Good for the soul

I just had the best 12 hours!

Last night my husband started a new singing venture – we were a little bit nervous because you never know how these things might go when you start something new. Would anyone show up? Would it be the right sort of material to meet the preferences and abilities of an unknown group? Would people enjoy it?  ?       ?       ?

It went well! There were 15 people, which is a pretty healthy starting number, and we hope that the word will spread and more people will want to join us. It was a great, engaged group of people. The material was pretty much right for the group that turned up. We laughed a lot and everyone said that it had been fun (we hope they come again next week!)

We have to take risks.We have to take first steps in life.

Last night was good because singing is so good for the body, mind and soul, and not necessarily in any sort of religious way but it is proven to be good for you. Music reaches parts that other things can’t reach. It vibrates, literally, inside us and does good things there. It was also brilliant to meet with people and have fun together. I smiled a lot.

On top of that, our wonderful neighbours (well the crazy half of the couple anyway) offered to have our boys for a sleepover so that we could both go and sing (whilst his wife came and joined us). So, at 7pm the boys, complete with PJs, duvets and bears, tottered off next door for milk and biscuits, games and story time before said neighbour began the fun task of getting 4 over-excited children to go to sleep! He did it! And the children have made a magical memory for their childhood treasure store.

But then we noticed a problem! When we arrived home we retrieved our boys back to their own beds leaving an empty airbed for next door’s girls to come down to in the morning! When you’re 3 and nearly 2, that’s a potentially catastrophic end to a sleepover! So, we came up with a solution and this morning they came to join us for breakfast. It was just wonderful! A fantastic start to the day!

Now that’s what is meant by a church family! That’s what is meant by community! I don’t mean singing, sleepovers and breakfasts per se, that wouldn’t suit everyone, I mean simple everyday opportunities to walk this life together. Connections.

We humans, the world over, tend to do a really good job of delivering a really bad message about church, the wrong message about faith, the wrong message about God. We often make it all look so stuffy, so eccentric and so out of touch but that’s just us humans ‘doing’ church wrong. That’s just us humans clinging on to safety, thinking inside the box, sticking too closely to tradition, asking too few questions and accepting too few answers. That’s just us humans walking about with our vulnerable squidgy bits wrapped up in cotton wool. That’s just fear!

It’s not supposed to be stuffy and eccentric and out of touch, it’s supposed to be contemporary. It’s supposed to be real, relevant and supportive ‘family’. It’s supposed to create community and cohesion. It’s supposed to excite and inspire. It’s supposed to show us that we are loved and that we can walk this life better together because of it.

The last 12 hours were a blessing to me and I invite everyone to ‘do’ community and communion (in the together sense of the word) better. It’s truly good for the soul.

Inspiration

So, in my last posting I mentioned that I would return to ‘Tenth Avenue North’, my favourite band. For anyone who is interested in finding out more for yourself, their website is http://www.tenthavenuenorth.com. Fancy that!

It’s a Christian band headed up by a frankly amazing guy called Mike Donehey. Mike is not only a gifted singer/songwriter, he is also the most inspired lyricist. On the webpage he adds short video journals in which he does what I am maybe attempting to do on here; sharing and exploring ideas (except that he does it superbly!) His videos have caused me to do more real, deep thinking about my life and beliefs than anything has ever done before. He’s honest and brave in what he addresses and what he wishes to say. He is a properly gifted communicator.

His story of how he came to do what he does is fascinating.

I particularly love the fact that he recognises the need to ensure that he does not become the star of the show, something which many well-known ‘ministers’ slowly lose sight of!

I have come to realise that music is key to my faith. I very much miss being involved in the musical part of worship. I need to find a choir because I miss it SO very much. When I cannot access the emotional, when I cannot access the heart of my faith or the depths of my soul, music will always get me there!

I am a musician, or maybe I should really say that I was, because I don’t get much chance anymore. I used to love to tinkle away on the piano (as long as no one else was listening), but mostly I have often contacted my soul through song.

Being raised in The Salvation Army from birth means that I cannot remember a time in my life when I didn’t sing. In fact, one of my earliest memories is of sitting astride my mother’s lap, at the back of the army hall, with my cheek nestled against the serge of her tunic listening to the thoracic vibrations of her singing. The sounds rising from deep within her soul. So comforting.

I am aware that there is an enormous amount of singing in our house…and car. Our boys have sung since they could babble, and we to them. We listen to lots of music but we often listen (and sing along with) Tenth Avenue North in the car. I delight in hearing my 4 and 7 year old singing (as they did when they were 2 and 4) “Oh, Father won’t you forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing!” at full volume. “This is where the healing begins. When you come to where you’re broken within, the light meets the dark!”…and so on.

It’s a great coincidence that I had already planned on blogging about this topic when a childhood friend wrote a comment yesterday reminding me of a song that I had sung with love and feeling as a child. I reflected on the words and listened to it being sung on YouTube and the tears rolled. I realised, as I have done of late, that singing such songs is vitally important to the Christian walk. There is method in the teaching of song to children – the lyrics stick. Through them we learn to count, to rhyme, the alphabet….to support our journey in faith.

In tough times I automatically find myself singing myself through. In addition to Tenth Avenue North, there have been so many songs that sustained me during the last year – “Let the morning bring word of your unfailing”, “You’ve loved me back into your arms, time and time again”, “Steal away to Jesus”…so many, I cannot even begin…

Some of the amazing words that Mike has written are; “Sparks will fly as grace collides with the dark inside of us; so please don’t fight this coming ride. Let his blood come cover us”

“I’ll be by your side whenever you fall, in the dead of night, whenever you call me, please don’t fight these hands that are holding you.”

“I want to know who you are, even if you’re falling apart. Reach in and touch your scars and all the shame you’ve kept in your heart. ‘Cause it’s not enough just to say that you’re ok. I need your hurt, I need your pain, it’s not love any other way.”

“We think that pain’s owed apologies and then it will stop. Truth be told, it doesn’t matter if they’re sorry or not. Freedom comes when we surrender to the sound of mercy and your grace, Father, send your angels down.”

I could go on and on and on….

The childhood song that my friend reminded me of this week was one that I played in the car with my children yesterday. My eldest son listened and at the end said, “Mumma will you teach me that song please?”

I will teach him that song! I hope that he has all of the lyrics that we share together etched across his heart and that they will sustain him as he walks through this turbulent life.

Never underestimate the power of music.

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent”
― Victor Hugo