music

The Unsnuffable Song

/ arthancock / Leave a comment

We are living through some tumultuous times. The changes being made by the new presidential administration are being heartily embraced by some and firmly resisted by others, leading to much conflict. This nation’s relationship to other nations in the world seems to have made a significant shift in a new direction. The political strife that we experienced last year during the runup to the election and which many of us had hoped would lighten up this year, just isn’t.  The markets are responding negatively; the stock market is topsy-turvy. As a nation, we are more divided than ever, and it appears we are becoming intensely so with each passing day. 

Wars continue throughout the earth.  While Gaza and Ukraine are on most of our radars, the Geneva Academy cites many more: 6 armed conflicts in Latin America, 7 in Europe, 21 in Asia, 35 in Africa, 45 in the Middle East.  All of this is on top of other huge issues of concern like climate change that fundamentally threatens the very existence of our species and many other on this earth.  And all of this is on top of the personal issues of concern with our families and communities. It’s a lot. Many, many of us are walking around in somewhat of a daze: overwhelmed, anxious, traumatized. If that’s what you’ve been feeling, you’re not alone.

Part of my job as a priest is to try to help folks find the promised peace of God in the midst of tumultuous days. That peace is like a song of love and goodness that has been flowing throughout God’s creation forever. The song is being sung through the first tiny spring flowers that pop up in the most unexpected of places as well as in the oldest of trees that defiantly stand through the cold winter winds.  You can hear the song being sung by the rivers on the North Shore that are raging and crashing beneath thick layers of ice, and I hear it too being sung, much more gently by our own White Bear Lake as I walk by it in the morning. The song is beautiful and, if we still our hearts and minds and lives long enough, we hear it everywhere.

And that song, that song of love and goodness, it’s being sung in us as well. There are all sorts of other noises that are clashing and banging in our lives that may be drowning it out, but the song is there in all of us, nonetheless, waiting to be heard, and waiting to be joined.  You see, our work as human beings isn’t to write the song or even to know all the words. Our work is simply to find the rhythm and get in tune with the song of love and goodness that is already being sung throughout all of creation. 

We get in tune in all sorts of ways, by contemplation, by reading the Bible, by getting out into the natural world, by conversing with others in healthy ways, through engaging in acts of goodness and helpfulness. And we get in tune by coming together, week after week, to share in fellowship and education and service. 

So, if today you are feeling somewhat overwhelmed, anxious, frightened about the affairs of the world or the concerns of your own lovely little life. If today you feel as if you can’t quite muster the energy to join in the song of love and life and goodness.  Take heart. The song will continue to be sung. It cannot be silenced.  And it will be there, sung by others, until we’re able to find ourselves, get in tune and rhythm, and once again start singing as well. So today, take heart, be at peace, do what you can to be loving and good, and listen deeply for the song that cannot be snuffed.

~Art

Find the Rhythm, Join the Dance

/ arthancock / Leave a comment

For the past couple months I’ve been taking dancing lessons. It’s tons of fun, and I recommend it to all. The last time I took dancing lessons was in seventh grade. Admittedly, lessons back then were NOT fun.  Being the smallest boy in my class, I dreaded being paired up with the tallest girl as the rest of the class would stand back and laugh.  That experience almost soured me on dancing forever! This time around, however, it’s different. Being an older person, I really don’t care what I look like.

For some, dancing comes naturally; for me, it requires much concentration and work. Of course, it’s not just a matter of learning the steps. Dancing entails hearing the music, finding the rhythm, allowing the flow of the music to course through one’s body. All of that can be tricky as one is first learning. Little by little, however, I think I’m getting the hang of it. 

As he was talking to the religious leaders and people of his day, Jesus said, “But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance” (Matthew 11:16f.).  Jesus explains that John the Baptist and the other prophets spoke of God’s way and will, but most people, even the most religious among them, refrained from responding.  When inundated with the music of God’s love and life, the leaders and people chose not to hear.  When invited to join the dance, they chose to remain still.

“We played the flute for you, and you did not dance.” To be honest, I think that is perhaps the saddest verse of all Holy Scripture. And it makes me wonder why.  Was it that the people did not hear the music? Was it that they heard, but they didn’t like the rhythm? Was it that they were too timid or afraid? Was it that learning the dance was too much work? Whatever the reason, they did not dance. Tragic.

Well, what about us? Do we hear the music of God’s life in our heads and hearts? Do we allow the rhythm of God’s love to find its way into our lives? And if not, why? Each day, each hour, each minute and moment, Jesus is inviting us to listen to the music, to find the rhythm, to join the dance. Don’t wait. Today, accept the invitation and commit to allowing God’s Spirit to teach us how to dance.

~Father Art