The Challenge

I love my work as a church musician--I was inspired enough to earn a master's degree in church music. Those who know me understand that I work very hard to imrove my musical skills as I can: I sing in a chamber choir and take organ lessons. Someone recently asked me, "Don't you get impatient working with novice musicians?"

I thought about that and realized I didn't.

In the church, people bring to the table whatever musical foundation they have. I can't change their backgrounds, but I can work with what we have. I can play the role of a coach, and help people make the most of their gifts. I can choose music that suits their needs. I can make them feel good for contributing and doing their best. For some, I can offer lessons one-on-one, and naturally, everyone receives skill benefits from ensemble work. Just as a coach develops affection for the members of his team, so I appreciate each person who does his best to bring glory to God. Quite frankly, I applaud anyone who contributes to my music program. Far from being put out, I'm blessed to be able to coordinate and facilitate all of that activity.

Matthew 21:15-16 "And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?"

It's not entirely clear from the text whether the chief priests and scribes were displeased because Jesus was called "the Son of David" or because the chant annoyed their elite ears--perhaps both items offended them. Yet, reminiscent of the widow's mite, Jesus royally accepts praise from the least skilled who love Him. He Who made them fully comprehended that they indeed offered their best, and He asked no more.

Four Preludes on the Playthings of the Wind

Here Sandburg gives us a somewhat uncomfortable perspective on reality. The language is nothing if not straightforward, and the meditation seems to come straight from Ecclesiastes: "Vanity, all is vanity." As Christians, our focus is to be "on things above, not on things of the earth"--items that become the "playthings of the wind." Christ Himself urges us to "lay up treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust do not corrupt, and thieves do not break through and steal." What are your treasures?

"The Past Is a Bucket of Ashes"
1
The woman named Tomorrow
sits with a hairpin in her teeth
and takes her time
and does her hair the way she wants it
and fastens at last the last braid and coil
and puts the hairpin where it belongs
and turns and drawls: Well, what of it?
My grandmother, Yesterday, is gone.
What of it? Let the dead be dead.

2
The doors were cedar
and the panel strips of gold
and the girls were golden girls
and the panels read and the girls chanted:
We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation:
nothing like us every was.
The doors are twisted on broken hinges.
Sheets of rain swish through on the wind
where golden girls ran and the panels read:
We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation:
nothing like us ever was.

3
It has happened before.
Strong men put up a city and got
a nation together,
And paid singers to sing and women
to warble: We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation,
nothing like us ever was.
And while the singers sang
and the strong men listened
and paid the singers well
and felt good about it all,
there were rats and lizards who listened
... and the only listeners left now
... are ... the rats .. and the lizards.
And there are black crows
crying, "Caw, caw,"
bringing mud and sticks
building a nest over the words carved
on the doors where the panels were cedar
and the strips on the panels were gold
and the golden girls came singing:
We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation:
nothing like us ever was.
The only singers now are crows crying, "Caw, caw,"
And the sheets of rain whine in the wind and doorways.
And the only listeners now are
... the rats ... and the lizards.

4
The feet of the rats
scribble on the doorsills;
the hieroglyphs of the rat footprints
chatter the pedigrees of the rats
and babble of the blood
and gabble of the breed
of the grandfathers and the great-grandfathers
of the rats.
And the wind shifts
and the dust on a doorsill shifts
and even the writing of the rat footprints
tells us nothing, nothing at all
about the greatest city, the greatest nation
where the strong men listened
and the women warbled:
Nothing like us ever was.

Carl August Sandburg (1878 – 1967)

Music in the Old Testament, Part I

I’ve decided to begin a study of the use of music in Old Testament worship. OT worship was practiced only by the nation of Israel (children of Abraham), God’s chosen people, and perhaps a few proselytes. Surrounding nations could also recognize and fear the Most High God, because they saw how He blessed His people (when they lived in obedience to God’s law) and what great things He did for them (such as the victories in Canaan).

The role of the Levitical priesthood is a most interesting one. Levi’s descendants were the people to whom God entrusted the protocols for His worship—protocols carefully devised by God Himself and revealed to the prophet Moses. These included the ceremonial laws for blood sacrifices, guidelines for art and artifice used to beautify the worship environment, priestly attire, purification rituals, and regulations for daily life.

For the Israelites, the act of worship did not cease upon their exit from the temple. Every aspect of life was a continuation of the sanctification begun with the offering of sacrifice and prayer. This idea surfaces in Apostle Paul’s consciousness in writing Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

I Chronicles 9:33—And these are the singers, chief of the fathers of the Levites, who remaining in the chambers were free: for they were employed in that work day and night.

This comes from a passage describing King David’s work in organizing the Levitical priests. Music was so important to the worship of the Most High God that the singers had no other job. What highly developed music that must have been; surely it was far from primitive. Anyone whose involvement in the arts has been significant knows how much diligence is required to perform well and skillfully. The arts and humanities are glorious gifts of God to human beings; we give back to God edify fellow Christians with the right use of those gifts. We would do well to recognize that the worship of our God is the best and highest use of the arts, and to reward skilled artists accordingly.

II Chronicles 5:13—It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endures for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.

This passage describes the dedication of the Temple. God unambiguously made His pleasure known when His people praised Him skillfully. No mention is made of the secret motives of talented musicians. The narrator notes carefully that the musicians sounded “as one,” a prime goal of musical ensemble to the present day. For an ensemble to sound “as one,” tremendous mastery, discipline and sensitivity must be developed in the musicians. These were not people who just decided to pull together some “special music” at the last minute.

II Chronicles 20:21—And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.

This reminds me of Scotland’s historic “bagpipe intimidation” tactic, except that praise singers don’t seem very intimidating. This doesn’t indicate whether they were simply for show on dress parade or actually visited the battle scene. I would suspect the former . . .

The Book of Psalms is the “hymnbook” of Israel. Many of the Psalms were written by King David, some by Asaph, a leading-edge Levite, and others by anonymous authors, but all were meant to be sung. The quality of poetic expression, especially in the King James Version, is very lovely. Some, like Psalm 148, practically sing themselves off the page.

Parenthetically: we as Christians should rethink singing the Psalms and teaching them to our children. Additionally, these rich Psalm texts offer wide opportunity for young composers. To be continued . . .

Requiem Aeternum: Thoughts of Eternity

[God] hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

A dear friend and former member of my church choir has quietly passed away after a long and painful illness. Blessed as one who has "died in the Lord," she now "rests from her labors."

Bryant and I paid a visit to "Laura" on Easter Sunday, and impressively, she recognized us and remained alert to converse with us for about five minutes before fading back into merciful slumber. I am so grateful we made the effort.

Nearly 4,000 years ago, King Solomon of Israel—styling himself "The Preacher"—offered the most profound thoughts on life, death and eternity the world has ever seen (yes, thoroughly eclipsing Socrates). His major philosophical work, Ecclesiastes, is categorized by biblical scholars as Wisdom Literature. The writing uses stunning metaphors and elegant, sophisticated poetic expression, making it a pleasure to read for one who loves language.

"The Preacher's" keyword is "vanity," (something that seems to have substance but disappoints) and he liberally applies this concept to all earthly values. Rather depressingly, he tramples into the dust our commonly-held ideas of what is important in life—reputation, possessions, family heritage, accomplishments, power, pleasure, mirth and joy—by pointing to the fact that these things ultimately perish, and there's nothing we can do about it. These are all good things with which to concern ourselves, but we need to view them in perspective and recognize where they belong in the grand scheme. Work as hard as you like to obtain possessions, says the king, but when you die, you permanently cease to enjoy the benefit of possessions. You don't even know who will inherit them. By the end of the book, we realize that this life is not about this life, but about the eternity beyond it.

So, does that mean we should "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die?" Does it follow that we simply live for our own pleasure? No, because the decisions we make in our earthly life affect our eternity. I quote from Ecclesiastes 8:

Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and prolong his days, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, that fear before him: but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

According to Solomon, the important things in life are walking with God, living righteously in the fear of God, and preparing to live eternity in the presence of God. He intends to remind us that our fleeting earthly life only takes on meaning in the light of Eternity. These are Solomon's concluding thoughts:

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil (Ecc. 12:13-14).