people in the grit of their real lives that the jester came back to the castle to give the king a reality check: "People think your a moron because of your stutter. They hate that the queen never shares the left overs from her party with the most hungry, etc." See what I'm saying: by finding everyday music and sharing it with friends in worship we can bring a little truth to power and a little humility to our all too abstract notions of religion. There is still always room for Gregorian chant and Bach - but let's not forget Brad Paisley! (In fact I think this is the most prayerful and powerful song I've come across in a LONG, LONG time.)
And there ain't NOTHING like playing a song like this with friends you love and trust: it would be a bit of an exaggeration to say that you haven't REALLY prayed 'til you've rocked out - or sang tight harmony - or been part of a choir and orchestra - and had your body and soul lifted by the music.... but Luther wasn't kidding either when he taught that "when you sing you pray twice." This montage isn't perfect - some people don't get the aesthetic - but I think it expresses my point as well as anything I've ever seen in the church.

credits: http://my.opera.com/mina_ivanova/albums/showpic.dmlalbum=130181&picture=1859751