who are we kidding?
Walter Brueggemann suggests that there are three types of Psalms: Psalms of Orientation, Disorientation and New Orientation. Briefly, Psalms of Orientation convey a "confident and serene settlement of faith issues" and express "no doubts so that one does not live in anxiety but confidence." Brueggemann claims that the speakers in these psalms seem to live a happy, well-ordered life. Check out Psalm 145 as an example.
Psalms of Disorientation are sometimes called complaint psalms. It's within these poems that the speaker complains to God (and often against God) that life sucks. And quite frequently, the speaker is bold enough to say that it's God's fault. Brueggemann, along with other scholars, believe these Psalms were part of Israel's worship. In other words, Israel was not afraid of letting this kind of "faith talk" into their communal worship experience. Check out Psalm 13 as an example of a Psalm of Disorientation.
Most churches I've been a part of are very comfortable expressing Orientation while never exploring the faith within Disorientation. For example, we call those who lead singing the Praise Team and we sing praise songs. Most churches have a liturgy that is centered around Orientation - an expression of life that is happy and well-ordered. Our liturgy rarely allows room for questions or doubts.
Brueggemann asserts that this would be fine if we understood this kind of oriented worship as an "act of bold defiance" to a life of disorientation or a "great evangelical nevertheless" but he guesses that most of our worship is guided not by faith but by a "frightened, numb denial and deception that doesn't want to acknowledge disorientation."
I long for songs that will confront the realities of this world and speak boldly to God about the troubles we face day in and day out. I long for prayers to explore questions and doubts. I long for authenticity and genuiness in our communal gatherings.
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Psalms of Disorientation are sometimes called complaint psalms. It's within these poems that the speaker complains to God (and often against God) that life sucks. And quite frequently, the speaker is bold enough to say that it's God's fault. Brueggemann, along with other scholars, believe these Psalms were part of Israel's worship. In other words, Israel was not afraid of letting this kind of "faith talk" into their communal worship experience. Check out Psalm 13 as an example of a Psalm of Disorientation.
Most churches I've been a part of are very comfortable expressing Orientation while never exploring the faith within Disorientation. For example, we call those who lead singing the Praise Team and we sing praise songs. Most churches have a liturgy that is centered around Orientation - an expression of life that is happy and well-ordered. Our liturgy rarely allows room for questions or doubts.
Brueggemann asserts that this would be fine if we understood this kind of oriented worship as an "act of bold defiance" to a life of disorientation or a "great evangelical nevertheless" but he guesses that most of our worship is guided not by faith but by a "frightened, numb denial and deception that doesn't want to acknowledge disorientation."
I long for songs that will confront the realities of this world and speak boldly to God about the troubles we face day in and day out. I long for prayers to explore questions and doubts. I long for authenticity and genuiness in our communal gatherings.
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posted by jch at
9:36 AM
4 Comments:
I agree. The only songs that come to my mind that come anywhere close to expressing Disorientation are "Blessed be Your Name" (with the "you give and take away" refrain) and "Help us Our God." I long for more songs like this too, and we shouldn't be afraid of them.
Joe - maybe you should write one. :-)
Hmmm... Isn't that what so many of the "old" songs were, but no one wanted to sing them anymore because of the very content you now seek?
AMEN.
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