November/December 2012 In the Habit/Guide Week 7 sing it! Sally Chambers For use with devozine meditations for December 10 16, 2012. MAKING THE CONNECTION The Israelites sang before they marched into battle. The Israelites included in their scripture a book of psalms that were sung. In the scriptures, when God acts in a profound way, God s people sing. Moses, Miriam, Simeon, Deborah, David, and Solomon sing. The disciples sang after The Last Supper. Paul and Silas sang in jail. He who sings, prays twice. (quote attributed to St. Augustine) Nearly three-quarters of teens spend 2 3 hours or more per day listening to or downloading music (Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights http://www.globallabourrights.org/reports?id=0626). According to the Pew Internet Project, Among music buyers, 83% find out about music from the radio, TV, or in a movie. (http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/2008/the-internet-and-consumer-choice/1-summary-of-findings.aspx) Why is music so important? Why is singing so powerful? Why is singing different from saying? What about singing comforts, energizes, connects, refocuses, accompanies? Sure, not everyone is into singing in the same degree; but I think we would be hard pressed to deny the impact songs have on all our lives. Sally MEET THE WRITER Sally Chambers has been practicing youth ministry for nineteen years as part of her life with God and people; she is currently on sabbatical. By trade, she is a counselor and spiritual director. She is a lover of art, photography, people, hosting, adventure, stories, a cup of tea, beauty, all things English, her niece and her Grandma, abbey ruins and cathedrals, creation in its grandeur and wildness, playlists, and her furry four-legged companion Doodlebug. Sally is a co-author of the leader s guide to The Way of Pilgrimage and the creator of The Pilgrim s Way, an approach to leading pilgrimage with teenagers and adults. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and is currently on staff and worshiping with St. Bartholomew s Episcopal Church. She dreams of creating altars in the world where pilgrims may gather together, rest for a while, find renewed vision, be healed (in body, heart, soul, and mind), and offer to the world the hope of God in Jesus Christ.
STUFF YOU WILL NEED paper pens candle and matches music and a way to play it (see Checking In ) copies of a word search for the word song or sing (see Exploring the Word ) Bibles newsprint and markers PLUGGED IN + Find fascinating statistics on teens and music at IT Facts. (http://www.itfacts.biz/music-consumption-statistics/10786) + Try putting together a mixer based on these How to Sing tips and pointers. (http://www.wikihow.com/sing) + Try this exercise with your group. Explain that Sing, Sing, Sing was the anthem of the big band generation. The Benny Goodman version of the song has no words. Give everyone a piece of paper and a pen. Encourage people to write down what comes to mind as they watch this video clip from The Benny Goodman Story (http://youtu.be/o-_-m3ecw_o). Then bring the group together to discuss these questions: What is the song is about? Does the music need words to sing? How does the song make you feel? What does the song make you want to do? CHECKING IN Invite the group to join you in this responsive blessing: The Lord be with you. And also with you. Have someone light the candle. Say: We are going to center ourselves by praying with music. Invite group members to close their eyes, to take a deep breath, and to relax. Invite them to pay attention to their breathing. Suggest that as they exhale, they imagine breathing out the distractions that occupy space in their mind, body, and spirit. Suggest that as they inhale, they imagine breathing in the peace of God. After a minute of silence, play a Taize song or another simple chant. (You can learn or download Taize songs at http://www.taize.fr/en_article10308.html or play songs/chants by Jeff Johnson http://us.myspace.com/jeffjohnsonmusic or Stephen Iverson http://www.myspace.com/stepheniverson.) Invite people to listen or to sing along. Either way, be sure to repeat the same song or chant for three to five minutes.
Bring the group together. Ask each person in the group to sing his or her full name to a familiar tune. Next, find out how singing shakes out with your group by playing Would You Rather? Explain that you will name several pairs of activities and that each person is to choose one of them. People may shout or sing their answers; or if you have the space, ask them to move to one side of the room or the other depending on the option they choose. Offer one at a time the following choices, asking, Would you rather... sing a solo or sing in a choir? attend a worship service with singing or without singing? sing or listen to someone else singing? sing contemporary songs or traditional hymns in church? sing or be quiet? have a song playing in the background or not? Ask group members to talk about what they have learned about one another and the group. If you need to prompt conversation, ask questions such as these: Who likes singing? Who doesn t? What sort of songs do we like? Who prefers quiet to music? Who are our soloists? What have we learned about singing? (For example: Some folks like singing, and some don t. People like different songs. Some people like quiet.) Say something like this: I want us to explore why singing matters. I realize that if singing isn t you re thing, you probably don t like music in worship, and if you prefer silence, this might be tough; but each of you has an important voice that we need to be part of this conversation and you might even learn something. Begin by asking these questions: Do you have any ideas about why we sing? Why does singing matter? St. Augustine is reputed to have said, He who sings, prays twice. What do you think he meant by this? EXPLORING THE WORD [Before the session, look up the word sing or song in a concordance or online (see the links for the Bible Gateway keyword search below). Copy or print the results of your search. Sing (http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=sing&version1=31&searchtype=all) Song (http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/index.php?search=song&searchtype=all&version1=31&lang uage1=en&spanbegin=1&spanend=73)]
Point out to the group some biblical examples of singing: The Israelites sang before they marched into battle. The Israelites included in their scripture a book of psalms that were sung. In the scriptures, when God acts in a profound way, God s people sing. Moses, Miriam, Simeon, Deborah, David, and Solomon sing. The disciples sang after The Last Supper. Paul and Silas sang in jail. Ask people to form small groups of two or three. Divide up the results of your word search among the small groups. Provide paper and pens. Ask group members to look up the scripture verses on their lists and to make note of what each one says about singing, answering questions such as these: Who is singing and why? What has happened or is happening? If someone isn t singing, what is the verse about? What instruction does the verse offer about singing? What hints does it offer about why we sing? What is the point of the verse? Once the small groups have gone through their selection of verses, ask group members to read over their notes and to write down any common themes. Then ask them to answer this question: What can we learn about singing from scripture? Bring the groups together, and invite them to report on the themes they discovered in scripture. Record their answers on newsprint. Then ask these questions: Why does God want us to sing? Why does singing matter? If the group is still struggling with answers, offer these questions as prompts: When learning our ABCs or colors or the books of the Bible, why do we often learn them by singing a song or a rhyme? (Singing them helps us remember. Maybe we sing to help us remember the words with greater ease?) Think about soundtracks for movies, TV shows, or commercials. Have you bought a song because you heard it on a TV show or commercial? Why does it matter what songs are used or when they are used? (Sometimes we sing because singing creates a space in which we feel, learn, heal, and grow. Maybe we sing because singing gives God space to move within us. Singing provides a context or a background for our lives. It helps us to remember experiences, feelings, thoughts, and people. Singing brings people together and gives us a glimpse of heaven s joy on earth. http://www.stfranciswilsonville.org/taizeinfo.html) Why do we sing happy birthday instead of simply saying it? (Singing marks a celebration of a special occasion and somehow means more than saying the same words. Maybe this is what St. Augustine was talking about when he said, He who sings, prays twice. Singing takes the celebration, the thanksgiving, the prayer, the struggle one step further and involves more of who we are.)
SHARING IN PRAYER Read the following or say in it your own words: Singing creates connections between God and us and creates space for us to be in God s presence. It holds more of us in that space than words alone do. Many people in the church think about worship songs as songs that lift us to the highest heights of Zion; songs that are big, elevating, passionate, and loud; songs fire us up to go out in the world. Yet, worship songs also include songs that are quiet, short, small, and repetitive. These songs usher us into the calm and peaceful presence of God. We opened the session with a quiet worship song. I d like to use another to close the session. I encourage you to sing along. The purpose of short, repetitive songs is to allow us to sing without worrying about the words or the tune. After hearing a couple of repetitions, we can join in and sing along, which allows us, and not just the song, to be present to God. Repeating each song for three to five minutes creates a meditative context for the singing, which helps us remember the words and also helps the song the prayer to move from our head to our heart. The songs are worked into our being. Then we can begin to listen for God. It is also quite possible that one day, years from now, we will realize that we ve been singing this little song, without thinking about it. Meditative singing helps us to rest in God, to practice the peace of God that passes all understanding. Repeat the opening prayer exercise, choosing a similar song. If you wish, conclude the session by inviting the group to sing together the Gloria Patri. TAKING IT FURTHER Invite your music director to join the group for this session. Invite him or her to talk about how music is chosen for worship. Invite the group to choose a Taize song to begin each meeting. Invite group members to practice singing it before they go to bed as part of their daily meditation. Have the group choose a verse from scripture and set it to a simple melody.