[Dialogue] question to ponder

[James Wiegel]

 Here is what we said about singing in 1972 -- on a planet far, far away and long, long ago

INTRODUCTION TO SINGING 1972

 

From man's first encounter with consciousness, songs have
been the emergence of his stance in the midst of his times and have dramatized
his struggle to live the only life which he has been given. Songs which live
are those which men have decided creatively articulate their response to that
life. Thus the songs which captivate the man of faith are those which remind
him of the Word and of his decision to actualize the Word in humanizing
structures. From unite the earliest cave men who chanted rhythmically as they
bore homeward their heavy load to the computer programmer who sings along to
the jazz, that glows from the computer, man has used song to disclose the mood
of his times. In a day when the technology of communication escapes no one, it
becomes apparent that songs are a tool for globalizing every man's experience.
Songs not only the man of faith with his past and project him into the future, but
they become a symbol of global responsibility.

 

DISCLOSING THE AWE  Songs
are like a time machine which allows one to step into any moment of history and
participate in the human style at that juncture of time and space. David of the
Old Testament, St. Francis, Ambrose, Charles Wesley, and Harry Eemrson Fosdick
live again and speak of the spirit wrestling of their day es one
re-appropriates the songs which were created out of their encounter with the
Mystery. It is out of the understanding of past churchmen's struggle with the
Mystery that men of today are released to embrace the struggle of this time for
the sake of the future. To bring to focus how the past has shaped us releases
us to probe the deeps of how the spirit winds were blowing and to discern the
breakloose of the spirit today. To participate in such an event dramatizes how
the total past collides at our juncture in history.  

 

KINDLING THE SPIRIT Songs function as the countdown which
allows perpetual commitment to the times. As a filter, they unveil the deeps
which are present in every human encounter. To see the necessity of unveiling
the deeps is to have decided in the midst of the historical milieu to be a
people, and this elicits  the spirit from
which songs emerge and are participatory events. When songs like" Men of
Faith" are a part of the sung and unsung daily style, they become a basic
mode of rehearsing the corporate self‑understanding. Thus new life wells up and
is released through the creation and participation in the songs which reflect
the radical decision to be this particular moment.

 

CONSUMING THE WORLD The future is anticipated and created
through the telescopic lens of songs. The images which reflect the decision to
way assume responsibility for the future are embedded in the consciousness of a
people by songs.  The continued rehearsal
of futuric images such as "We shall Overcome" keeps the vision alive
and releases to create anew the necessary forms which will actualize the future.
Commitment to the revolutionary style is made possible by the songs which spin
in our heads and continually call one to radically actualizing the future.  Practical expenditure is concretized in the
creation and singing of authentic songs.  

 

The movemental church has always assumed  responsibility for collecting and creating the
repertoire of songs necessary for the sustenance of missional  endeavor and the presencing of the sign of
possibility. Traditional songs have been re-appropriated in some instances by
recontextualizing in such a that these songs may be sung with new fervor; in
other instances traditional words have been given new life by fusing  them with contemporary tunes. Songs which
transform the captivating music of the day into songs which  rehearse contemporary theological poetry
intertwine the sense of the destinal significance with the mood of the  times. The songs of the future are born of the
model  building which is culminated in
new images end stories, and are circuited through the tunes which have for centuries
captured the lives of those who have been  engaged in building new social forms. 

 

This particular collection holds symbolically and  actually the song life of the global movement. 

Jim



SLEEP was a marvelous invention,

but whoever first thought of filling it 

with DREAMS was truly inspired.  -- Ashleigh Brilliant



Jim Wiegel

401 North Beverly Way   

Tolleson, Arizona 85353-2401

+1  623-936-8671

+1  623-363-3277

   jfwiegel at yahoo.com

   www.partnersinparticipation.com

--- On Wed, 6/24/09, Nancy Lanphear <nancy at songaia.com> wrote:

From: Nancy Lanphear <nancy at songaia.com>
Subject: [Dialogue] question to ponder
To: "Colleague Dialogue" <dialogue at wedgeblade.net>
Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2009, 9:48 PM

Dear Ones, 

WHERE DID OUR SINGING AS AN ORDER COME FROM ?  WAS IT THE CHURCH?  WAS IT FROM MOVEMENT BUILDING ACTIVITIES?  One of our Songaians asked that question of us - he had given a tour today and was asked?  Please respond with answers or just your own stories.  I would love to hear from you about a spiritual practice that has opened so many hearts and places of energy, and at times literally kept us alive.


This has been a big week here at Songaia!  The national Cohousing conference is being held in Seattle this year and the executive director lives here.  He has enlisted most of us to contribute in one or many ways during the week.


On Monday night we hosted the International Summit group from the conference which translated into 38 folks from the group at dinner in our common house along with the 30 of us Songaians.  Of course we were our authentic selves and had singing, introductions, a birthday celebration with questions, and a fantastic meal -  a joyful time was had by all.


I led the singing and included Consider Yourself, This Little Light of Mine, and Oh, Mr. Sun and Russian Hymn for the Earth - the first was a song of welcome and the others, in acknowledgement of Summer Solstice and the wonder of gathering as Earthlings.  We ate in honor of communitarians and those who had not yet found themselves enveloped in a welcoming community.  


Following the meal we celebrated one member's birthday.  His name is Nartano and as he has been so moved by the ritual around each members birthday, he wanted to share the ritual with our guests.  Fred asked the questions of him and then shared words that recognized Nartano's role in the community.  


We closed the evening by singing the Irish Blessing to our guests.  They left with tears and smiles of joy and hope that if we could share the values of our community lifestyle with the world, it would be a more peaceful place to live.


Yesterday, Fred was awarded the Geoph Kozeny Award for a life of communitarian activities.  Our friend Geoph died a year ago with cancer.  Fred was so honored to be the first recipient of the award.

Today, we hosted 40 people who were on a cohousing community bus tour.  They came for lunch and a tour of Songaia.  Again, we sang before lunch, they joined in with great gusto!


Fred continues to be his spirited, wonderfilled self.  The huge limitations of movement and dextarity frustrate him but he keeps finding new ways to type - he now uses his thumbs and a voice activated computer program.  SINGING here at Songaia and at church is a lifeline for him.  Somehow with his breathing capacity greatly diminished, he still sings with joy and twice as many breaths.  At his ALS diagnosis 1 1/2 years ago, he promised me we would still be together to celebrate the journey of the 2 of us and the life of our family. We are celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary on July 4th with family and our community. 


We are so very grateful to be living in our community of Songaia.  And we are grateful for you,  our spirit community of many years.  Take care and remember that you are all loved, 

Nancy




-----Inline Attachment Follows-----

_______________________________________________
Dialogue mailing list
Dialogue at wedgeblade.net
http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/dialogue_wedgeblade.net



      
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20090625/b7fdb357/attachment.html>