Sometimes What We Should Do Is Just Simple by Rev. Benjamin Glaser

 

My kids make fun of me a good bit for my musical tastes, partly because that’s their job to poke at the old man for being out of touch and all that, but when it comes to one particular song the mocking turns to foot tapping and smiles. They get all surprised I like a song they like. It makes them question their own approval of it. While I am generally of the opinion that Nashville committed murder on music row in the late 90’s, if not earlier, there is one song, that I am sure y’all know, and it’s a tune which James William McManus will mock me mercifully about once I mention it here in a second. Yet there is a lyric in it that speaks to me, which all good music should do at some level. There is something special, likely designed by the Lord about the nature of composition which provokes certain emotions and ideas through the witness of men and women getting together strumming guitars and pounding on drums and manipulating fiddle strings that does something to the human spirit. While I might be drawn towards acapella psalmody in the Lord’s House in His worship thanks to the teaching of Holy Scripture this doesn’t mean I don’t get all weepy eyed when Earl Scruggs picks the opening riff of Foggy Mountain Breakdown or Don Rich starts harmonizing with Buck Owens on Tiger By the Tail. There is most certainly a place for ensemble instrumentalism in the life of men and women all throughout the world.

Music does something that is unique to itself that no other medium can equal.

But I guess I ought to out myself so J. Willie Mac can get into his ribbin’.

In the song “S-I-M-P-L-E” by Florida-Georgia Line there is a lyric which hits me every single time I hear it. After who knows who sings about living life on Instagram and no one caring and the like he talks about a Sunday drive on a piece of land. There is something about that which just hits me in the soul. There is an ethos in that line which points to a way of life that is completely foreign to our ears and the mindset of contemporary life. If you ever watch the lyric video on Youtube the whole thing is set in the 1920s. Don’t ask me how I know about this but there is a fashion thing today called “cottagecore” where folks seek to emulate the dress and ways of the pre-WWII and post-WWI era of American history. In describing this Davina Ogilvie says, “As a concept, it embraces a simpler, sustainable existence that is more harmonious with nature. Aesthetically, it’s a nod to the traditional English countryside style, romantic and nostalgic.” Slowing down and enjoying the beauty of the world, engaging in fellowship, and seeing the day go by in the sunshine of love and grace is something worthwhile to rekindle in our weekly existence. There is a lot to commend the philosophy of that movement. We'd all be better off seeking to engage a sustainable way of life, and when we talk about that we don't only mean having chickens and vegetable garden. It is just as vital to establish a mental health regimin that you can use to bear through the more difficult things in life.

In my mind the rise of the need of anxiety medication and substance abuse is tied into the industrialization of the way we order our lives. What is meant by that is the way everything we do from day-to-day is economically focused. The Apostle Paul speaks of our call to redeem the time and part of his reasoning for that is having a schedule based on the rhythms of the natural world rather than Madison Avenue or Henry Ford.

We all know that things are so epically over organized today and so absurdly busy that we need times and seasons where we just stop. Take it all in. Enjoy just being alive. Let me tell you something crazy. What if I told you that God in His everlasting mercy and grace gave a time such as this for you in His love for His covenant people? Wild stuff, as Johnny Carson used to opine. Just enjoying the presence of people without needing external stimulation and noise. Crazy concept that is. Imagine a whole day where you toss the phone into a wicker basket and just giggle along at stories while eating biscuits and ham, collards and sweet potato pie all the while not having your ears invaded by the noise of electronics. Kids playing in the yard, running around burning off energy for Sunday evening worship. Sounds almost too good to be true. Yet it was the normal mode of operations for eons before we came along and decided we needed to get salt and vinegar chips and some Sam’s Cola and do all our shopping immediately after hearing of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for sinners on the Lord’s Day morning. I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure seeing the people of Walmart is the greatest conduit to consider what I just learned in worship. When the 4^th Commandment says, “…in six days you shall labor” we are reminded that we have more than enough time to get everything we need to do done. A life based on the order of God rather than man is what we need today.

The idea of the Christian Sabbath as a day of rest while given lip service by presbytery’s and presbyters is something so needed to be recaptured in today’s world. To go back to bro country for a minute the whole concept of just driving around the back forty as you digest both a big Sunday meal and the spiritual food you ate in the corporate worship of God’s holy family is such a blessing in ways that we’ve not properly understood. Diving into Roger Goodell’s monstrosity or Brian France’s apostasy from southern racing is a sure way to cause whatever it is you heard from the prophet in the worship of Christ Jesus to fade away in the noise of the afternoon. I know everything in society mitigates against it, and you want to check Facebook for the 87^th time that day just to see if anyone posted anything you needed to see, but take a break. If it is that important someone will call…or text, or heck come by the house.

We are so busy and miserable in today’s environment and it is all of our own making. We ain’t got no reason to be so anxious yet we are. When’s the last time you had to go slaughter a hen to eat lunch or head down to the crick to get some water to boil for soup? It’s some kind of irony that we need less time to do what we need, but seemingly we got so much going on that there is not enough to get it all done.

That’s crazy.

There is a court case working its way to the Supreme Court that touches on these issues of the Sabbath, and some of y’all are old enough to remember the days of blue laws and the such. Even secular atheists are starting to see the benefits of a time of rest. Wendell Berry has an enormous amount of poems that he has written about Sabbath. Yet if we want to get some peace we are going to get some pushback. It used to be that we didn’t have to worry about sports or other activities being scheduled on Wednesday (the Baptist Sabbath) or the Lord’s Day, but that is no longer the situation. Though if Christians said that they wouldn’t engage in practice or games or the like then they wouldn’t be able to do it. Look, I realize it is hard, makes you look like a rabblerouser and a botherer. So what. The prophets of old were called troublers of Israel and Paul caused all kinds of heartburn everywhere he went. Doing that which is spiritual healthy is more important, and matters far more in the long term.

To close things out let’s go back to Florida-Georgia Line…another couple lyrics get the point across:

Ain't no need to complicate it, We both know that's overrated

It's paradise as long as I'm with you

So if decluttering our lives is good, and we can all agree that doing a bunch of stuff makes us super tired, why don’t do the thing that is not overrated and make use of the means of grace on the day our Heavenly Father has set aside for us, because let’s be honest…what is more paradise than the presence of Christ and the preparation for the eternal rest we will have in Him.