The New England Church Pulpit New England Congregational Church UCC Aurora Illinois

Music is the universal language. It not only steadies us in the darkness, it bridges the language barrier as well, for one not need to know the language or culture of a group of people to enjoy their music. And indeed music can tell us a lot about a culture and a people.

A minister in Samoa tells of the importance of singing in that culture. When a warrior is hunting, or a lad awaits his father who is on a fishing trip, or a ‘taupou’ teaches young ladies of the village how to weave, singing is always there. Singing impacts the life of the community, regardless of place, location, or time. When one cricket team visits another, not only players but team delegations sing their way from their point of departure to their final destination. While the players vigorously try to outplay one another, villagers sing songs which uplift the players and taunt the opposite players and delegations. They are spectators at the game, but participants in the music.

No less important is singing in their religious traditions as well. They enjoy coming together just to sing. And local churches regard music so highly that they often hold choir practice three times a week for two or three hours nightly.

Singing is a powerful way to bring people together and builds the community. Singing in the Samoan community is everywhere, every day. A funeral may involve ten or twelve choirs from different communities in the area. Singing speaks for their love of one another. In all celebrations, singing is the highlight. At weddings, at funerals, at all things communal singing is the means by which love, joy, and grief is expressed.

Music certainly has a rich tradition here at New England Church. The choir has led us in worship for many generations. There was a time in past history of the church when the choir was the glue that held this somewhat-divided congregation together. The anthems of a Sunday morning was the central focus upon which we could all agree, all enjoy regardless of our politics or our prejudices.

There is something about music that offers us a steadiness that words can’t always offer. Music informs our faith and creates an evenness that keeps our spirits from rising and falling with the Dow Jones average or the inflection of a physician’s voice. Music plays a vital role in retaining perspective and offering hope in times of crisis or tragedy. When the ship is sinking, it is the music that calms the panicked spirit.

We need a singing faith that can deal with the bumps in life. Music strengthens our faith for the long haul. Melody and harmony and rhythm combined in simple or intricate ways give us a divine perspective in tragedy and crisis. Music transcends the mundane to transport us to the sublime. When words fail us, music stirs the soul and bids it peace. Music grounds us in the hope that life is not dependent on temporal things, that life is larger than the years we spend on this earth, that life is larger than any one of us alone. Music anchors us in a sphere of being that is not dependent on how things turn out.

For African-American slaves in decades past, music was their lifeline to a God whom they believed to be watching over them even in their trials and tribulations. Music was the way to comfort each other when talking was not allowed as they toiled in the fields. Music was the balm that salved the beaten body with a spirit that could not be beaten. Music was the means by which they told others about an underground railroad that would take them to freedom, communicating time and location through code words set to music. Music was the lifeline to the hope of a future life that would be a better life than this one.

A faith that is rooted in the truth of God’s love, is a faith that steadies us when the storms of life assail us. A well-grounded faith allows us to say ‘this too shall pass’ while at the same time prompting us to change systems of oppression and prejudices of hatred. Whatever music you prefer–sacred, classical, regae, country, broadway, rap, or whatever–music is a profound connection to God or humanity, the means by which we find that faith and sustain that faith and access that faith when we most need it. Just as words are easier to remember when they are accompanied by a tune, so faith allows our soul to soar when it comes on the wings of a melody, connecting us to the rhythms of the universe, pulsing ever so steadily amid the ebb and tide of our lives.

In the words of the hymnwriter:
My life flows on in endless song Amid earth’s lamentation.
I hear the clear, though far-off hymn That hails a new creation.
No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that rock I’m clinging.
Since love is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?

It is a rhetorical question because it is an exclamatory statement: How can I keep from singing!
Amen.

–Gary L. McCann

SONG OF THE SOUL
(Kahlil Gibran)

In the depth of my soul there is
A wordless song–a song that lives
In the seed of my heart.
It refuses to melt with ink on
Parchment; it engulfs my affection
In a transparent cloak and flows,
But not upon my lips....

The deeds of my hands heed its
Presence as a lake must reflect
The glittering stars; my tears
Reveal it, as bright drops of dew
Reveal the secret of a withering rose.

It is a song composed by contemplation,
And published by silence,
And shunned by clamor,
And folded by truth,
And repeated by dreams,
And understood by love,
And hidden by awakening
And sung by the soul.

Who dares unite the roar of the sea
And the singing of the nightingale?
Who dares compare the shrieking tempest
To the sight of an infant?
Who dares speak aloud the words
Intended for the heart to speak?
What human dares sing in voice
The song of God?

Copyright © 2003 by Gary L. McCann. All rights reserved.

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