Abstract
“Lived religion”, an important field of research within the discipline of Practical Theology, is studied in formal institutional contexts where people practise religion, as well as on all levels of everyday life and culture, as it plays out in the lives of people within the spaces they inhabit and in which they function. In these spaces people are given the opportunity to tell the stories of their religious experiences through narratives and descriptions – and are led to reflect on and interpret these experiences, in order to give meaning to them. It can also be called “lived theology”.
According to Schleiermacher (1768–1834), the task of Practical Theology is the study of the arts and their role in the experience of the religious or the experience of God. It means poetry, music, paintings, the liturgy, hymns, rituals, the art of life, as well as unexpected forms of art that can bring about profound experiences of the transcendental, the spiritual, the mystic, and of God – forms of art that can influence people, transform them and liberate them. Schleiermacher defined Practical Theology as a form of art itself – theology done in a creative, aesthetic way as art, by writing and speaking in ways that move people, inspire them and help them to give meaning to their life.
Religion that is lived is something that is done – it is performed. It is performative. Research on lived religion should also be performative, a performance. The author connects to the views and practices of theologians such as Fulbert Steffensky, Wilhelm Gräb, Albrecht Grözinger, Martin Nicol, Peter Bubmann, Heather Walton, Peter Nissen and John de Gruchy – theologians who, from a fine aesthetic perception, study the influence of the arts on religious experience and who perform theology in ways that touch and inspire people.
The focus of this article is the power of the arts, encounters, religious experiences, and especially the experience of hymns as a form of art within the context of lived religion. The author previously gave attention to the function of hymns during the Covid pandemic and other times of uncertainty (Kloppers 2020b; 2020c; 2021). This article reflects further on the power of music, texts and hymns in a specific context during the time of Covid, with specific attention to the possibility of experiencing consolation, healing and transformation. From an aesthetic and narrative practice of theology, an essay is presented in which a hymn, “Zolang wij ademhalen” (“As long as we are breathing”), is discussed as a work of art that can exert a deep influence and can heal people. The text is by Sytze de Vries (born 1945), a prolific translator and writer of hymn texts in Dutch. The text has a strong focus on breath and breathing – of using one’s breath to sing and praise God, to sing as part of the community, and to be carried by the singing of the community when one’s breath is gone, one’s voice is silent, and one cannot sing (any more). The relevance for the time of Covid is clear. It was written, however, as long ago as 1984, when the text writer was suffering from burn-out and could not join in the festivities of his church choir. The article shows that the text has prophetic features and that it gained in relevance some forty years on.
The hymnological aspects discussed are the text, the tune, the text and tune relationship, the history of origin of the text, the choice of melody – LLANGLOFFAN, a tune from Wales – as well as the reception history of the hymn. Biographical and work details of the text writer are also given. The hymnological discussion is woven into a broad narrative with personal experiences presented in an autobiographical story – an essay or lecture that was meant to be delivered/performed live during the 75th birthday festivities for the text writer in the Cathedral Church of Utrecht in the Netherlands, but which could not happen, due to Covid restrictions.
The author reflects hermeneutically on personal experiences and interprets them within her own frame of lived religion, while also connecting them to other narratives – academic and from everyday experiences. From the concept of the “lived body” as the locus of human participation in reality and the essential role of “embodied experience” in the practice of religion, the author shares experiences of being physically and psychologically unwell due to the lack of singing in community during the Covid pandemic. She narrates experiences of “losing” the voice and the ability to sing – and how an encounter with the hymns of Sytze de Vries then helped her to sing again and feel part of the community of believers. These experiences are further related to the loss of the author’s youngest sister due to Covid – someone who loved singing hymns, but was also deprived of singing in community during the Covid lockdown; a person who worked as a physiotherapist to strengthen and stabilise the breath of others during Covid, but who eventually lost the breath that gives life. The concept of breath plays a crucial role in the hymn and in the article.
Apart from “breath”, a key concept in the essay is “resonance”, also a central idea in Practical Theology. Reflecting specifically on the hymn, “Zolang wij ademhalen”, the author noted the prominent concept “wedding feast”. In the hymn it is used metaphorically to refer to the feast of the “new heaven and the new earth” (Revelations 21). It resonated with “wedding feast” in the words of her older sister, who referred to a wedding that their younger sister had attended. In the moment of resonance, the author heard with new ears, was set free and came to acceptance. She interpreted the experience as a form of “hearing God’s voice” and was comforted, healed and transformed.
Interpreting religious experiences and giving meaning to them, such as hearing God’s voice in a hymn, is naming God through a transcendental experience, a life experience. Naming God can mean making God present in this world (Nissen 2022). This illustrates what is meant by the concept of resonance: a religious metaphor in a work of art / hymn text resonates with an everyday word or event. The author observed the work of art in an aesthetic way; it influenced her, helped her to experience her circumstances differently, and enabled her to give meaning to loss and events that touched her deeply. The theological reflection and interpretation of experiences and practices, connected to giving meaning to them, can be seen as a form of lived religion or lived theology.
Theological principles, premises and research areas are presented, followed by the autobiographical essay or lecture into which the hymnological discussion is integrated. The whole is supported by references that serve as theological and hymnological evidence of aspects of the narrative and discussion. Material from the field of music psychology is also given. The conclusion is that the singing of hymns, and especially, the singing in community with others, has the power to give hope, comfort and healing within a singer’s contextual situation and life experiences. Singing and reflecting on a hymn (as a work of art) also has transformative power. In further research the narratives and interpretations in the article can be connected polyphonically with other studies regarding experiences related to the singing of hymns, be interpreted and evaluated in hermeneutical processes, and be followed by new conclusions regarding the influence of art / hymns in experiencing the religious, or God.
Below is a versification by Martin Leckebusch (1962), a well-known hymn text writer from the United Kingdom, done from a literal translation at a hymnological conference in Cambridge in 2015.
As long as we are breathing,
as by your strength we live,
may we fulfil your calling
and sing the songs you give;
like harmonies of colour
together we are bound;
may echoes of thanksgiving
through all our lives resound.
But if our voices falter,
our breathing lose its power,
each other’s song will bear us
through night-time’s darkest hour;
yes, if my lips are silenced
by any grief or pain,
this song of your desire
will be my light again.
The darkness must diminish
as psalms ring through the night;
the walls quake when your people
sing praise with all their might!
God, strengthen and equip us
for heaven’s unfolding song,
the melody which guides us,
our treasured, whole life long.
When fear is all-embracing,
when life slips nearer death,
that hymn renews the vision
and breathes your Spirit’s breath;
the sound is carried forward;
on hope, our hymns take wing;
the coming wedding banquet
shines brighter as we sing.
Martin Leckebusch (1962) ©
Keywords: aesthetic approach; art; breath; comfort; consolation; Covid; experience; healing; hermeneutic interpretation; history of origin; hope; hymns; lived religion; melody; music; narrative; performance; reception; resonance; texts; text-tune relationship; translations
- The background photo on this article’s featured image was taken by Saad Chaudhry and obtained from Unsplash.
Lees die volledige artikel in Afrikaans:
Al is my stem gebroke, my asem sonder krag ... Geleefde religie en die werking van die kerklied