another backwards look....

Though much less thorough than Josh Hurst whom I linked previously, the blog Live Life Abundantly has taken on a similar retrospective project. Here's the post on "Window in the Skies".

Hey, people are still using our Bible study.....

I was rather pleased to find this blog post from April, 2008 from a church that is clearly following the curriculum for a Bible study in dialogue with U2 found in Get Up Off Your Knees. Thanks, guys!

Looking back to look forward

Leading up to the expected release of U2's new album this fall, Josh Hurst is doing some posts on U2's older work. You might want to look at the post on October... or here's a sample of Hurst's interesting take on "U2– The Lost Classics: Zooropa":

"Part of Zooropa’s message is that surfaces can be deceiving, and this song cycle is much more than meets the eye. In fact, it’s the most unified and cohesive album-length statement the band has ever made, and it’s achievement is singular: It’s a concept album about the Prodigal Son, or, as the last song terms him, 'The Wanderer.' More specifically, it’s an album about how we’re all prodigals, lost in a world that’s bent on seeing our demise, and it’s only by the grace of God that any of us stand a chance. The title cut sets the tone, as its druggy, narcotic haze eventually peels back to find Bono reciting some lines from then-current marketing campaigns before revealing the heart of what the album is all about: 'And I have no compass, and I have no map/ And I have no reason, no reason to get back… And I don’t know the limit, the limit to what we’ve got.'"

U2 Academic Conference | May 2009, NYC

Click and check it out! I'm excited to be able to share this. As the first academic conference on U2, it should be an amazing event.

Now it's just a missing link

[update: a reader informs me that the link that appeared in this post is not working; I'm not sure what happened between the time I found it and now, but apparently the original piece has been deleted or altered beyond recognition. Just in case the writer did so because she was in some way offended by being linked here, I've taken the reference out. What I was hoping to send readers to was what I described as.... ] A rather lovely personal reflection on God's prevenient grace, courtesy of "40." Another in the line of folks who were influenced by U2's faith without really knowing what was going on.

devotional interlude

Check out the series of devotions using U2 songs from Mike Petty, among them: "Beautiful Day" and "Grace."

Welcome searchers

I check the stats on this blog fairly rarely, but sometimes it's amusing to see what searches brought people here. Among recent examples:

U2 leak blogspot (sorry, not here)
is the conversations with god book credible? (no)
bono catholic upbringing (that would be larry mullen)
what bible verses is U2's 40 from? (sing this one with me; this is Psalm 40)
U2's tragedies (still wondering what this person had in mind)
which U2 songs are about catholic social teaching (I've always loved "Populorum Progressio," but if you can judge from the beach clips "Rerum Novarum" is gonna top it)
U2 spirituality (now that makes sense)
the Edge U2 statues of Mary on speakers (oh you mean this?)
australia churches fund wells in uganda (kudos to them)

The Kindlings Muse » Get Up Off Your Knees

Dick Staub has recently reposted an old podcast interview he and I did upon the release of Get Up Off Your Knees. Features a lot of me trying to remember what other contributors said in their sermons. Audio here. HT Thunderstruck.

"Music with a Message"

A 2008 class on Old Testament Narratives at Calvin Theological Seminary offers a compilation of notes on U2’s use of OT motifs. It's not complete by any means, but is interesting to look at.

Occasio: 08/08/08

For Olympic watchers, Tim has a good post on the background of 08/08/08 and how it relates to Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi, and "Walk On."

"Rock Band: U2" sermon series

Thanks to reader Cynthia for letting me know about a July sermon series from True North Community Church on Long Island (New York, USA) using U2's story and work in conversation with the Psalms. Drawing on Walter Bruggemann's orientation-disorientation-reorientation paradigm, the series moves through U2's career over four weeks. There is audio for all the messages at the link above.

If you don't enjoy highly breezy homiletics you may be put off initially, but from what I've sampled there's some very good stuff once you get past the breeze -- Pastor Bert Crabbe is obviously much better informed about the band than many people who attempt a sermon series based on U2's work (able to quote from Flanagan, for example, and full of funny imitations of Christian comments on the band in the late 80s); further, he has heartfelt points to make that relate to his U2 material more than superficially.

...or is it the Joshua Tree under the Bible?

The Society for Biblical Literature meets in Boston this fall, and as part of Monday's "Use, Influence, and Impact of the Bible Section," Andrew Davies, Vice Principal & Director of the Graduate School at Mattersey Hall (a Christian training college rooted in the Pentecostal tradtion) will present a paper on "The Bible under the Joshua Tree: Biblical Imagery in the Music of U2." A rather well-worn topic, but I'm sure he'll have an interesting twist on it.