Quarter Notes is now Rhythm of the Saints
Introducing a new space for spiritual engagement with popular music
Reach in the darkness
A reach in the dark
To overcome an obstacle or an enemy
—Paul Simon, “The Rhythm of the Saints”
When God’s voice first reached into the darkness of the universe, the ears of creation listened. Indeed, from human perspective, listening is the beginning of everything we do. All of it. Our words are responses to the things we’ve heard before. Our actions are reactions to the things already set in motion. All that we give we have first received. We are at our core, then, listeners. However, we have not always been very good at embracing this identity. Dissonance exists between the things we hear and our varied responses. This creates tension, obstacles, enemies. But these can indeed be overcome if we are willing to reach our ears into the darkness to listen—to truly tune into the voices of our neighbors and the divine voice that desires the reconciliation of all things and the overcoming of every obstacle.
Writing and engaging with popular music (and pop culture broadly) has always been for me an attempt to practice this tuned-in listening with the hope of reconciliation. By delighting in a danceable groove or marveling at a gorgeous melody or being wrecked by the heartbreak of tragic lyrics, I hope to participate in the yearning for relationship, spirituality, beauty, and justice that echoes in the hearts of humanity.1 However, for many in the church, there has been trepidation or at least uncertainty regarding how we listen to and engage with pop music.
This uncertainty is a particular area of curiosity for me. In observing other Christians, it seems apparent that the majority don’t engage popular music nearly as much as other pop culture media (films, TV, social media, etc.). Even looking at some of the major Christian media outlets like Christianity Today, it’s clear that music (other than worship music) takes a backseat to other elements of culture. And yet, we’re surrounded by music on a daily basis. So what’s going on here?
To better understand this, I recently conducted a little survey where I asked Christians to share their thoughts on how we should engage with pop music. Additionally, I asked them how many of the top 20 songs they had heard (let alone had meaningfully engaged with). The results were staggering. Despite a great openness to cultural engagement (some went so far as to say we’re doing ourselves a disservice when we’re not listening to popular music), the average survey respondent had heard just about 3 of the 20 most popular songs! So, again I ask, what’s going on here?!?
Well, I won’t bore you with the long academic paper I wrote in response to this survey. But what I argued essentially is that there simply aren’t systems within the church that support widespread, meaningful engagement with pop music. In fact, the CCM (contemporary Christian music) industry has been built over the last 40 years in such a way that creating an alternative kind of Christian consumer that only listens to Christian music is good for business. But is it good for our communities? Well, the tl;dr of my academic paper is: I don’t think so. We need spaces for Christians to engage together with popular music thoughtfully, openly, even imperfectly.
Why? Because God is at work in all the world, even the world of pop music. And if we want to join in God’s work of reconciliation—of overcoming obstacles and breaking down barriers and healing wounds—we have to be curious and listen with open ears for what God’s up to in the world.
So, with all of that, I introduce to you a rebirth of the Substack former titled Quarter Notes. This is Rhythm of the Saints.
My hope is that this space can participate even in a small way in creating opportunities for creative, imaginative, and meaningful community engagement with popular music from a spiritual and theological perspective, allowing for dialogue where boundaries have previously been drawn by the structures of the church and the Christian entertainment industry. My hope is that we can listen to our neighbors, listen to each other, and listen for the spirit of God even in the seemingly mundane. I might be crazy (it seems especially crazy in a time where I’m checking the news multiple times a day to see if World War III has started), but I think even these small acts of openness and dialogue can be transformative.
This project is going to be imperfect, so consider this an indefinite beta mode. But in closing, I’m going to share some of what I hope is coming next in this space. Oh, and by the way, I want this to be our space. I hope that others’ voices will be heard here (whether in essay form or in the comments section or maybe even a Discord server??) because I want to listen too! Not just to music, but to other people as they engage with music. So consider this an open invitation. Help me shape this space into a place that can serve both the church and our surrounding communities through creative acts of listening. I’m all ears.
Hopefully coming soon from Rhythm of the Saints
Essays
Essays on music (particular artists, songs, albums) with elements of theological, critical, and personal reflection. These essays should explore how particular pieces of music invite us into the experiences of others, what questions they ask, what emotions they convey or evoke, and what they lead the listener toward. How is our understanding of the world changed in light of this music? How is our understanding of or relationship with the divine changed? Does the music speak to humanity's desires for relationship, spirituality, beauty, and justice?
Audio divina (Sacred Listening)
A contemplative practice that invites readers to deeply and prayerfully engage with one song each Sunday. While some have done this exercise with classical or ambient music, I would suggest unconventionally ordinary and popular songs, inviting listeners to consider where God is in these songs and what God is drawing them towards.
Listening Guides
Essays that direct listeners' attention to particular themes, gestures, and musical elements within an artist's work or a genre as a whole that help to increase understanding, interpretation, and connection with the music and others.
Notes on Listening
Essays and interviews that seek to equip music listeners to listen to music broadly in new ways, to hear things from a new perspective, to consider questions they perhaps haven't asked before.
Music Suggestions
Supplemental listening suggestions through playlists, blurbs, etc.
Discord
It would be super cool to have an ongoing interactive element where readers/listeners can engage in conversation about music, learn from each other, share recommendations, etc. If anyone has any thoughts or desire to jump on this, let me know!
Book Groups
Probably a much later thing, but it would also be cool to host Zoom book groups that focus on music books and foster meaningful conversation about the spiritual and theological side of music.
In Simply Christian, N.T. Wright identifies these four elements as the core things that humanity universally yearns for.
Awesome, man. Glad you're back at it. Looking forward to this!