Top 10 Spiritual U2 Songs

@U2 continues their long series of top ten lists with a look at what writer Maddy Fry considers the Top 10 Spiritual U2 Songs (leaving the word "spiritual" undefined.)

Bob's Bloggery has already responded. (Bob, you've got mail) ;-) And here's another similar list from about a year ago with a slightly different twist.

While the original NJ newspaper piece it was responding to is long gone, we had some discussion about another similar list in 2005 (that list had several songs on it that were not on the @U2 list and vice versa, and I find less to critique in Fry's specific suggestions -- although I would still make the point I made in '05 that there is no such thing as a non-spiritual U2 song, and the fact that their work reflects that kind of healthy integration is one of the main secrets of its appeal.

My memory was that some reader had then put up another long list on her/his own blog (I seem to recall a white background and a large font!) after which discussion ensued, but I can't find it. If you're out there, speak up and I'll be happy to link you.

Updated version of this post:
If you've been considering submitting a proposal for a presentation or panel at the U2 academic conference next May in New York, the deadline has been extended to November 10th. Check out the guidelines and get those submissions in!

Also, a reminder that registration for the conference, which has a limited number of spots, begins the same day. And the preliminary schedule is now available!

Our contributor and U2 author in his own right Steve Stockman is teaching a course next month at the Union Institute for Christian Training (Presbyterian Church in Ireland) called The Saints Are Coming: U2 Songs of Social Transformation. Here's a sample of what's on offer, taken from Week 3: "Original of the Species":
'Change the stories individuals and or nations live by and tell themselves and you change the individuals and nations.' What stories and theology are carried in songs for change? In a world where people are being de-humanised by politics, technology, consumerism and gender can songs re-humanise and give back dignity to the oppressed?

Caritas: Pop Culture Resources

Greg Stevenson lists some books that make good pop culture resources. Along the way he mentions that Sheffield-Phoenix Press will be putting out a series of books on "The Apocalypse in Popular Culture" -- that ought to be interesting!

"loss and hope... triumph and tribulation"

I thought some of our readers might be touched by this personal reflection on discovering, and then rediscovering, U2.

Because the ONE campaign asked me to....

A word to commenters

The comment system on this blog, which has been the same one since '03 and I'm not energetic enough to change, doesn't allow me to moderate; recently I've been harrassed by a spammer posting some pretty disgusting content up to 100 times a day on one old post. I've deleted that post so that no one could get to that comment page from this blog anymore, but I've also turned off my email notifications. So if I miss a comment of yours and you really want a response from me, please know that emails are always welcome.

Water, water everywhere … nor any drop to drink

Mark Meynell of All Souls Langham Place blogs about a Sunday focusing on the world water crisis with a presentation that used U2's "Wave Of Sorrow." The sermon itself is on this page. Even if you don't care about somebody using "Wave of Sorrow," you should click through to the post to read the statistics on the global need for clean water and what gets spent on that versus on, well, other things.

Blog Action Day on Poverty, Oct 15

This post is part of Blog Action Day 08 - Poverty

Tom Davis, President of Children’s HopeChest, reflects in "Neue" on hunger and food waste using "Crumbs From Your Table." He connects it with the parable of Lazarus and the rich man.

Excerpt:
Our table scraps alone are staggering. How so? The U.S. government estimates that 27 percent of our country’s consumable food ends up in landfills. That’s a pound of food per day for every American family. Supermarkets, restaurants, cafeterias and the average family are all part of this culture of waste.... In fact, recovering just 5 percent of that food could feed 4 million people a day. That’s about half the population of Somalia, one of the “hungriest” countries in the world, according to U.N. findings. The crumbs from our tables.

Fair Oaks Arts Blog: Sacred Music?

Playing catchup: Tracy at the Fair Oaks Arts Blog answers a question about why churches would use a "secular" song in their worship services, including an essay on the topic that appeared in Leadership Journal.

14 Interviews: You Pick the Best » U2Diary.com

...And now, part 2 of the game: it's time to vote for your favorite U2: A Diary interview. There are some interesting ones in the mix.

Occasio: Ephesians & U2

Another dispatch from this semester at Fresno Pacific: Tim gives a summary of a workshop on "breaking down dividing walls." It used Ephesians 2:11-22 with the Anton Corbijn version of the "Please" video (always a great one to show a group and talk about) to ground discussion of political and religious divisions and how to deal with them.