I had a conversation recently with a popular artist who has for years been consciously and faithfully finding ways to use her art to stir and propel listeners toward good. Over the years she has come to be well respected for her spiritual perspective, always a deeply meaningful facet of her music. In other words, she seemed like she had it pretty together to most of us. And she did.

But in the course of our conversation she spoke repeatedly about “waking up” and “crawling out from under her rock.” She used these phrases in referencing her awakening to social justice issues, a phrase which in itself has become the new buzzword of the day. But her usage was anything but self-aggrandizing.

The conversation was interesting because, although we were discussing the horrors of human trafficking, the tone was never anything but hopeful. A current of excitement buzzed through our discussion because we weren’t describing our emotions or an event but rather a move of God. She shared with me the story of her process, her journey toward awareness of the calling and the possibilities that awaited her, patiently, lovingly. And it rang very true to my own spirit, as I have been discovering my own inner Rip Van Winkle. In fact, it seems to me that a generation of believers have been slowly stretching, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, and looking for places to put their hands and feet to Christ’s work. Maybe it began with the Tsunami in Indonesia, or Katrina on our own shores, but whatever the impetus, it seems like the sleeping giant may be finally stirring.

How wonderful, how refreshing to catch a hint of hope in the air! The Lord uses whomever He likes, as the whole earth is His and all who inhabit it. But it is especially sweet to me to watch him use members of the musical community, and only convinces me more deeply of the inherent spiritual seeds within artistic expression.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 at 9:24 am and is filed under Staff Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.