Sing! Sing! Sing !

“ Christ’s peace must reign in your hearts, since as members of the one body you have been called to that peace. Dedicate yourselves to thankfulness. Let the word of Christ , rich as it is, dwell in you. In wisdom made perfect, instruct and admonish one another. Sing gratefully to God from your hearts in psalms, hymns and inspired songs. What ever you do, whether in speech or in action, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Give thanks to God for the Father through Him. “

( Colossians 3:15-17 )

In Colossians, Paul ( speaking for both himself and Timothy) is writing to the Church at Colossae, where he has never been. It is strictly through Epaphrus, who was the disciple who brought the Good News and did the work of building the church in Colossae. The chapter of Colossians is brief, as it only contains one letter, composed by Paul, in his typical style of writing, where there is a warm greeting in the name of the Lord, then some bit of news, or information. This is followed by some general instruction, then admonishment to give clear instructions on the Christian teachings, and finally some reassurance, so edification, and a closing of the letter in warm reassurance in love.

This section of the letter comes from the instructional part of the letter about three quarters of the way through the chapter.

This reading has 2 parts. First, part talks about peace, the second about our praise and worship of God.

Lets take a moment and look a little deeper.

“Christ’s peace must reign in your hearts, since as members of the one body you have been called to that peace”.

In the scriptural thoughts that come to mind, I can recall one or two instances where Jesus got just generally upset, or annoyed, or angry. All in all though, if we only got upset twice in our lives, that is pretty good.

My father was one of those people who never seemed to get upset or angry at almost anything. I mean, that life’s little inconveniences just seemed to roll off his back. Through my entire life I can remember a grand total of one time I ever heard him raise his voice. There was a deep seeded peace about him that I admired and his command of that peace in his heart was something I was always amazed over.

I have spent a good part of my adult life attempting to emulate the peace and presence my father masterfully garnered. Not unlike the spiritual life, this is one of those things that is a life long journey.

Wisdom is found in adversity. It is through the adversities that we face that we are given pause to consider the origins , the resolution, the outcome, and analysis of what we are going through . It is not that we will have the answers. In fact it is a blessing when the answers are clear. Take for instance the Israelite’s wandering in the desert. They wandered in the desert because of their disobedience.

They would make covenants, and break them just as quickly and they suffered for that disobedience, and after they were forgiven they would break the next covenant. Here we are in current times, and looking at our society here we are doing the same stupid things. We just have never gotten the picture.

I digress…

The adversities we face are a gift from God ( even if occasionally unwelcome). For out of the trials we face a greater good is what God has planned for us. It is not that God’s plan would not be carried out if we did It is simply to give us opportunities to exercise our free will to both co-operate with Gods plan, to grow in faith, and to gain the wisdom that comes from that process. All that so that you can help to bring about the Kingdom of God, and so that you can be testament, and a channel of grace for others.

Then comes the second part..

“ Sing gratefully to God from your hearts in psalms, hymns and inspired songs. What ever you do, whether in speech or in action, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Give thanks to God for the Father through Him. “

I can remember my mother recounting stories about family trips and vacations that her family used to take in the car. These were usually “ out of state “ trips and since they lived in Texas by todays standards it takes a full day of driving to get out of that state. So, these were not short trips.

She used to tell us that during those trips her family would sing hymns and not just melodies but in 4 part harmony.

Its not really about whether or not you can sing like Pavarotti or if you voice is more suited to the shower , it is the intent, and content of what we sing that is important. Bach is reported to have said that “ He who sings, prays twice”. When we sing there is a both a physical and a spiritual response in the human body and mind. There is a stirring of the soul. All you have to do is sing hymns that are worthy of God and allow the soul to begin its ascent.

I remember one music minister saying there are 2 types if singers, upstairs singers , and downstairs singers. Everyone should sing to God with all their hearts.. and give thanks !

May God give you the gift of His peace !

Sing ! ( Canticle of Isaiah 5/6 )

” Sing Praise to the Lord , for he has done glorious things, let this be known throughout  all the earth”

 

The Bible is replete with singing or the encouragement of singing and playing music.  Music is an integral part of every Mass and almost every sing gathering or meeting of any kind of ministry within the church.

There have been points throughout the history of the church where music was ,in particular singing was the way in which catechesis was accomplished  in some cases for convenience , and in some cases where Christianity was outlawed all together.  Song was used to teach history  and lessons, to inspire, and to offer praise, thanksgiving and supplication .

So integral is music and song to worship that all the popes throughout time have instured that singing is not only included, but has taken a place of prominence within the liturgical worship.  The place of song in a life of prayer and praise is so important that in the document ” Musicam Sacram”  it states that not only those involved in choirs and musicians , but also the clergy and those in religious communities , even in seminaries, and the lay people in the church should be given instruction on how to sing the sacred music.   Each person has a proper part to sing through the course of the celebration of the Mass, and it indeed is a poverty that a multitude of Christians do not know those parts or even that those parts exist or their proper names for that matter.

Anyone involved in the music ministrywill tell you that one of the challenges involved with this aspect of worship is that there exists and ebb and flow between between your part in the celebration  becoming a job, or a part you perform, like going to work in an office, it can feel like you are ” on the clock”.  Whether or not your position is that you are a music director, or you are the musician, or choir member the challenge is the same.  In the liturgical setting, your heart knows that this is worship, and the brain says its work and you need to worry about the work of “performance”.  In order to fix this balance issue, many musicians just go to a different mass, at a different church at some other time to acquire their spiritual feeding.

Just as there should be annual retreats and educational opportunities for our clergy , we should also have retreats and educational opportunities for our liturgical musicians and choirs.  This so as to recharge and renew themselves as well as the advancement in their formation both within the music and within their faith !

Bach said “Singing is praying twice..”  There is no doubt that singing  has a mind -spirit connection this is unique and special.  Singing connected to worship is probably the closest we can get on earth to heaven.