It seems that the world is agog at the release of Taylor Swift's new album; the Sun newspaper devoted it's entire front page to the subject and it occupied the slot of Radio 4 immediately after "Thought for the Day". I admit that until I heard the latter, I had no idea who Taylor Swift was, and after hearing a few bars from one of her songs, I equally had no idea what it was about. To be fair, Taylor Swift will never had heard of me and would probably find my sermons incomprehensible...Whilst Taylor's songs may not be entirely to my taste, she is popular because her music deals with serious emotions; her new album is called "The Tortured Poet's Department" and much of it focusses on her feelings about past relationships. Critics have said that she is popular because her songs allow so many of her followers to better work through their own emotions. This goes to the heart of what good music can achieve; it moves and addresses its listeners in ways that plain words cannot. In this respect, her music has a spiritual side. The link between Gregorian plainsong from monasteries and the records of best selling artists like Taylor is closer than many people might imagine.
As I said morning prayer today, I was pleased to find that one of the Bible passages re-acquainted me with two of my favourite characters from the Old Testament; Bezalel and Oholiab. I first came across these around 15 years ago, in the farewell sermon of a previous vicar of Highley, Clive Williams. They were not great prophets, priests or lawgivers; they were not fearsome warriors or might smiters. They were craftsmen; Bezalel was a wood and metal worker, Oholiab was a weaver and embroiderer. In the story in the book of Exodus, they were chosen to work on the tabernacle; the tent in which the people of Israel believed that God would dwell in when they themselves were nomads, wandering in the wilderness of Sinai. As many will know, my father was an accomplished wood worker and I read this passage at his funeral. I have inherited from him his enthusiasm for wood working, his workshop and tools, but sadly not his skill. No matter, the fact that I need to use screws and glue to hold things where he could rely simply on joints simply increases my admiration of real craft workers. There is something uplifting about admiring finely crafted work; indeed there is something uplifting simply about trying yourself, as my colleague Angie Foster (soon to be a Rev) will testify. I would suggest that these activities can be spiritually uplifting, as we appreciate skill and beauty and perhaps get a glimpse of the source of all beauty.ReplyReply allForward