De-fluffed Worship, and the Music of the Spheres

Things that crossed my mind during worship at church last night:photo © 2009 Dhilung Kirat | more info (via: Wylio)

In my fear I cried to the Lord,
And he answered me by setting me free

My wife and I were talking a few nights ago about fluffy Christian music - the ever-popular "Jesus is my girlfriend" music. I like a song with some guts to it... a song that says that when I'm struggling to get my head above the surface, God will do something other than promise me a nice hug when I get back into the boat. This song, based on Psalm 118, is a song with something to it. It's strong; it's active. It says that God's willing to DO something for me when I'm desperate. Awesome.

You dance over me while I am unaware
You sing all around but I never hear the sound
Lord I'm amazed by You

Recently I was reading about "the music of the spheres," which is a medieval concept that the heavenly bodies (planets, stars, sun, moon, etc.) are constantly producing a music that we do not hear because it is happening all the time and we are used to it, like someone who lives next to the train tracks might not even notice the trains any more, or like an inhabitant of a large city might not notice the constant traffic noise any more. C. S. Lewis equated this "music" to the presence of God; we can't get "into" or "out of" the presence of God because God is omnipresent... He is everywhere at once. He's right where I am, and He's right where you are. When we think we are "getting into God's presence," actually all we are doing is allowing ourselves to become aware of His presence which is already there. It's a useful, maybe even critically important concept to understand, and it was surprising to me tonight to discover it right there in the first verse of a Lincoln Brewster song. I wonder if he reads C. S. Lewis? :)