The Outrun, by Amy Liptrot. A Brief Review.

I am about to confess to a weakness. Bookshops in Airport Terminals. They are one of the highlights and hazards of air travel, and this time I was caught by the old 'buy one, get one half price' sales pitch. Which I duly did.

The Outrun was what I found myself reading in one of those hard plastic chairs near the B Gates somewhere in Heathrow's T5.  It was an odd choice (the book, not the chairs).  The autobiographical story of a recovered alcoholic rediscovering herself on the windswept Orkney Islands isn't my usual fare.  I suppose it was the cover that got my attention.  Sea, landscape, a hint of empty spaces, and a passing nod at the cover of another favourite of mine Land's Edge by Tim Winton, which is also autobiographical, features the sea, empty spaces, but no alcoholics.

What actually happened was that after seeing the cover, I opened a copy at random somewhere near the middle, and began to read.  Moments later, I was in a world of vast open skies, low walls and short turf, a treeless landscape alive with the sound of the endless Atlantic breakers falling upon the rocks as they have from the dawn of creation.  But Amy Liptrot writes much better than I, so I closed the book, searched for a companion volume to get my second half price 'bargain', and prepared to fly.  And when, eight or more hours later we landed at JFK, I had travelled much further than the 4,500 miles between London and New York.

The basic structure of the book is simple but effective.  Liptrot recounts her return to the Orkney Islands from London, immediately after she has 'dried out', and as she revisits a series of locations or scenes of life before she left for the bright lights of the south, she takes the reader through another step of her descent into the haze of drink.  When she returned North, she called the intervening time ten lost years.  Ten years of chasing a chimera of she knew not what, constantly attempting to find it through ever heavier drinking.  She is painfully, albeit understatedly, honest with the reader, she exposes the labyrinthine internal logic of the alcoholics world, continually comparing it with what she had abandoned on Orkney.  It makes an alternatingly evocative and painful read.

Along the way we are exposed to her schitzophenic dad, her born-again mum, farming with no trees, oil workers, life in a wholly rural community, and landscapes on what seems like the edge of the known world.  It is perhaps her ability to evoke the shape and feel of landscape and place that is the books most satisfying element.  She deftly uses surprise, reflection, anecdotes, local legends, and the etymology of place names to conjour a world of skies and wind, of ordinary beauty in un-looked for places.  And all the while wondering why she left it, and could she really return and live among it without falling back into drink.

How did she dry out ?  Once again, it was AA.  While she keeps a distance from her mum's faith, she eventually realises its the 'higher power' that she needs, and, after that, things change.  Back on Orkney, at one point she contemplates some quasi-Celtic manifestations of Christianity linked to the islands, but while appearing to admire that world's faith, she keeps that too at arms length.  But she does rebuild life, she lives and works in an online world, blogging, tweeting, facebooking and the rest.  And she starts to swim, but how and why I'll not divuge here.

Would I recommend this book ?  If you like travel writing, or writing about places, or if you've had close encounters with alcoholism, yes.  If you'd like a worked example of what going down to the bottom, and coming back up looks like, yes.  If you like the Orkneys, probably yes.  If you're interested in a worked example of the life of 20-somethings in the noughties, yes definitely.  But be warned, for all its ability to evoke a place, The Outrun will leave you mildly sad.  It did me.

The Outrun, by Amy Liptrot, Pub by Cannongate, pb, ISBN 978-1782115489

Wind in your hair, sun in your eyes, life is good.

We are made in God's image.  That is one of the central messages of the Genesis narrative.  God made.  Like the animals, but differentiated from them.  Only we, us humans, have his 'breath' within.  Its poetic, and profound.  And one implication is that we too create in our own image.  We see it in our children's faces, their hair colour, their stature, their aptitudes, and weaknesses.  And as we raise them, we see them take on our manners, our turn of phrase, our odd movements, reactions, even imitating our laugh sometimes.  But they also take on something of our world and its priorities, some of our big ideas, and a haphazard selection of our small ones.

How does it happen ?  Simple - you put their head out of the window, what else ?

Muzical Musings III

And now for the third posting in this incomplete series - when will this madness end ? Who knows !

In part I, I outlined some presuppositions about Worship in general and Sung Worship in particular. In part II I proposed that a good way to analyse and discuss Worship was to identify some 'outputs' that might indicate that it was Worship Done Well - Most of the outputs related to Sung Worship Done Well, but some would apply to all attempts at bringing our praise and adoration etc. to our Heavenly Father.

Given those outputs are reasonable, what actions should we do to assist one another in sung worship, so that the sheep truly adore the shepherd they love ?


Lets start with the material itself. What should we sing to worship well ?  Clearly Frosty the Snowman is a poor Christmas Carol, just as My Way sits uncomfortably during the Lord's Supper.  So what should we sing ?

I think that the answer is similar to the one given to 'what shall we preach ?'; we must select compositions and arrangements that are 'biblical', in that they are fully compatible with scripture's breadth, depth, and content.  Of course, few people will jump up and say 'hey I've got this new heretical song, let's sing it!', but for sung worship to be biblical, just as for a sermon to be 'biblical', it must be in harmony with the melodies of scripture (pun intended).  That harmony and compatibility can be summarised as :

a) Accurate : that is, with lyrics that are biblical, ie. actually true, balanced, and understandable.
b) Comprehensive : compositions that, taken with others, range broad and deep across the full range of biblical truth.
c) Expressive : pieces that cover the range of responses of the Bible's own examples:
i.e. Extolling, Praising, Blessing, Lament, Repenting, Sorrow, Celebration, Wonder, Awe etc.

Those cover the truth content, but the musical, melodic component must be in harmony too, so I think there are a further three notes that must be struck :

d) Appropriate : The melodies and arrangements must properly and adequately carry the lyric's truth content.
e) Merit : Lyric and music should really have artistic merit in and of themselves.
f) Singable : Yes, normal humans must be able to sing the compositions!



Of those six, accurate needs some expansion. For sung lyric to be accurately conveying biblical truth, it must not also convey or imply contradictory un-truth in such a way as to endorse un-truth. (Phew that was a sentence)  Accuracy means balance as well, no single truth or group of truths under-emphasised, or conversely over stated, such that another truth is hidden in its shadow. But, accuracy does not preclude focus, that's where 'c' above, comes in; Carols have focus, but every Carol does not have to mention Christ's return, Hymns about the cross have focus, but need not refer to the incarnation. But the poetic confuses these nice distinctions....

What's to be done with poetic expression ? The bible is full of it - metaphor, simile, allusion, juxtaposition, forward and backward references, and more..Should our Sung Worship go and do likewise ? I think the answer is yes and no. Or yes, but only if ...

Yes, if the song is based upon a biblical idea, verse or passage, but no if its a song based on a song about a biblical idea or passage.  In other words, one level of indirection only, please.  Thus a song based on Psalm 23 or John 10 can wax poetical and be richly evocative, yet stay solidly biblical even as it lifts the singer's spirit heavenward.  Whereas a song based on a song about Psalm 23 is likely to move into flights of fancy that blur into the un-true, even when allowed plenty of poetic licence.


And what of Merit - should the music have artistic merit really ?  I think we all vote with out feet on that - or, we vote with our Youtube clicks and mp3 downloads.  We're more likely to listen to In Christ Alone in the Car, than Prayer is like a Telephone, unless you have some six year olds in the back.  We always vote with out feet.  Or using another example, read down the track list of one of your favourite Christian songwriters, and ask which of these do we sing in worship. Like as not you'll find six tracks on one album, and just one on another - the six probably have merit, the others... well .. just leave 'em, don't choose 'em, don't ask us to sing 'em next Sunday.  Please.

Muzical Musings II

This is the second of an incomplete series of postings about the leading and delivery of Sung Worship.... What is supposed to be happening when its Done Well, and what do we have to do to deliver that ?

It seems to me that a good way to analyse and discuss Sung Worship and how it might be Done Well, is to look at the 'outputs', the what we want or hope for, and then to ask what 'inputs' should help deliver the desired outputs.

So, I offer nine outputs that might indicate Sung Worship Done Well.

1) First, the worshippers genuinely know and feel they are worshipping God. Its subjective, but essential. Since the God of the Bible consistently describes himself as 'the living God', and repeatedly states he is 'with' or 'among' His people, visibly as they crossed the desert, and internally by his Spirit, and since he invites His people to 'approach' him, to 'draw near' to Him, to address Him directly in word and song, it seems reasonable to expect those who do so know and feel that they are actually doing so.

2) Aspect(s) of the sung truth(s) help to extend, confirm or enhance our appreciation of God. This might be through their freshness, their ability to evoke, or perhaps their juxtaposition with other truths. It could be a function of the original or uncommon way of expressing truth employed by the lyric writer, or it might just be the ordinary bedrock glories of the gospel unexpectedly 'lighting up' as they are sung.

3) The sung Truths and their melodies stick in mind and memory long after the event. Of course, this is 'upon reflection', but the humming of a melody after the event has finished, the singing to oneself of half lines and their arising unbidden during the day suggests that something has penetrated the hearer and lodged within. Then when phrases or lines or even whole verses come to mind days or weeks later, surely it is an endorsement of what went in, since we have added them to our armoury of truth and truth reflections. Doubtless, it is not necessary to have acquired those during Sung Worship, they could easily have come from a concert, a You Tube clip, or a music download. But, I suspect that its the corporate experience that is the most effective and has the highest penetrative power.

4) Sometimes Dark Moods are lifted, Joy is regained, or crass frivolity is dismissed. The hymn writers and composers of previous centuries often held that the mood and emotion of music had a spiritual dimension to it. Perhaps thinking of David playing for Saul, they expected their congregations to receive spiritual benefit from the combination of mood and truth present in their compositions, and to find that during sung worship, pessimism, despair, or grief might be lifted, or that faith would be strengthened, or that appropriate gravity or seriousness would be fostered. I think that they were probably right.

5) Each piece sung supports the next one(s) naturally, and there is no contradiction or 'jarring'. This is mainly a plea for keeping the overall picture in mind, and avoiding unhelpful or contradictory juxtapositions of mood or melody.  Examples may seem a little forced, but sharp contrasts of style can throw the worshipper(s), as can contrasts of energy or expected participation.

6) A regret that it always ends too soon, and a feeling that 'I'm glad I came here today'. This is similar to '1' above. Its a vote of 'yes', we, or I was aware of whom we worshipped today, and I could have stayed longer.  In that sense, every gathering to worship should be a foretaste of glory, a canape before the wedding feast of the Lamb.  Canapes are delightful, vibrantly tasty, and hint at much greater things to come, so should Worship Done Well, not least the Sung bit.

7) Worshippers can be heard and seen 'putting their backs into' the truths they sing. Few things sap the worshippers energy as thoroughly as standing among people singing like zombies, still more dispiriting is the sight of people with mouths clamped firmly shut, refusing to sing.  But when the opposite is visible, the encouragement to join in is delightfully attractive.

8) There are smiles, occasionally tears. A smile says 'yes', albeit transiently.  The tears are less easy to read, and may say more about individuals than about the worship at that point, but both suggest that the Done Well may be happening.

9) Worshippers are not very conscious of those leading/playing, or focused on them over-much. Admittedly, some multi-task more readily than others, and they may well observe all that is going on, while still remaining fully engaged in worship.  But they are a minority.  For most, where the eyes go, the mind soon follows.  Hence a certain 'invisibility' of those leading and playing is a good thing.


And how do we help bring those nine about... that is Part III.

Muzical Musings I

At a certain independent chapel I know well, much thought, many hours of debate, and not a little angst has been poured over many years into the murky waters of the subject of 'Worship Music'; it has often been the very epitome of a fruitless discussion, indeed, it was one of my offspring who first pointed out that it was so after a particularly circular discussion one Sunday afternoon.

So, having been goaded into action by the wisdom of one so young (sic), I put together the following musings.


First two(?) presuppositions around sung worship...

I take Singing to be accompanied singing in the main. I hold that those who reject musical accompaniment at all times have no biblical support, and their pragmatic reasons for rejecting it represent a failure of teaching and good old disciple making. Hence in the below I presume some combination of instrument(s) and voice(s) as normal.

It seems to me that are a number of specifics that are tied to time and place or that fall into grey or elastic areas where judgement is called for. Hence I'll make no comment about ages, levels, genre, percussion, harmony, instruments, numbers, duration, repetition or composers. Many of the specifics are balances between competing objectives, and cannot be ruled upon in advance or absolutely. So, broadly speaking, age is really about a person's 'maturity' and 'attitude', genres and styles are about culture, sub-culture and demographics, there are no biblical or unbiblical 21stC instruments only instruments, composers are almost irrelevant if the composition is more than 5 years old, and so on …


What do I/we mean by Worship, Sung or otherwise ?

Genuine Christian Worship springs from true truths about the God of the Bible as revealed in the Bible, some measure of understanding of them, resulting in an appropriate expression of, or responses to those truths, directed towards God. In their responses and expressions, Christians worship the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, through the Lord Jesus Christ, aided by the Holy Spirit (whether they are conscious of this or not), and in so doing bring Him glory.

The expressions/responses may be silent (internal/unspoken), or audible; the latter spoken (extempore or written) or sung (the how sung varying from culture to culture), and may also be 'visible' in a worshipper's countenance and bearing. At the same time there will often be an invisible 'felt' experiential component - a moving of the emotions frequently accompanies this. Worship is private and personal, and also corporate, and it should be expressed in both contexts – the individual disciple alone before his Father, right up to the largest of gatherings; but the corporate cannot exist without the private, and neither can the Christian.

Among the range of responses, the OT and NT takes Singing to be a normal one. e.g. The Psalms, 1st Temple Worship arrangements, in the Gospels Jesus & the Disciples singing, and Paul's 'Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs'. The Psalms themselves specify musical accompaniment and name melodies, and they frequently use three words that cover what might loosely be called adoration : Exalt, Praise, and Bless, meaning (briefly), i) to say something great is truly great, ii) to praise, iii) to approve at our most heartfelt and deepest level. And then in addition to Adoration, the Bible offers us Lament, Celebration, sung requests, ballad-like reflections on historic events, songs of triumph and of repentance and more, almost all of which are ultimately directed god-ward.

Only the born-again can worship. Unless our hearts of stone are replaced by hearts of flesh, and we have the Spirit of Christ within, there is no worship. While 'all you have made will praise you', the dead cannot, as the Palmist puts it succinctly, therefore, neither can they assist living Saints in authentic Christian worship.

So, have established all that, what of Sung Worship itself. What should happen so that it happens ? That'll be the next Posting ...