parts of this post i started last summer after the ’08 class graduated and i saw a lot of friends come back to NY after 4 years in college, abandon their home churches and begin the search for a new church that was a “better fit” for them. they were frustrated by the “lack of life” or “lack of real community” or some other shortcoming they found at their home church when comparing it to the experiences they had in college. i think i can definitely identify with that because i experienced that when i started college… the want to also “graduate” to a “better” church. that’s how i got to where i am now. looking back, i wish i didn’t change churches… not because of anything related to my current church… but just plainly because i should’ve stayed. i didn’t know better. anyway, i can’t change what i’ve done but i can move forward.
i have always had a love hate relationship with my church. i’ve had more than my fair share of criticizing my church (those that know me know this is a gross understatement): we make dumb decisions, sermons are often very… incoherent, sometimes “spirituality” feels forced, communication is pretty poor, and so on and so on. being from new york, i’ve always had many other churches to look at. i’ve seen how other churches function and i often wish my church functioned differently. the temptation to just jump ship has always been right there. my friends often jokingly–or maybe it’s really just half-jokingly–say i should probably go somewhere else. but i’ve stayed.
sad songs about joy
October 16, 2009, 12:49 am
i’ve noticed recently on some new worship albums that sometimes there’s this weird song on the album that has very positive lyrics but a very minor and almost depressingly sad melody.
i noticed this way back in march when i bought Page CXVI just to check out some redone “hymns”. there’s this song on it called “joy”. i recognized the song from Psalty that i listened to in car rides as a kid or in sunday school. (if you don’t know who Psalty is, thats fine… now that i look at him he’s kinda scary. christians are crazy sometimes). the original song as i knew it can be found in this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9wc8IFparU
the remake in the Page CXVI album sounds pretty depressing. i sent it to my brother and a few friends familiar w/ the original song to see what they thought and everyone was like “this is so depressing. i almost wanna kill myself listening to this”. you could listen for yourself below (sorry i couldnt find a better youtube recording):
on the new matt redman album “we shall not be shaken” there’s a song called “my hope” which is based on the hymn “on christ the solid rock”. the original hymn is a pretty victorious sounding song (if you don’t know the song you can find countless recordings/versions of it on youtube). redman’s remake is embedded below:
i’m posting about these songs because i think i’m beginning to understand the point these guys are trying to make in singing these songs in the manner that they do. while these songs can often be applied in a celebratory way, singing about the joy and hope we have in christ, i think the truths these words convey need to be heard even more when we’re in the valleys of life… when we don’t feel like celebrating or being “happy”… when the normal melodies of these songs would frustrate us or even make us angry that such a happy sounding song could exist when the world seems perpetually grey and gloomy in our eyes. it makes the truths we need to be reminded of more… receivable.
Tags: commentary, hymns, music, sadness, worship