Being captured in a moment in which you see yourself from the outside, the world makes sense, and you get why you are finally where you are supposed to be in that moment. This is what most good music does to me. I don’t classify good by the type or really even the talent…but music is good to me if it evokes something that poetry and prose cannot, makes me feel in line with a part of myself or my world that I previously did not. There are three songs that I could never satiate myself on because what they evoke is so strong that I never tire of feeling it; then I realized the comparisons of these songs to my view and understanding of the trinity.
Mavis Staples and Jeffy Tweedy – You Are Not Alone to me is the Holy Spirit. There is something about Mavis’ voice that makes me feel connected, watched over, and fulfilled all at the same time. This is the posture I take toward the Holy Spirit, something my very straight laced, non-charismatic background has produced within me. When I don’t have the words to express pain, joy, sadness, or happiness…I listen to Mavis and call on the Holy Spirit.
Ian Axel – This Is The New Year encompasses what I experience when I wholly let myself experience Jesus. This song, though largely unknown, is about a new beginning, the eternally hopeful, and the restorative. The lyrics can primarily be applied and thought of as a turn of the year/start of a new era soundtrack…but that’s what Jesus brought isn’t it? It’s hopeful, empowering, and heavy on community with lyrics like “Let’s tear the walls down that divide us and build a statue strong enough for two”…I can’t help but picture Jesus and his spirit.
Mumford and Sons – White Blank Page is everything that I have ever experienced with God. It very well might be a broken hearted love song, but those are always the best ones about God. Complete trust, love, rage, affection, dependence, anger, and exasperation. This song is how I have experienced God, after it is over my soul is dripping with the emotional battle that I have been through with faith, doubt, and hope in the past five years. Lyrics like “Lead me to the truth and I will follow you with my whole life” that are sung as the song builds to a blinding pace compared to the slow, quiet tempo it started with is a perfect parallel for how my relationship with God has developed. I have never felt more intensely about divinity than now and it is only because of the slow, quiet build and the consequential angry fall-out.
Now, to be fair, I never really have had much interaction with “The Trinity” as a unit, and it still slight confuses me. When I strip away my lack of knowledge, though, I know that there is something important to this idea of the three sides of deity. They tap into our hopes, dreams, and our souls in three distinct ways, just as these songs do for me.
Becca Kello 