Learning | Articles

What do you sing when tragedy strikes?

Craig Borlase

10th June 2014

 

With terrorism back on home soil and dominating the news, the role of worship songs might not seem like the most urgent topic. But when I walked into a funeral yesterday, I was reminded that whenever tragedy strikes - in whatever form - what we sing in church matters more than ever. And because of that fact, it raises questions like these…

* Why do none of our songs really express our pain, fear and sorrow?

* Are we worried that too much pain and sorrow in our songs will be make people think we’re lacking in faith?

* Does every song have to resolve with the happy ending of salvation, or would you sing a worship song that remained in the pain of grief throughout?

* Is there a place for an absence of words, letting the music express our darker emotions?