Monday, October 12, 2009

music (kind of... not really, no.)

I kind of wish I was allowed to get an iPod. I'm not, not until I go to college, because my dad (rightly, I think) doesn't like how they cut people off from the world. Still, it'd be nice to be able to listen to music in other places. On the plus side, technology can only improve in the time until I go to college.

I got a U2 album today. I didn't own any of their music before, despite how many times I've heard Michael sing (heh) their praises, or how many times I've fallen in love with their songs on pandora, or how many times I go to the wikiquote page for Bono and fill my notebook. Rebecca finally convinced me with her nano-test. I just thought it was so picturesque, quoting a song like that. And I didn't know what song it was. So I went and found out, and bought an album.

This Sunday I went to church service for the first time in a while. Usually I go to youth group and then an adult sunday school, but it was my turn to do projection. I'm glad I went, we had communion, and our pastor put a lot of emphasis on the gospel message since there were a lot of visitors coming for the second time after friend day (last week). I noticed, since I hadn't been in a while, the music has been getting better. It's still very... tame, and traditional, but there was more heart in it than usual. They were all hymns, but they weren't the dusty old kind. It was good to hear.

Jay and my dad talked about music. Good music, bad music, how we tell. In some ways, my dad is one of the most strict and also the most lenient in this issue. He's definitely all about making sure that music - any influence - helps us grow closer to God. And he wants us to make our own choices, not right away, but gradually, to find out how we individually use music to commune with God. I don't think all of my music helps me. I think some of it is purely entertainment, and I'm not sure about that stuff. Some stuff, the artistry gives me an appreciation for beauty, but that isn't quite the same, is it?

3 comments:

  1. Yay for U2. Did you get How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, then?

    "Some stuff, the artistry gives me an appreciation for beauty, but that isn't quite the same, is it?" Hmm, good question... I don't think they are the same, but that's not necessarily a problem. I think music can glorify God without particularly helping me commune with Him.

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  2. I ended up getting the singles album, and the deluxe version (28 songs for 11.99? Win!) has City of Blinding Lights.

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  3. "I think music can glorify God without particularly helping me commune with Him."

    Perhaps part of that has to do with us realizing how it glorifies God?

    "Some stuff, the artistry gives me an appreciation for beauty, but that isn't quite the same, is it?" Micah, I know exactly what you mean. It's first of all harder to make the link, (or just one more link to make) and it doesn't really set our focus on God, but only on beautiful things (which is good, to focus on beautiful things.) Other music is completely entertainment, for sure. And personally, I think that most of the most popular music out there is entertainment "pop" usually has music that you can dance to, or "groove" to, but little aesthetic value. I feel so typically Christian in saying that, but I think it's true. Is this generation, or community as a whole more focused on entertainment rather than beauty? I think so. More so than former generations and communities? Maybe. In some respects, yes

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