We Take Requests

I just began reading a book by Daniel Levitin, The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature. The title itself sounds a bit highfalutin and got me to guessing right away what those 6 songs might be: I'll Take You There by the Staple Singers would top my list. But, Levitin is not concerned with particular songs. Rather, he lists 6 categories of song that have helped over the millenia to fashion us into the human race that we are. People Get Ready (Curtis Mayfield, 1966) for the 6 categories. Drum roll. The six categories of song that have made us human are: Friendship, Joy, Comfort, Knowledge, Religion, and Love.

This is a great list. In the book, Levitin writes a chapter on each category. I won't even begin a synopsis of each chapter here. Just spend a bit of time with each word -Friendship, Joy, Comfort, Knowledge, Religion, and Love - and notice how it makes you feel. You might add a category or two to round out the list, but I think that pretty much everyone would agree that the list is a good one. And while there is a special category for religion, I find that each category, because it reflects something about what makes us basically human, has something to say about life and faith.

As I said before, there are not 6 particular songs there are 6 categories. So that means that each of us will have our favorite song in any particular category, one that hits home for us. So it is with the music we have in church. Every one of us has a different taste. So, with church music we paraphrase Lincoln, You can please all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot please all the people all the time. This is why we need your help. Tell us what you enjoy singing in worship -- we'll sing it. And if we sing something you don't particularly care for, its OK. Your song will come around on the juke box. Diversity is a precious thing, right down to our taste in music. We take requests.

David