Sermon using "One" -- "Restoring the Circulation"

A reader sent in this audio link to a recent sermon from Farmers Branch Church of Christ which launches by drawing in a fairly sustained way on "One." It's from a series on spiritual gifts. The Bible passage brought into dialogue with the song, and with the way church communities do and don't treat each other, is 1 Corinthians 12-13. (Has a nice community-focused treatment of "Have you come here to play Jesus to the lepers in your head?")

"The gift artists bring to the church may be no greater than anyone else's... but we need them desperately."

Simplify, Engage, Inspire is a blog leading up to a contemplative youth retreat, "The Altar," in Kansas in late September. Its owner has been posting about one of the speakers, Ian Cron, who has a novel out called Chasing Francis, in which a megachurch pastor loses his faith and goes on a pilgrimage, seeking to discover more about St. Francis of Assisi. A recent post on the arts quoted this novel, including the main character's "letter to Francis" telling the saint about a post-9/11 U2 concert.

It reminded me of the sermon in our book in which pastor Amy Lincoln describes her own experience at one of those same Madison Square Garden concerts. (If it won't load for you, try "full screen.")

What's your playlist?

A missionary in Togo, West Africa shares his 15-song "U2: Worship" playlist, with comments on each of the songs. (Nice to see "Three Sunrises" on there.)

Prepare Ye: Sing the blues

An ELCA seminarian posts a few reflections on the Psalms, including a link here and some other U2 content.

The things that happen on mission trips

Worth a link not for anything it says about U2's music, but purely for historical value, the as-yet-untold story of how one committed 1985 World Vision volunteer in Ethiopia inspired another.

Neon Bible: "A vindication and a majestic return"

Although it has occupied a lot of mental real estate for me this spring/summer, I don't think I've said much about Arcade Fire's Neon Bible on this blog. However, Books and Culture has now published a review by faith and culture writer David Dark that I feel like I'm entitled to link here, not just because of the several U2 namechecks, but on pure principle. Also contains some magnificent stuff on Funeral.

33 1/3 on Achtung Baby: exclusive excerpt from Stephen Catanzarite's book

While this blog has its origins in promoting our U2 book, I'm pleased to present today part of a different one. Here's a snippet from the section on "One" in the forthcoming book Achtung Baby: Meditations on Love in the Shadow of the Fall by Stephen Catanzarite. It's delightful to see extended musical as well as lyrical analysis (and I've had to cut several paragraphs from each for length here.)

"One" begins gently. In contrast to the ballyhoo and heavily processed sounds of the previous two songs, it is austere, even raw. You can almost smell the wood and feel the steel of the instruments, nearly taste the grit of a long day—or perhaps an even longer night—in the singer’s voice. This is a love song that reaches beyond romance, a kind of postmodern blues ballad that rises swiftly and powerfully above the banal.

Melancholia is in the song’s DNA, a certain darkness that is built right in to its chord structure. It is written in the key of C, a key so familiar to Western ears that it can quickly dissolve into musical treacle. A kind of tension in the arrangement of "One" never allows that. Nothing says "bittersweet" quite like a solid A-minor chord on which the song begins and to which it frequently returns...

The verses and choruses are not as obviously repetitive or distinct from each other as is typical of a pop song. Two main chord progressions cycle into and out of each other throughout the song, and all the other elements work around them. This structure, combined with the absence of a sustained lyrical hook, prevents the song from ever turning into an anthem. At its heart "One" is an elegy.

* * *
Lyrically, "One" is a conversation. It is the kind of conversation lovers often avoid having, those that can quickly overwhelm the peace and tranquility of even the most stable of households. Though its title suggests unity, the lyrics speak of difference. One of the many consequences of the Fall is the disintegration of our natural unity. We are at enmity with God, with each other, and with ourselves. In a Fallen world, love is not cheap, it does not come easy. Consider what the Bible has to say about love, in the words of the Apostle Paul:

"Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Try not to let the familiarity of those words get in the way of what they have to say. These are not the romantic couplets of a greeting card. These words, like love itself, present us with a challenge. They call on us to reach beyond ourselves, beyond our selfishness, to rise above our fears, and to overcome our weakness. Not just for our sake, but for the sake of others. "One" boldly confesses that it is practically impossible to live up to that challenge. Yes, love is patient and kind, but we are jealous, arrogant, and rude. Even in adversity love truly does endure, but we want everything to go our way—and we bitch and moan the minute that does not happen. Like all good poetry, "One" shows rather than tells us how easy it is for the bitter to overcome the sweet.

The book is out next month and is available for preorder now.

Off topic, but perhaps a point of personal pride

The new issue of "Q" features a "Cash for Questions" with the Edge for which readers were invited to submit inquiries. As we say in the southern USA, I'm tickled to discover today that my question was used for the article. And no, I was not the person who asked "what does God look like?" (Nice philosophically sound answer, though.) Mine is about cheese.