My own musical tastes are fairly eclectic…I like everything from Gregorian chant to J-Pop to jazz. I listen to both secular and Christian music as I believe there’s value to both as long as it does not directly denigrate my beliefs. I’m no so much into mainstream pop music though since to my ears it all sounds generic and repetitive for the most part.
No amount of happy, campy hymns can ever match my
sorrow and rage, the
war with my own despair, the desire to
live an adventure, and the
aspirations of freedom.
You can keep your hymnal if that’s what you identify with. I’ll stick to who I am and keep to music that plays true to that tune.
Lost Wanderer, I understand that you identify more with secular music and that it helps you to work through your own feelings. I am the same way, music has helped me while I struggled through some of life’s darkest valleys. However, I take exception with your view that hymns are merely “happy and campy”. I realize there are some worship music which is pretty campy, but actually some of the old classics have very compelling stories behind them.
“Amazing Grace” was written by John Newton, a former captain of a slave ship. After his conversion to Christianity, he was tormented for years by his past sins. The movie “Amazing Grace”, which is fairly historically accurate, is an excellent portrayal of this. He was haunted by “10 000 ghosts”, the 10 000 victims he himself delivered to the Americas as slaves. Newton did not even initially have the strength to hear his own confession. It was not until years later that he was able to reconcile himself with his past. So taken in its context, the words of “Amazing Grace” are astounding when it’s remembered that its words were penned by a former slave ship captain. The line “that saved a wretch like me” is especially powerful. He clearly viewed himself as a wretch and it was only through God’s grace that he was able to find forgiveness.
Another example is the hymn “It is Well with my Soul”. While the words may sound happy and campy to some, it is important to remember that the man who wrote this hymn was in the middle of a profound grief. The composer, Horatio Spafford, wrote it after the death of his only son, after a fire had financially ruined him and after all of his four daughters were killed in a shipwreck. He wrote this surprisingly joyful hymn while travelling to meet with his grieving wife. So the me these words have so much more meaning:
“When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.”
I am not saying you need to listen to these hymns when you struggle, however it is important to remember that they were sometimes written by people who had suffered much. And to me that is an absolutely amazing testimony. Even though these hymns may not help you, Lost Wanderer, please do not unfairly categorize them as being “happy and campy”. The words may be positive and joyful, but definitely not in a superficial way.
