John Bell's The Singing Thing

I just finished reading John Bell's The Singing Thing: A Case for Congregational Song. It is rare that a book upsets, delights and inspires me all at once, but Bell managed to do so. Perhaps I'm so interested in the "why" of congregational song (indeed, the "why" of singing in community in any setting) because our congregation is currently exploring new ways of singing in worship together. I am also one who loves to singing "at all times and in all places" (to borrow from the eucharistic prayer), but who is not so (naturally) gifted.

Bell makes a strong case (in one of his chapters) that the songs of the faith we learn as children significantly shape how we conceptualize God. This is both an inspiring and frightening prospect. Still, as I reflect on my own childhood, it rings more than true.

I'm also reading (just in case you're curious): Lawrence Cunningham's newest biography of St. Francis, Frederica Mathewes-Green's Facing East: A Pilgrim's Journey Into the Mysteries of Orthodoxy and trying my best to catch up on Harry Potter #4.