so have you ever nonchalantly waved at a man standing in a dumpster?

 

- from okdork 

so i downloaded a playlist of "secular" music to our church's audio computer this morning. this raised an eyebrow from a fellow sound operator, which surprised me, as the two of us in particular have been on a mission to de-cheesify the g4's itunes library.

 

i spent a good amount of time yesterday sifting through my own library, thoughtfully choosing songs with lyrics and music that would be appropriate to play for our church body. because that is what i do. i have never played any music from the sound board without spending actually embarrassing amounts of time listening to it beforehand. just throwing in a cd and letting it play does not work for me. not all "christian" albums necessarily contain Truth; by the same token, not all "secular" albums necessarily lack Truth. i can't deal with sweeping allowances or banishments, because most of the time, they just don't make sense, especially when it comes to music.

 

sometimes i've felt as if i'm all alone when throwing out challenges to really think about the lyrics we take in or breathe out. a genre label is not a sufficient nor intelligent way to sort content. corporate worship is one thing [although, don't even get me started on some of THOSE lyrics], but does it follow that all pre-recorded music played in the sanctuary must be overtly "christian"? the majority of this body is not a black-and-white, these-are-the-rules sort of people. i believe my community is not going to be shaken if i play john mayer's "heart of life" or alanis morrissette's "you owe me nothing in return" or any other "secular" [and appropriate] track. they will not freak out. in fact, i think they will appreciate the challenge and variety.

 

and besides, let's face it... a lot of "christian" music sucks, anyway.

 

i will admit that it makes me quite angry when people assume i haven't put thought into something that clearly requires a good deal of thought. [do you really think i'm going to select popular music songs at RANDOM to play at CHURCH?]. and i'm sure other sound operators will doubt my musical selections on the audio computer, after a cursory glance at the artists without even listening to the content.

 

as a side note, while flipping through stations the other day, i heard a commercial for a "christian" radio station. part of it said something about extolling the virtue of "being a safe radio station". really? safe? no swearing but bad theology... yeah, that's safe.

i feel like i've lost everyone around here. too many youtube links? someday i'll write something substantial. i promise.

in this great melting pot world, i am amazed that questionnaires still give a "check only ONE" option for ethnic background. i mean come on. other? i'm other? how stupendously vague.

 

these things give me an identity crisis.