Getting in touch with our feelings can be easier said than done in our culture. This is why I often use books, movies, art, poetry, childrens’ stories … in my sermons and reflections. They are often referred to in the spiritual direction community as “third things.” Third things help us name our own experiences, which then helps us to empathize with others.
The term third things refers to the idea of using something else to open up a deeper understanding. Author Parker Palmer describes third things in his book, A Hidden Wholeness:
“In Western culture, we often seek truth through confrontation. But our headstrong ways of charging at truth scare the shy soul away. If soul truth is to be spoken and heard, it must be approached ‘on the slant.’
I do not mean we should be coy, speaking evasively about subjects that make us uncomfortable, which weakens us and our relationships. But soul truth is so powerful that we must allow ourselves to approach it, and it to approach us, indirectly. We must invite, not command, the soul to speak. We must allow, not force, ourselves to listen.”
Palmer says: “I call these embodiments ‘third things’ because they represent neither the voice of the facilitator nor the voice of a participant. They have voices of their own, voices that tell the truth about a topic but, in the manner of metaphors, tell it on the slant. Mediated by a third thing, truth can emerge from, and return to, our awareness at whatever pace and depth we are able to handle — sometimes inwardly in silence, sometimes aloud in community — giving the shy soul the protective cover it needs.
Rightly used, a third thing functions a bit like the old Rorschach inkblot test, evoking from us whatever the soul wants us to attend to. Mediated by a good metaphor, the soul is more likely than usual to have something to say. But the fact will count for nothing if we fail to recognize that the soul is speaking or fail to pay attention to what it says.”[1]
Sometimes, the truth is just too hard to bear. And so we have to come at it gradually, like through an out of focus lens that slowly gets clearer. Or through a story. Jesus often told parables to point to deeper meanings.
And sometimes, music touches our souls in ways we find hard to explain.
This fall our faith study will explore how popular music speaks to our souls. In my experience, a song doesn’t even have to be overtly “religious” to touch our soul.
Many years ago at a conference I heard a pastor from the US, Eric Elnes, talk about a bible study with youth that he called “The World’s Most Dangerous Bible Study”. Elnes worked with youth, and he would ask them to bring in a song that holds meaning for them.
They would give him the song one week, he would listen to it, and find a scripture passage that perhaps had something to say about the theme in the song, and then they would talk about it the next week. It was a great way for young people to begin to see that something that holds great meaning for them can be sacred or spiritual. The piece of music becomes the “third thing” to help folks reflect both on scripture, and their lives. After hearing Elnes describe his methodology, I decided to give it a try at the university, and ran the study a number of times.
I remembered it when I was listening to Ann’s sermon from August 30 about the Ecclesiastes passage “for everything there is a season …” and listening to Laura and Mark sing “Turn, Turn, Turn.” As Ann pointed out, there are many songs about the passage of time. The wonderful Pete Singer talks about how he found the bible passage, and why it spoke to him in this youtube video:
https://youtu.be/-4wYiShPEyo?si=yIRO36DqTOtcIbau
We are going to give it a try for our faith study this fall. Dana and I will start us off on September 30. Folks will be invited to submit a song that holds meaning for them. That’s the only criteria … that the song speaks to you on a deeper level. You will need to submit it to me the week before, and be prepared to briefly tell the group what the song says to you. It will be my job to find a passage in the scriptures that I think begins a conversation about the theme(s) in the song. We’ll do a couple of songs each week – and my hope is that we will have some meaningful conversations, have some theological reflection, and hear some wonderful music – perhaps even some that we haven’t heard before. Hope to see you there!
I haven’t chosen what I will start with on Sept. 30 … but here are some contenders. These songs completely undo me … and have spoken to me deeply over time.
Sand and Water by Beth Nielsen Chapman
https://youtu.be/5M_HYg2S870?si=2k7KUzwNl8eWsfSC
The Road to Ensenada by Lyle Lovitt
https://youtu.be/B9yPFqIK2ME?si=SRs0PH8NNTLodlE_
Hope to see many of you on Sunday.
[1] A Hidden Wholeness by Parker J. Palmer | Book Excerpt | Spirituality & Practice (spiritualityandpractice.com)