Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Worth Watching

You may or may not like either Bono or Eugene Peterson, but if you're at all interested in hearing two people talk about the Psalms with honesty and thoughtfulness, then you might just enjoy this.

Bono on the Psalms and Christians:

"The psalmist is brutally honest about the explosive joy that he's feeling and the deep sorrow or confusion," Bono said. "And it's that that sets the Psalms apart for me. And I often think, 'God, well why isn't church music more like that?'"

Bono didn't hold back in what he wanted to see more from Christian artists.
"Why I'm suspicious of Christians is because of this lack of realism. And I'd love to see more of that in art, and in life, and in music," he said.
"I would love if this conversation would inspire people who are writing these beautful voices and these beautiful gospel songs, write a song about their bad marriage, write a song about how they're pissed off at the government, because that's what God wants from you, the truth. Weigh the truth ... the truth will set you free. It will blow things apart."

For his part, Eugene Peterson talks about finding "a way to cuss without cussing", which is what the Psalms do.

This is more than a theologian and a singer talking, there's a degree of profound reflection and challenge for all of us in this short conversation.