Warning..this is a pretty good sized post.. if you don't feel like reading the whole thing...my answers to the question are- Surrender, Gone, Pride, 40, WOWY and Walk On.
I'm a regular lurker on the u2 sermons blog and while I was on that site, I checked out a link for a college course focused on u2 and spirituality. The site has been posting the class assignments, and one of the more interesting assignments was to identify the u2 songs that have been the most spiritually significant in your life. I thought it was an interesting question and I wondered how u2 fans would respond.
Personally, u2 and their music have played an important walk in my spiritual journey. In some ways, I believe their music put me back on the road to start with and has been used to widen my understanding of what it means to see the world with spiritual lenses. Anyway, the six songs that are the most significant to me are Surrender, Gone, Pride, 40, and Walk On
I still remember the first time I spiritually connected with a U2 song. It was a night after I had experienced one of the most shameful events in my lfe. Although I had believed in God in my childhood and early-middle teenage years, I was, at the time, seriously questioning whether God even existed. I had just about come to the point of identifying myself as an agnostic, and I can remember going to a worship service during the time and feeling absolutely nothing. That is why it shocked me when I started crying while listening to songs on the two u2 CD's I had brought with me that night as a soundtrack for a due next day English paper.
"Surrender and Gone"
Those two albums that I had with me were Pop and War. That night, "Surrender" from War and "Gone" from Pop made me cry and gave me chills. I recognized myself as Sadie. I had given up on hope and was metaphorically standing on the ledge of a 50 foot building, seriously thinking about jumping. The exhortation and reminder that if I wanted to live I needed to die to myself made me realize that I still cared about God and faith and love and miracles.
If "Surrender" gave me a mirror, "Gone" helped me see how I had gotten on the ledge in the first place. The lines "what you thought was freedom was just greed" rang true for me. In my greed for experience at all cost, I had abused my freedom in Christ. I had played with fire and had gotten burnt. Thankfully though, that night I realized I had a second chance. The chorus "I'll be up with the sun, are you still holding on" seemed to confirm that there was a way off of that ledge.
"Pride" and "40"
If "Surrender" and "Gone" were songs that played a part on getting back on the road, "Pride" and "40" are songs that have shown me that the journey isn't an individualistic path. Having grown up in a church that emphasized personal piety, I really had very little understanding of what it meant to be a Christian in my world. "Pride" helped me explore what it truly means to actively love and how to challenge man's injustice. "Pride" helped me see a church outside of the stain glass windows, a church universal empowered to bring drops of heaven to earth.
Though "Pride" was a song that directly influenced my exploration of justice in Christianity, an exploration that included becoming an Anti-Death Penalty advocate and an active Amnesty International member, "40" weaved its way through a more personal spiritual learning experience, one when I experienced first hand what true poverty was. This is because I met a person who would soon become homeless through that song.
I suppose it was because I had, at the time, stopped coming to college worship that fall; but I had never heard the worship band sing "40". Thus, when the sending forth song began with "I waited patiently..." I was suprised. The young man sitting behind me must have noticed, because he asked me if I was a u2 fan after the service. That conversation sparked a friendship and when he lost his home, I became a constant companion. Not wanting to break dorm rules, he only stayed with me about two nights a week, but on the other nights I would drive him to a relatively safe place he could camp out. Thankfully he did find a place to stay, and I can still remember the night he announced to the congregation that he wasn't homeless anymore. Strangely enough that night, we sang "40" during the service, and as the 150 Methodist students sang they will sing a new song, I remember reflecting on what my new song could be.
Moving through the shadows into the light- "WOWY and Walk On"
The previous songs I've discussed have focused on redemption and active love, but WOWY and Walk On seem to focus on how hard it can be for me to walk in the light. Sometimes the things I can taste, see and touch seem more attractive than the deeper but less obvious spiritual things. Also, as Walk On echoes, it can be hard to remember that the sun is shining when you seem trapped in a jungle of fear, guilt and mourning.
"With or Without You" has always had spiriitual meaning for me. When I sing it, I feel I am openly admitting just how hard it is for me to die to myself. "She" is quick, "She" is easy pleasure, but I know deep in my heart that I can not spiritually be alive with "her" ruling my life. Still, the part of me that wants to live without consequence and play with fire knows that I won't be able to do these things without the "you" that I sing this song to. It's a song that puts my struggle into view which is why the transcendental conclusion to the song helps me fight that battle. Although the songs lyrics say that "I can't live with or without you", the utter joy of the song reflects the joy I experience when I choose my eternal lover over the mistress who, as the song puts it, "She's got me with nothing to win and nothing left to lose."
Finally, to end this essay, I want to reflect on "Walk On". "Walk On" is for me a song of encouragement and endurance. Singing along with this song during the Elevation tour shows I saw often put me in tears. It reminded me that I too am packing suitcase for a place that "has to be Believed to be Seen", and that I only need to pursue the things that will have eternal value. One live performance of it that I've been recently listening to ends with a exhortation of praise to "Almighty God" and a half sung/spoken "40". It's an incredible performance that has served for me as a reminder of the glory and power of God and how he empowers all who believe with the ability to walk..or even run on in the faith.
I'm a regular lurker on the u2 sermons blog and while I was on that site, I checked out a link for a college course focused on u2 and spirituality. The site has been posting the class assignments, and one of the more interesting assignments was to identify the u2 songs that have been the most spiritually significant in your life. I thought it was an interesting question and I wondered how u2 fans would respond.
Personally, u2 and their music have played an important walk in my spiritual journey. In some ways, I believe their music put me back on the road to start with and has been used to widen my understanding of what it means to see the world with spiritual lenses. Anyway, the six songs that are the most significant to me are Surrender, Gone, Pride, 40, and Walk On
I still remember the first time I spiritually connected with a U2 song. It was a night after I had experienced one of the most shameful events in my lfe. Although I had believed in God in my childhood and early-middle teenage years, I was, at the time, seriously questioning whether God even existed. I had just about come to the point of identifying myself as an agnostic, and I can remember going to a worship service during the time and feeling absolutely nothing. That is why it shocked me when I started crying while listening to songs on the two u2 CD's I had brought with me that night as a soundtrack for a due next day English paper.
"Surrender and Gone"
Those two albums that I had with me were Pop and War. That night, "Surrender" from War and "Gone" from Pop made me cry and gave me chills. I recognized myself as Sadie. I had given up on hope and was metaphorically standing on the ledge of a 50 foot building, seriously thinking about jumping. The exhortation and reminder that if I wanted to live I needed to die to myself made me realize that I still cared about God and faith and love and miracles.
If "Surrender" gave me a mirror, "Gone" helped me see how I had gotten on the ledge in the first place. The lines "what you thought was freedom was just greed" rang true for me. In my greed for experience at all cost, I had abused my freedom in Christ. I had played with fire and had gotten burnt. Thankfully though, that night I realized I had a second chance. The chorus "I'll be up with the sun, are you still holding on" seemed to confirm that there was a way off of that ledge.
"Pride" and "40"
If "Surrender" and "Gone" were songs that played a part on getting back on the road, "Pride" and "40" are songs that have shown me that the journey isn't an individualistic path. Having grown up in a church that emphasized personal piety, I really had very little understanding of what it meant to be a Christian in my world. "Pride" helped me explore what it truly means to actively love and how to challenge man's injustice. "Pride" helped me see a church outside of the stain glass windows, a church universal empowered to bring drops of heaven to earth.
Though "Pride" was a song that directly influenced my exploration of justice in Christianity, an exploration that included becoming an Anti-Death Penalty advocate and an active Amnesty International member, "40" weaved its way through a more personal spiritual learning experience, one when I experienced first hand what true poverty was. This is because I met a person who would soon become homeless through that song.
I suppose it was because I had, at the time, stopped coming to college worship that fall; but I had never heard the worship band sing "40". Thus, when the sending forth song began with "I waited patiently..." I was suprised. The young man sitting behind me must have noticed, because he asked me if I was a u2 fan after the service. That conversation sparked a friendship and when he lost his home, I became a constant companion. Not wanting to break dorm rules, he only stayed with me about two nights a week, but on the other nights I would drive him to a relatively safe place he could camp out. Thankfully he did find a place to stay, and I can still remember the night he announced to the congregation that he wasn't homeless anymore. Strangely enough that night, we sang "40" during the service, and as the 150 Methodist students sang they will sing a new song, I remember reflecting on what my new song could be.
Moving through the shadows into the light- "WOWY and Walk On"
The previous songs I've discussed have focused on redemption and active love, but WOWY and Walk On seem to focus on how hard it can be for me to walk in the light. Sometimes the things I can taste, see and touch seem more attractive than the deeper but less obvious spiritual things. Also, as Walk On echoes, it can be hard to remember that the sun is shining when you seem trapped in a jungle of fear, guilt and mourning.
"With or Without You" has always had spiriitual meaning for me. When I sing it, I feel I am openly admitting just how hard it is for me to die to myself. "She" is quick, "She" is easy pleasure, but I know deep in my heart that I can not spiritually be alive with "her" ruling my life. Still, the part of me that wants to live without consequence and play with fire knows that I won't be able to do these things without the "you" that I sing this song to. It's a song that puts my struggle into view which is why the transcendental conclusion to the song helps me fight that battle. Although the songs lyrics say that "I can't live with or without you", the utter joy of the song reflects the joy I experience when I choose my eternal lover over the mistress who, as the song puts it, "She's got me with nothing to win and nothing left to lose."
Finally, to end this essay, I want to reflect on "Walk On". "Walk On" is for me a song of encouragement and endurance. Singing along with this song during the Elevation tour shows I saw often put me in tears. It reminded me that I too am packing suitcase for a place that "has to be Believed to be Seen", and that I only need to pursue the things that will have eternal value. One live performance of it that I've been recently listening to ends with a exhortation of praise to "Almighty God" and a half sung/spoken "40". It's an incredible performance that has served for me as a reminder of the glory and power of God and how he empowers all who believe with the ability to walk..or even run on in the faith.
true true! once a friend asked me "whats the secret to your faith" i said "doubt!"
"Looking for the baby Jesus under the trash"... "Looking for to fill that God shaped hole, looking in the places where no flowers grow"Those are awesome lines. I love it. It's so funny to me how POP gets overlooked for not being very spiritual. It's loaded with some of the most overtly spiritual lyrics Bono has ever written.
