As we continue to move forward in the Lenten season, we so often think about what we have given up or sacrificed. I have started thinking about all those things we have kept, for lack of a better term, and how deep they are to us and nourish our soul. Maybe you love the way that pop song puts a kick in your step, the way that synthesizer vibrates that new wave tune, that harp that rings in a string quartet, or the way Jimi Hendrix could make a guitar scream so effortlessly looking like he was bored during the “solo”. Perhaps you love the songs of nature, when you are outside hearing the birds, the way the wind blows the trees, or the rain falling to the ground.
Certainly, we are all in unchartered waters right now, as we continue to navigate through a global pandemic. In many ways it feels like we have given up so many things already in the process, but maybe from this extended form of giving something up, we have also gained something in return. I think this is the true meaning of resurrection: we gave up one thing to gain everything else. Like music, and contemplation, my point is there is always more. No matter what we must give up in return, it is simply the process of moving forward. We will constantly tap into something such as music if it provides food to feed our soul as a connection to God.
This Lenten hymn was written by English Anglican clergyman George Hunt Smyttan (1822-1870). It was first published under the title “Poetry for Lent” in the Penny Post in 1856. (It was set to music as hymn #150.) I find so many parallels between what we are going though right now in this global pandemic and all the uncertainty that has continued to drag on.
Forty days and forty nights
You were fasting in the wild;
Forty days and forty nights
Tempted, and yet undefiled.
Shall not we Your sorrow share,
And from earthly joys abstain,
Fasting with unceasing prayer,
Glad with You to suffer pain?
And if Satan vexing sore,
Flesh or spirit should assail,
You, his Vanquisher before,
Grant we may not faint or fail.
So shall we have peace divine;
Holier gladness ours shall be;
Round us, too, shall angels shine,
Such as ministered to Thee.
Keep, O keep us, Saviour dear,
Ever constant by Your side;
That with You we may appear
At the eternal Eastertide.
I have personally always been a classic rock, blues, folk and bluegrass type, but one of my friends recently recommended I should listen to jazz. I certainly have the time on my hands, as I am no longer waiting to catch a plane! I decided to start by looking at Ken Burns’ 10-part series on jazz. This is an amazing series, and for those who have interest it can be found on YouTube. The first episode is titled “Gumbo: Beginnings to 1917”. Jazz came from the root of the blues, and most people think the blues were written from sadness, but they were a form of celebration through the music to stomp the blues out of being held down in society. Blues originated in New Orleans and certain parts were put down as a standard to playing them. During this time in history and for those that know the history behind New Orleans, it was a melting pot of both European immigrants and African Americans. What happened to be blues then was shaped into jazz, and the explosion that happened was the art of improvisation. “Who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and like David invent for themselves instruments of music” (Amos 6:5). It was really the first time and the first music that was referred to as “American” on a grand scale and it was a very important time in which people from all skin colors collaborated on how they could work to improve the art of improvisation, crossing all lines and boundaries of music.
So what does this have to do with Lent and how is it spiritual? I think Jesus taught us how to improvise what we are doing every day; an example would be laboriously getting on Zoom calls and as we connect and possibly work with someone in another country. But what it also shows is through the improvisation we are all human, flawed, but carry that one common trait of love, and we have no boundaries to how we can connect with one another, just like the improvisation of jazz. As you move forward during Lent, please listen to the music and improvise on how you feel fits and feeds your soul. I leave you with a lovely piece by Sting featuring Branford Marsalis, “Fields of Gold”. Have discipline on what you give up, but also focus on all you have. God has instilled in us how to improvise.
-Cuyler O’Connor