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Music & Memory

Just a few weeks ago, I was sitting with a group of friends at a birthday party when someone asked “What’s the best live music show you’ve ever been to?” There was an immediate pause in the surrounding conversation because that’s such a great question, right?! It’s great because I can almost guarantee that as soon as you read it, you started searching for your own answer. Or, maybe an image immediately came to mind.

We took our time going around the circle, trading stories of intimate venues, big-show decibels, and memorable band discoveries. For the record, I went with seeing the end of U2’s 360 tour in 2009 (the sheer spectacle of it!), but there were some others I could’ve chosen. What struck me was how I felt transported to particular locations all over the world, to memories of specific artists or songs I’ve loved, and into meaningful moments that shaped my life as each person shared their favourite experience.

This is an example of what scientists and psychologists have shown to be true — that music’s acoustic qualities have this profound capacity to interact with our bodies and shape our emotions. And in doing this, music works its way into our memories. It’s why my friends’ stories stirred up all-the-feels that night, and why you’re still thinking about that show you went to.

Because deep down, music connects our unique experience of the world to others. Songs are inherently communal because they require notes and sound to be made AND heard, where each time we participate in that reciprocity we’re reminded that we aren’t alone. This is at least part of why poets and instrumentalists inspire the reactions they do in every culture, and why certain words and melodies stay with us across space and time.

This is something I want you to keep in mind during our current sermon series, The Old Songs, for a couple reasons:

First, because maybe it’ll help you pay attention to your body and be aware of what’s happening all around you as we sing together on Sundays. Liturgy has always been a sensory experience, so take note of how the music passes over you, what it feels like to hear others’ voices joining with yours, and what collective quiet and reflection inspire for you. Also, be open to how memories of your spiritual journey might spring to mind from a particular lyric, or from the interplay of sound and light in shared space. Don’t be afraid to spend some time thinking about what hymns and songs have shaped your theology in meaningful ways.

And second, I think this series is important because of how it might shape your view of inspired texts. The truth is that we don’t really know where biblical authors sourced these songs from, and we certainly don’t know the tunes. But, isn’t it fun to think about how scripture might have been composed not so much as curated theology, but more like the tune stuck in someone’s head? More like the memory of a chorus sung at the top of your lungs with friends?

I really encourage you to start from this place of musical memory, where you imagine these texts as the old songs that changed someone’s life, as the poetry that helped them see something bigger than themselves. Because maybe - just maybe - that will help you be open to the sacred as something you feel and find in the rhythms and melodies you share.

Peace,
Scott

Sunday Liturgy

We come together at Commons to sing, pray and reflect on scripture. Each week, we post the liturgy we've shared in on the Liturgy Blog so you can access and reflect on it during the week.

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