Okay, I’m still, despite clarification earlier today, having issues with this topic. I honestly have no idea how to tackle the ‘Aesthetics’ portion of this assignment. So I’m going to leave it alone for now. The “Uses” might be a tad bit easier, but we shall see.
We’re supposed to discuss how music is actually used in a religion we’re familiar with. Well, I’m not really familiar with any religion – I wasn’t raised with it, not really anyway. I’ve been agnostic most of my life, and – being a free and unstructured religion where you know there’s something greater than man, but you don’t know what it is (God, Buddha, someone else, etc…) – There really isn’t much music for it. Understandable, yes..?
As I got older and went through some things that will not be discussed here, I became an atheist. I felt God gave up on me, so I gave up on him. Well, atheists don’t really have any religious music; again, understandable.
I’ve only just recently become a Christian, and I have limited knowledge as to how music is used within the religion. Don’t get me wrong, I know tons of Christmas carols rejoicing about the birth of Christ, but aside from that, I have no clue practically.
Fortunately, I gained some insight a couple hours ago – I went to church with Micah. We went to the youth service and at the beginning, we had music and fellowship. There was an acoustic guitar and two singers, one male and one female leading us. We sang two songs, and the whole purpose of singing them was to glorify God.
Now that I think about it, it’s sort of like what was said on the Powwow video we watched yesterday – our singing was our way to glorify our Creator (our ‘Ultimate Parent’ as it was said at one point later on in the night). I rather like the idea of using music for worship, personally. I mean, it comes more naturally to me than just sitting and praying. So, I guess the ultimate point of music in the Christian religion is to glorify God in a way that comes easier to people. I mean, we all have a song in our hearts, right..?
Now, aesthetics – I have no flipping clue! I mean, we got the idea of singing in 3rds and 6ths from monks and nuns; those are based in Catholicism which led to Christianity, so I guess that’s something within religions that’s pleasing to the ear that carries over into secular music.
There’s also simple song structure. I mean, we all know that hymns aren’t that terribly hard. Many pop songs are that way too. The biggest difference is that pop has a chorus where Hymns are just verses.
Alright, here it is! My music-religion blog. On a personal not (like this whole thing hasn’t been personal) my favorite kind of music for worship are Gregorian and Medieval Chant and Christian rock and metal. Totally opposite ends of the spectrum, but I am the queen of randomness. :)
I really like the fact that you pointed out that using music to worship and glorify God comes more naturally to you than sitting and praying does. I feel the same way when I do my own worship. Also, the fiance of one of my best friends here feels more connected to God when he worships using music. I don't know if you feel the same way or not. But it's an interesting point of view.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Katie--it's actually really interesting to get a point-of-view from someone relatively new to the whole world of religion. And I like the parallel to the Pow-wow singing.
ReplyDeleteDo be careful--3rds and 6ths weren't particularly sacred at first--in fact, the church rather looked down on them in the beginning. And, in that last paragraph, I find myself wondering what a "personal not" is...
Katie,
ReplyDeleteThis is a really brave thing to post, I think, since you have just become a Christian. : )
Faith is going to drive you crazy, there are always time you will doubt and other times when you are totally connected with God. Music, like I said in my blog, becomes your way of connecting with God, it's like you are taken away from your own world, and the song becomes His message. It's quite cool. There's goose bumps and crying involved and you kind of realize how small you are, and how powerful He is. As you grow in your faith, I hope that you connect with the music and instead of reading lyrics of truth, you have this amazing experience where the words become something more.
I understand how difficult this blog may of been for you, but I think you did a great job of incorporating what you did experience. You were so honest and instead of making something up, you put your heart into it.