Music as Spiritual Practice

I'm co-teaching an Adult Education class at my church loosely based on the book, "A Song to Sing, A Life to Live" by liturgical scholar Don Saliers and his Indigo Girl daughter, Emily. Since both are people I highly respect, the book made it to my reading list quite easily. Part of the "Practicing the Faith" series by Josey-Bass, this title explores, among other things, the importance of music in helping define our faith experiences. As one who believes in the integration of ritual experiences for helping define religiosity, I've really never questioned music as part of my spiritual disciplines. This course, however, has forced me to ask some very tough questions: How did I come to have music in my life? What are the cultures/people who have influenced the music I listen to? What does it mean for my affluent, mostly white congregation to sing hymns from other cultures?

As I begin my dive into the world of blogging, I call to mind one of my favorite songs by Emily Saliers - "Ghost." Over the years this song has meant many things to me: a lament to lost love, hope for a friendship in schism, pure musical enjoyment. But recently I've come to hear this song as part of my worship life. This is a love song to God - although I don't know if Emily would say this is so. But for me, the haunting lyrics (no pun intended) bring me into a new place, in which I am totally and utterly reminded of God's unequivocal love for all of creation. Thus, we come to the title of this blog: "well the Mississippi's mighty/cause it starts in Minnesota/at a place where you can walk across with five steps down/well i guess that's how you started/like a pin-prick to my heart/at this point you rush right through me and i start to drown"

Journey with me, fivestepsdown, and live the questions of faith.