Tuesday, February 24, 2009

God of Small Things

Lately our church has gone through some difficult transition (again). Namely, our contemporary music director has left. This has inspired me to look (even more) at where I can find God's truth and beauty outside of church walls.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not bitter; I'm sad. And I'm trying to reconcile the fact that even the church isn't free from weird drama and office politics.

Listening to the radio yesterday, I was struck by The Fray's new song: You Found Me. It's probably about a girl, but it starts like a modern day psalm.

I found God on the corner of 1st and Amistad
Where the West was all but won
All alone, smoking his last cigarette
I said, "Where've you been?"
He said, "Ask anything."
Where were you, when everything was falling apart.
All my days were spent by the telephone that never rang
And all I needed was a call that never came
To the corner of 1st and Amistad
Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me
Lying on the floor, surrounded, surrounded
Why'd you have to wait?
Where were you? Where were you?
Just a little late, you found me, you found me

I've been thinking a lot about trying to get high school students to look at pop culture with an ear tuned to God. I feel like his fingerprints are everywhere... especially in mediums where intense creativity is required.

Do any of you have suggestions about songs (or movie clips) that seem much more spiritual at second glance or closer inspection? I don't know where I'm going with this, but I want to do something with it... Here's the list I've come up with so far:
  1. Believe by The Bravery
  2. Everyday by Dave Matthews Band
  3. Soul to Squeeze by The Red Hot Chili Peppers
  4. Hurt by Nine Inch Nails/Johnny Cash

Feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email. Thank you!

7 comments:

King of the Mazza Monkeys said...

YES!
I absolutely love this kind of stuff...some things come to my head right away, but I need to do a little research....so, expect some more posts from me.
I believe God can be found in pop culture all the time...it is fun finding Him and pointing it out to others...

King of the Mazza Monkeys said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
King of the Mazza Monkeys said...

Lifehouse - Everything

A band who gets radio airplay...most songs could be about a girl, but I know better!

"Find me here
And speak to me
I want to feel you
I need to hear you
You are the light
That's leading me
To the place
Where I find peace again"

I blogged about this song not long ago...http://house13.blogspot.com/2008/12/everything.html

King of the Mazza Monkeys said...

Coldplay - Fix You

The song structure musically and the chorus really speak to something spiritual for me...

"Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you"

King of the Mazza Monkeys said...

If Everyone Cared - Nickelback

"If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died"

The Summerhill Gang said...

Heaven - Los Lonely Boys

Kind of an obvious one, with the title and all...

"Well I've been lost in my own place
And I'm getting' weary
How far is heaven?
And I know that I need to change
My ways of living
How far is heaven?
Lord, can you tell me?"

The Montgomerys said...

here is a curveball:

"black swan"
by thom yorke

probably not going to make it into a church service though...