This is an article in the New York Times about contemporary worship music, praise-rock style, in churches. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/arts/music/07prais.html
It’s all about the heart of worship. God can enjoy a distorted guitar as well as a clean guitar. Especially when you’re playing it for him.
Nod to Catalyst for the link.
Three upcoming documentaries that I want to see:
The Fall 2007 Image Journal cover story has several artists and writers discuss the question, "Why Believe in God." Among those who address the question is Wim Wenders, who has this to say:
I’ve been away from God for a large part of my life, so I remember his absence. No, that’s the wrong way to say it. He wasn’t absent, I was. I had gone into exile of my own free will. I meandered through all sorts of philosophies, surrogate enlightenments, adventures of mind, socialism, existentialism, psychoanalysis (another ersatz religion). Some of these I won’t deny or badmouth. I’m happy to have been there—and back.
I remember how tentatively I started to pray again. I remember how that slowly changed me. I remember how I wept when I realized I had finally come home, when I felt that I was found again.
And how that feeling slowly transformed into a certainty.
Yes, a certainty.
But can I now answer: I believe in God because I remember how lost I was when I didn’t care? Or: I believe in God because I couldn’t take his absence anymore? Or: I believe in God because I cannot imagine any alternative? Or could I even conclude: believe in God because in my life God has become such a reality that the very question is like asking myself why I breathe?
Nod to Touchstone Magazine.
There is an article in the latest issue of Books & Culture about one of my favorite bands, Tool. A Bigger Tool Kit (Theology from a prog rock band) by Roger Freet contrasts the meditative lyrics of "Wings for Marie" and "10,000 Days (Wings part 2)" from Tool’s 2006 release 10,000 Days, with the virulent anti-God lyrics of "Judith" from A Perfect Circle’s 2000 release Mer de Noms. I think it is an interesting read, but I particularly like this point from the conclusion:
An artist who explicitly rejects God, as many have done, nevertheless remains a "sub-creator," as Tolkien said, a creator in the Creator’s image. We should be suspicious of our tendency to insist that God only shows up in the right places.
Read the full article at http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2007/005/12.34.html. My only slight niggle with the article is the claim that "[t]he band has been touring nonstop since May 2006 with shows booked through this September." Perhaps there was a long lead time on the article, but drummer Danny Carey tore his bicep in February 2007, and a large portion of their spring / summer 2007 tour had to be canceled. They were supposed to play in State College, but that ended up not happening. Which is a major bummer — they put on a great show.
