O For A Thousand Tongues

Sometimes I underestimate the power of song. Let me change that. I usually underestimate the power of song, but there are times when even I can't miss the Transcendent breaking into the Now while voices are joining together to sing.

A week ago Ireland played in a match against England. That may not sound like a big deal, but it was played at Croke Park--which may not sound like a big deal either, but Croke Park is the site of the infamous Bloody Sunday on November 21, 1920. That was when an auxiliary division of the British police marched into the Dublin-Tipperary Gaelic football match and began shooting indiscriminately into the crowd. They killed 13 spectators and 1 player. It was in retaliation for the assassination of 14 British Intelligence officers by a Michael Collins led gang.

Since that day the English national anthem had not been sung in that stadium--until last week. There was much discussion leading up to this match. Many felt it would be inappropriate and would dishonor the dead.


Here is a video of the Rugby players singing:



The lesson is clear. These songs were powerful to the people singing them, not because of their style (which is out-dated), but because of the context. The singers were singing about the living and the dead. They were singing about righteousness, justice, and hope for something better in the future.

I need to add, at this point, the words of my cousin, Richard. He said that, for him, the occasion wasn't about the killings so much,, and that it had more to do with national belonging (which strictly speaking is a bad thing), but was a hard won fight at that. And now the Irish have allowed the people who once dominated to play in their national stadium and to sing the anthem of the dominators. In his view, this is akin to turning the other cheek.

Also, the reason there are three anthems in the video is that, of course, the first is England's, the second is "The Soldier's Song" for Ireland, and the third is a song that both the north and the south can sing.

For too long the church has blamed "flat" worship services on the songs. That's a little like the chef blaming the parsley sprig for a bad meal. This is not, by the way, an anti-new song comment. It's just a call to remember what is at stake when we worship. We're singing about thousands of years of defeats and victories. We're singing in the context of God's kingdom, God's will being done on earth as in heaven. We're singing about the living and the dead, about righteousness, justice, and hope for something better in the future.

If that's not enough to inspire some fire once in a while, then we need to be recalled to what is happening when we worship.

By the way, Ireland won, 43-13. Congratulations to cousin Richard!