The sixth and seventh stanzas of "Patrick's Breastplate" are especially intense. Where most of the other stanzas began with a musically forceful, "I bind," these ones begin with "Against," making my opposition to evil as firm and pronounced as my assent to the good.
The vigor with which Patrick denounces "the demon snare of sin, the vice that gives temptation force, the natural lusts that war within, the hostile men that mar my course" and the seriousness with which he considers evil's power, a power capable of yielding him to "the deathwound and the burning", hold me steady when I'm tempted to minimize my own attraction to sin.
In addition, I'm relieved to hear Patrick identify the very things that bother me the most--the vice, my inner conflicts, the nasty attitudes of some of the people around me--acknowledging that these are real obstacles to peace and that I'm not alone in my struggles against them.
We need bold, forceful songs like this one, that name specific evils and that pray for protection against them. A constant diet of happy songs about Jesus or vague terms for the darkness we confront just doesn't keept us strong.
5 comments:
I completely agree! We have become so indifferent to sin. So many songs these days are just repetitive ditties about love and friendship and grace -- or maybe personal fulfillment. While grace is important, it's meaningless in the absence of a solid doctrine of sin. And you're right -- we never sing about it anymore. But how GREAT would it be if, when faced with a temptation, we had a song come to mind -- a great strong "anti-sin" song that had an amazing melody that inspired us to "say no" (like Titus 2:11-14, especially in the NIV). But we don't sing those songs anymore, and if we did, would we get the melody stuck in our heads enough to inspire us? Who's going to write an "anti-gossip" song? Or a "don't cheat" song for my high school students? :o) If you find one, let me know!
Hmmm, I'll have to think about the "anti-gossip" and the "don't cheat" songs. I'm sure they're out there. Anybody else...?
Have you thought about picking a couple proverbs and encouraging your students to put the proverbs in rhyme and write their own melody?
Yes, the strength of text in most current songs/choruses is lacking indeed. Recently our pastor quoted Richard Foster, who was saying "Sin is now only a popular topic on dessert menus, ie chocolate decadent delight, sinful Snickers pie, etc ... these days, when it comes to sin, we mumble."
I too, am greatly inspired by texts set to music such as St. Patrick's breastplate, as you referenced. I am praying for the strength, time, and perseverance to begin composing more "meaty" songs/hymns for the living church. You may have to help critique and edit. :0)
I believe there is a great deal of such material out there. But it is not being written, or going to be written by the "CCM" or "praise chorus" folks (whatever your term of choice is) because by and large it doesn't "sell," in both a literal and figurative sense, among their audience/congregation/customer base.
Take a look at many of the songs put out by John Bell and the Wild Goose Resource Group, the music and liturgy arm of the Iona Community. (The material is issued in the States by GIA.) Then tell me that no one is taking us to task in song for our sins, both individual and societal.
Do they have individual songs about cheating or gossiping? I don't know. Perhaps not, but I have never walked away from a session with Bell's work that I did not feel chastened and/or challenged.
They are eminently singable songs, set as they are to folk and folk-style tunes, yet they never sound cute. Yet always leave you thinking--hard. (I hold no stock in the commercial entities involved here; just trying to point a helpful finger.)
Thanks for those thoughts, John C.! I haven't sung any John Bell yet.
Holly, maybe those songs could be inspiration for your own compositions...? BTW, there's a section on the Hymn Society's (free) web site where you can post your new hymns, if you want other church musicians to know about them.
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