Songs and Emotions

This is from Walker Perkins

One of the unique aspects of song worship is that songs often become associated in our minds with very distinct and powerful emotions. Perhaps this would not be construed as strange in other groups, but among our brethren there is a special emphasis on an objective reading and interpretation and application of God's Word in our lives. Often something as subjective and volatile as emotions are unintentionally demeaned. There is one song in particular that holds a whole host of meanings, and memories, and emotions for me. I would like to share that with you.

"You are My All in All" is a newcomer in many congregations, but it has been sung in our local congregation for over ten years. It was introduced at a Thursday night high school and college devotional by Kamron Lloyd, and its contagious melody, harmony, and sincerity has infected us incurably. We would sing it at the beginning of the devotional, and we would sing it at the end of the devotional. Sometimes someone would request to sing it in the *middle* of the devotional. As we continued singing it on Thursday nights, the song became more than its component parts. Notes, words, pitches, and rests gradually blended into something that transcended into something grander.

Unlike many cities, there are not very many non-institutional Churches of Christ in Corpus Christi, and the divide between institutional and non-institutional congregations is typically such that it was not very practical for us to cooperate, coordinate or visit with one another with great frequency or with any deeper spiritual significance. Many of our members drive in from across town twenty, thirty, or even forty minutes, meaning that our young people are seldom in the same neighborhoods--much less school districts. For years we only ever saw each other at service times, most of that being spent silent on pews or in a class where the focus was on other things than fellowship.

But on Thursday nights, we would be together. We would worship and devote ourselves to God's word, and we would also share that most fleeting blessing: fellowship. For us the song nearly became an anthem or a talisman. It meant that we were together in a place where we could be ourselves. We could be brothers and sisters and not mere co-worshipers in a daunting auditorium. And we sang. We sang many many songs, but always there was "You are My All in All"; in the beginning, at the end, and sometimes even the middle.

When it was lead in services, it never sounded as well. If you were the song leader, and you thought to look, you could see people rolling their eyes at this troublesome new song that became emblematic of the supplemental song book. We who knew it would sing it rapturously, and I daresay that you could hear us over the rest of the congregation. Most of us knew (and still know) it by heart. A few of us even--gasp--close our eyes when we sing it.

It doesn't sound the same to me now as it did then. Possibly because I'm not sitting on someone's carpet with a bellyful of Coke. But it always makes me remember one hour devotionals that would end up lasting for two or three. It makes me remember people that were here, but are gone now. It makes me remember what it was like to be young and alone in the world, and what it was like to find a momentary haven with those of kindred faith.

There is no Thursday night devotional now, and the song isn't sung as often in our congregation anymore. There are barely any high school age children in our congregation any longer, and most of our college age students (and there are a growing number) are foreigners from the local university, only one that's been baptized, and at least five different languages among them. But there's a small horde of middle school, elementary, and preschool kids (to which I am about to make a contribution). It makes me wonder what songs will be important to them, and if I will roll my eyes in the pews or if I'll invite them to my house and learn it with them.

Hopefully the latter.