Steve’s Blog

Hey everyone, just a reminder that this Wednesday at 5:30 we are going to do our Halloween extravaganza for elementary and middle school students.  Join us for pumpkin carving, Halloween shenanigans and our trunk or treat.  There will be no CHAOS becuase of our evening festivities.  Hope to see you all there!

…that is what Daniel Lanois calls his pedal steel guitar.  Last Thursday I went to go see Mr. Lanois set up church at the Troubadour with his new band Black Dub and listen to him preach through his craft.  Lanois’ music has a deeply spiritual and melancholy nature to it that resonates with the authentic struggles and trials of a person wrestling with their faith while trying to understand the world they live in.  Though the night was meant  to showcase his new group the hour and a half set included a couple of songs from his solo career including the heart breakingly beautiful song “The Maker.”

I was introduced to “The Maker” back in the mid 90’s when I heard the Dave Matthews Band cover the song live in concert and was blown away by it’s honesty.  At that moment I was beginning to identify spiritual themes and desires in “secular” music but had yet come across a song with the depth and desperation as this.  Though the lyrics describe the struggle and hope of a life with a God that at times is distant it is the music that captures the confusing yet fluid nature of faith.  The groove is steady and hopeful yet has an aching that begs for resolution.  It captures the longing that we have for the divine as we continue through the uncertenties of faith. 

I was talking with a friend the other day about how in church we rarely sing songs that focus on our aching questions, loneliness, doubts, struggles and ultimate feeling of isolation from God.  When was the last time you heard anything from Lamentations or Job in church?  We like to focus on the happy endings and songs of praise when the majority of faith is spent in the fog and shadows of life.  “The Maker” is a poignant declaration about the reality of  struggle in our spiritual  lives that points to the hope of a meaningful life with God.  Though the song needs to be experienced to understand it’s full impact, I’ll leave you with one verse that continuously challenges and affirms my faith:

My body is bent and broken
by long and dangerous leaps
I can’t work the fields of abraham
and turn my head away
I’m not a stranger
in the eyes of the maker

These four books are some of my all time favorites.  They have challenged my ideas, shaped how I think and have given me a different lens to see the world.  They have also been banned by schools or governments at some point in their history for various reasons (The American Library Association  says that books are usually banned “with the best intentions—to protect others, frequently children, from difficult ideas and information.”)   I found out that this past week was national banned books week which celebrates the freedom to read as well as challenges the censorship of the books.  The web site is worth looking at because it give a little bit of history about banned books as well as offers an interactive map of where books have been challenged.  I think it’s incredible that books (along with other forms of expression and story) are still being challenged and eventually forbidden for people to experience themselves.  I am never a fan of someone limiting my choices and telling me what is appropriate and edifying for my life.  This goes specifically for church and spirituality.  I have had numerous instances where people (especially church leaders) have told me not to embrace or experience certain forms of expression only for them to open my mind and allow me to grow in my spiritual journey.  Sure “Fight Club” is violent and they use a lot of profanity, but it’s an incredible commentary on the numbness of our lives and the desire to feel.  As someone who works in a church and is blessed to help others on their spiritual journey I feel it is best to train people to look at all things with spiritual eyes and let them decide whether or not something is redeeming.  Just because I might not like something doesn’t mean that God cannot speak to someone else through it.  I don’t like mega-churches but I’m not going to bad mouth them and discredit all the good work they do.  I guess my point is that instead of telling people what they can and can’t do we should be involved in the guiding and processing of what is personally significant.