Welcome! Last Sunday Fallowfield United Methodist Church’s choir performed a cantata titled, “America.” It honored God and country and gave the congregation the opportunity to thank our service members. Veterans stood as the choir sang their branch’s anthem. I counted five men who served in the Army and five who served in the Air Force. God bless our veterans.
Music has the power to transport us, don’t you think? The cantata hearkened back to what I consider Americana. I define the term by the thoughts and images it evokes. I see ladies in white polka-dotted dresses sipping lemonade on wide front porches. I see American flags hanging from every front porch on tree-lined streets and hear a marching band playing John Philip Sousa’s “The Washington Post.” I see children eating homemade ice cream and families laughing together.
In short, Americana evokes feelings of safety, peace, and joy. It reminds me of happy families and national pride. While these images seem like something from 1945, they can easily be experienced in 2018.
There’s no lack of lemonade and ice cream in the Atlantic community. We have parades in Conneaut Lake and Jamestown each Memorial Day. The Jamestown Fair parade is hard to beat. Conneaut Lake’s Pumpkin Fest parade is a big deal, too. Families attend these parades and have a blast, especially when people on parade floats toss handfuls of candy at the kids.
People proudly display American flags from their front porches today throughout our community. Families gather together to celebrate Independence Day and Memorial Day each year. National pride still flows in many Americans’ veins.
When I go shopping in stores that sell primitives I have a hard time not buying everything that tickles my fancy. I’d love to decorate my whole house in a primitive theme. The trouble is, I have an 1,100 square foot home, and I already have too many decorations to properly display any more. But the reason I’m drawn to those stores and items is Americana. I want to feel the safety, peace, and joy that those decorations, and often the music that’s playing in the background, evoke.
Americana conjures the cinnamon smell of apple crisp and exquisite beauty of autumn leaves. It reminds me of Pilgrims, Puritans, Anabaptists, and other sects who risked all to come to a new land where they could worship God in the way they believed was best.
As I mulled over these thoughts after church, I also began thinking about what I long for on Sundays. I long for what my religion professor at Thiel College called Other. This was one of his terms for God. But I’d like to apply it a little differently.
Other is a place where I feel serene and bask in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Other is gathering with people and not having any friction. It’s conflict-free. It’s singing old hymns that remind me of God’s faithfulness, of my need for Him, and that these same songs have inspired and comforted Christians for hundreds of years. “Holy, Holy, Holy” was written in the 1826. “We Gather Together” was penned in 1626 and “God Will Take Care of You” in 1904. These songs encourage and soothe me.
These songs and make me believe everything will be all right. Everything in my home, my family, my community, and my country will be all right, because Other will prevail. God rules over all things from His throne.
Other is what I want in my life. Maybe you can define Other in your life, too. Whatever it means to you, I hope God is at the center.
Have a wonderful week. Blessings!