In Alain de Boton’s TED Talk “Atheism 2.0” he considers the need for practicing atheists to adopt elements of religion to “satisfy our human need for connection, ritual and transcendence.” His insists that one of religion’s strengths is our capacity and practices for marking time. This got us thinking at The 787 Collective, wondering if there might be emergent ways to dig in to our own Christian practice of marking time, finding fresh points of access as we consider new ways to celebrate some of our oldest traditions. These questions sparked our first experiment in this direction, which is a Collective-sourced playlist on Spotify to investigate together the meaning and import of each liturgical season through music both secular and sacred.
We are already deep in Advent, but want to share a link to the Advent playlist that many of us enjoyed over the past few weeks and that still might inspire or illuminate these last few days until the beginning of Christmastide. While compiling the list, we asked Collective participants to choose music based on what Advent meant to them and/or what song they think speaks to this season. The outcome is varied, as are the musical genres, but if you’re traveling the next few days, hanging at home, or running final holiday errands, we invite you to download the playlist and let it inspire your own thoughts about the season. The pain and joy of waiting, the desire that a better world will come, and our communal prayer for the way of light in times of darkness: This season feels as much about learning to abide and find joy in the waiting as much as the anticipation of better things to come. There will be more to follow (Christmas then Epiphany followed by Ordinary Time), but get started here:
787 Collective Advent Playlist
For those new to Spotify, you can create an account at no cost (if you wish) and this will allow you to stream the playlist for free if you are connected to the internet with the occasional ad interruption. Follow this playlist or the channel to stay posted as we consider this new exploration of liturgical time, and if you have suggestions for future playlists (“this song totally reminds me of Lent!” for instance), please email your contribution to mcoon@austinseminary.edu.
