 St Alban’s Episcopal Church Bolivar, Missouri Thursday, March 10, 2022 Music as Resistance -Paradise Road and the Ukrainian musiciansand hymns  Music as Protest and Resistance Has it occurred to you that the best hymns are protest songs? Have you considered how much music serves to galvanize a people into one body? If you are old enough – think about the protest songs of the 1960’s and how they united opposition to the Viet Nam war, and how they helped to unify people during the Civil Rights movement. Or farther back – think about the Spirituals that encouraged, strengthened and gave hope to enslaved people with their repeated theme of freedom. Perhaps you will even remember the excellent movie, Paradise Road (get it if you haven’t seen it – but it is NOT little-child-friendly.) It chronicles the true story of a group of Australian, Dutch and English nurses captured by the Japanese and forced to live in unbearable circumstances during WWII. They formed a vocal orchestra, and performed concerts of classical music and hymns until too many of them were weak or dead. It is a heroic story of the power of music to give voice to faith under impossible circumstances resistance to despair, and hope. But I said that our hymns also are. They proclaim a kingdom that opposes all earthly kingdoms. They announce a Way that upends the status quo. Hymns reveal the purposes of God for the whole world – not just for ourselves. They encourage bravery and stability under pressure. They remind us that we belong to each other as well as to God. They show us the beauty and the love of God that is sometimes hard to see when we are in trouble. Look at these pictures from Ukraine. Over and over during these last two weeks individuals, small groups, pulled-together orchestral groups, recorded music playing in bombed out towns, and military musicians all over Ukraine are using music as a way to resist the evil that is attempting to crush their spirits as well as their nation, their homes and their families. It works. Is there anyone who does not know the melody to the Ukrainian national anthem now? Flash mobs in Trafalgar Square, in Ireland, in the USA and Canada – even in Japan have played it as part of their statement of faith in democracy – in the hope that Ukrainian resistance represents. And you’ve seen the pictures of that adorable child sheltering underground in Kyiv who sang, “Let It Go” (from Frozen), in Ukrainian, so beautifully. She, too, is the voice of a people who will not give up. When you sing the hymns on Sunday morning, let it be your act of faithful resistance to hopelessness, discouragement and despair, too. Even our Lenten responses are songs of resistance: “Lord, have mercy” defies a culture that denies any need for mercy.“Jesus, Lamb of God…Jesus Redeemer, redeemer of the word, grant us your peace.” reminds us that God’s redemption is for the entire created universe. And the Lamb – not anything else – is the source of a deep peace that can pass our bewildered and frightened understanding.       |
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