By Paster Curtis
 For Curtis, talking is hard. The only thing that’s harder is not talking. |
| Music for Advent Here is a change of pace from the other Faith Formation pieces. Today I give you an Advent playlist. This is a season of waiting, of longing, of hoping. We admit that we don’t have the answers to the world’s problems and we have no choice but to wait and pray for Jesus to return and make things right. Here is my list of waiting and longing songs. Thanks to my friend and colleague, Phil Reinders for suggesting most of the songs that made my list. Steve Bell, “Ready my Heart” and “The Angel Gabriel.” You can find those songs on his album The Feast of the Seasons. Some songs lean into Christmas, but most are all about preparing and waiting. There is a bunch you could pick from Porter’s Gate. Some that stand out for me: – “Drive Out the Darkness” – “The Reign of Mercy” . – “Make A Way” – “The Wedding Feast” This is a good corrective to our waiting for the birth of a baby. That’s already happened! We are waiting for the arrival of the Bridegroom who will unite to himself the church. “Sigh No More” by Mumford and Sons. It’s not standard seasonal style, but when they sing about “love that will not betray you / dismay or enslave you, it will set you free,” longing meets joy! “Surely it is God who Saves,” The Uptown Worship Band. Another non-standard Advent song, but it’s loaded with jazzy, bluesy longing. Listen for direct echoes of Isaiah 11. “Comfort Ye My People” Chicago Metro Pres Music. It’s a setting of the opening vocal movement in Handel’s Messiah, performed with accordion, banjo, and mandolin. I have a hunch you’ll either think it wonderful or a corruption of a beautiful piece of music. It’s growing on me as is the whole album, Proclaim the Bridegroom Near. “Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming” by Mahalia Jackson. Or Chanticleer. I can’t decide – I like them both for different reasons. And yes, this one is moving into Christmas songs. “Come Thou Redeemer of the Earth,” The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, from the album, Advent at Ephesus. Beauty and longing meet. I’ll end where I began, with Steve Bell and The Feast of the Seasons, and his interpretation of “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.” If you have Spotify here is a link to this playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1acFljmFjIHWJBdbxl20Uq?si=r5AnyEJwQc6XQlzid72vFA&pi=llUxx74rQlWS3 |
