Saturday, June 21, 2008

Food for the Soul on Summer Solstice

Sometimes the spirit needs nourishment.

And today's the longest day of the year, a day when no one wants to sit inside and read through one of my blathers. Words just don't say what's needed, sometimes.

To feed my spirits today, I'm listening to music. I'd like to share.

Two of my favorite vocal groups are the Pfister Sisters and Chanticleer. So what a treat to find them singing together. Listen to this no-holds-barred, full-throated rendition of "Amazing Grace," watch the sheer joy they derive in performing together, you'll smile down to your toes (I hope): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJBAq4QfqrE&feature=related.

And then there's this: the Pfister Sisters rendering "Mood Indigo" at a house party in New Orleans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vze8JgmJ8s&feature=related. The essence of that sad, deep-souled, ever-celebrating city that somehow got appended to Anglo America as a kind of Caribbean afterthought, a reminder of other possibilities for our all-too-Puritanical culture.

Listening to and watching these clips makes me wonder why we can't sing a new future into existence. Why poetry, rhythm, melody, unabashed joy seem to play such a tiny role in our religious lives. Is it any wonder that religion today seems so often extrinsic to the currents that feed our hopes, and enliven our desires to work together for a better world?

Listen, enjoy, and I hope your spirits feels as nourished by these performances as mine does today.

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