Jake Story

Music tends to reach me in ways that most other things in life can't. There is something about a simple melody that carries me to a place of lofty thoughts and rampant idealism.

Whether it's the mysterious dissonance of a minor key or hearing that perfect fifth at just the right moment, I am always struck by the way in which music can serve as both a carrier of tradition and untamed exploration.

It was early in my life that I realized I would never be anything more than a dabbler in the world of composition and performance. I was cursed with small hands, you see, not quite large enough to span the octave on the piano and fingers just fat enough to hit the wrong key at the wrong time.

And though I tried, on the piano, saxophone, and guitar, the talent seemed to always escape me. Sometimes I still wish that I could become a world-renowned musician, but at least now I have grown to a place where I no longer fool myself into thinking this is a reality and, rather, consign my mediocre musical talents to the shower.

This is not to say, though, that music hasn't or doesn't play an important role in my life. Music still carries me to places that other things can't.

What I can say is that music has been and is an example of what life, both secular and spiritual, can be. I grew up immersed in church life at Sunnyside Presbyterian in South Bend, IN. Music was a large part of my existence there.

I sang in special choirs, played hand bells, and even scored my own solo in 5th grade for our annual Christmas musical!

I loved to sing hymns and listen to the organ as it was made to sing the songs of Bach and Mozart. And music also served as the catalyst for my first foray into serious church involvement.

The experimental nature of music was part and parcel of what allowed me to develop my own sense of "experimentation" with theology and church. I've always been outside of the box a little when it comes to "what I believe," and it's a question that I'm a little wary of answering.

This is partly because, like music, I think our ideas about God and the world are more about the journey than finding definitive answers. It's a trait that tends to frustrate people, but it's a place that I am content.

I love books that challenge the status quo just as I love music that tries something different. In my life today, church is becoming something very different for me than the traditional emphasis on a building and programs that are geared towards me.

Perhaps we can begin to see church as a place that is willing to explore new avenues of being as part of our responsibility as a people called to something more important than the selfish concerns of our egos.