Wednesday, October 23, 2013

So, what’s your song?

I was sitting on I-635 on my way to work today—something that has become an inescapable part of my daily grind—and as I watched yet another person drive up the shoulder, my iPod switched over to “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson. It’s one of the few Christmas songs that stays in the rotation of thousands throughout the year, because no matter where I am, no matter how ridiculously close to Father’s Day or the Fourth of July it is, it always makes me smile a little, and changes my mood. (Good to know, right?) I made it through traffic just fine.

So, what song makes you stop and listen? What song makes you think of someone else? What song makes you change the channel or consider throwing your radio away?

My friend Michael’s theme song, in my mind, is the old Tonight Show theme “This Could Be The Start of Something Big,” as we talked through that song the first time we really hung out to, appropriately, plan a jazz service. Paul will always be associated with “Dude Looks Like a Lady” (long story) from Aerosmith, and Rachelle with “Hard Headed Woman” (again, long story) by Elvis. Maybe it’s just me (but I don’t think so), but there are plenty of folks in my life that I have a song for.

We should then probably ask what’s the song of Midway Hills? Certainly not “Another One Bites the Dust,” hopefully not “All My Exes Live in Texas,” and I’d assume not “Sympathy for the Devil.” But is the song of our congregation, or theme of the spirit here, something that swings, something with a solid backbeat, something that makes you get up and dance, something that’s new wave and experimental, something that’s been recorded live, an old standard with a modern twist, or what? And then we should ask the harder question—is our song being heard?

This week in worship, we’ll be finishing up our look at Creation and its implications on justice. Next week, we will be celebrating and remembering those we have said good-bye to, both in the church and in our lives, during our service for All Saints. And then, through November, we will be talking through the song of Midway Hills, and looking to the future, 2014 specifically. We will see where we are in, within, and through the community that gathers on Sundays, and where God is calling us to be, and what is required of us coming up.

So I hope to see you Sunday, for morning worship and then hopefully the jazz service. Until then, may your shuffle always feature that which makes you dance.

Shalom y’all, Arthur

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