i just thought of one more thing i want to say today. i've been going through a phase of late that makes me extremely interested in forgotten traditions of the christian faith. (i am actually hoping that this is not merely a phase, but the beginning of being more attentive to the history of the church.) this has been fed by reading books by lauren winner, who i mentioned a few weeks ago. i love her. she is speaking at jubilee next month, and i am trying to read her books before i hear her speak. meanwhile, while perusing my friend matt's blog, i found a link to an article that lauren (i wish we were on a first-name basis) has written about epiphany. i'm posting a link to it here. go and read it. and then go and buy her books (mudhouse sabbath, real sex, and girl meets god).
also, at a training event for work last week, we had an eastern orthodox priest come and speak to us about the cross and suffering. it was really interesting to hear him talk about the liturgy and prayers and things that they repeat all the time. obviously, there are things like praying to saints that i'm not about, but i think there is something to be said for recognizing the tradition that we come from. the modern church forgot about all that stuff in an effort to be contemporary. i think we threw the baby out with the bathwater. in church on sunday, i was sitting with three of my eighth-grade girls. we were singing some hymns a capella, from memory, and i discovered that my girls don't know the doxology, or even holy, holy, holy! i can't believe that in just the ten years between me and them, the church has forgotten thousands of years of tradition! sure, the adults know the songs, but they're not teaching them to the kids! (of course, i see the value in the contemporary worship too. but still, i think we've swung too far.) it seems that the postmodern generation is interested in tradition and liturgy, and i think we should include it to the extent that we can.
maybe it's just me that feels this way. feel free to comment or disagree at will.
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3 comments:
I'm glad I could be of help in your recent quest (which I whole-heartedly support). You might want to check out Lauren's blog (we can just pretend we go by first names with her, ok?) at http://www.laurenwinner.net/blog/index.htm. As for your general questions about tradition, I think the key is using tradition not as a blueprint for everything we do (traditionalism, I've heard that called), but as a testimony of God's faithfulness to his people. There's no inherent reason why Holy, Holy, Holy is more important than In Christ Alone, except that it reminds us of the generations of Christians who have gone before us. If you'll allow me to make another suggestion, a great book on this topic is Ancient-Future Faith by Robert E. Webber (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080106029X/qid=1138256566/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-7377028-6474558?s=books&v=glance&n=283155). Or you can always ask Byron what he has to offer at Jubilee!
thanks matt! you've been most helpful. (and yes, let's just pretend that we are best friends with lauren! i may get to meet her next month, you know!) :)
I wholeheartedly agree with Matt when he says that "there's no inherent reason why Holy, Holy, Holy is more important than In Christ Alone." An excellent point. The hymns are lovely and valuable, speaking with theological depth and poetry about the truths of the Christian faith. However, many of the newer worship songs (such as the aforementioned In Christ Alone and others such as The Heart of Worship, Agnus Dei, Forever, and zillions more) also do that, while giving a nod to the musical language of today. Many hymns were written to be played with organ or piano. My band, comprised of acoustic guitar, bass, drums, keyboard) likes to play these songs better because they're written to be expressed with their instruments. It's like cramming a right foot into a left shoe. It can be done, but it's not very comfortable.
On a side note, there are lots of ways to keep the traditional practices of Christianity with a fresh new face on them (like "walking" a prayer labyrinth online). I am growing in my appreciation of the practices of Christianity because I am experiencing them in a way that is relevant to my context.
This could turn into a soap box, so I'll step down. :)
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