I keep a dreadful secret from my friends at church. You see, where I worship, if you think the music’s too loud, you are definitely too old. The drugged-out neighbors near our building call the police to complain about the volume. The Kentucky Academy of Pediatrics has labeled my church the number one threat to children’s hearing. Baby Boomers bring ear plugs to church. All the guitar amps go to 11. We don’t dial it down.
But deep in the recesses of my iPhone, where no one can see my music collection, I have a playlist of gentle music. At my desk, I put in the ear buds and (secretly) dial it down. The fools–they think I’m still rocking it out! But God lives in the still small sounds, too.
So if you promise not to let this get back to the hometown gang, I’d like to recommend quiet music for quiet times when you need to dial it down:
Where to Dial It Down
- Chant, The Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos. These guys have been rockin’ it old-school for 1500 hundred years. Careful–people might mistake you for a closet Catholic.
- Chants of the Russian Orthodox Church. Still quiet music, until the chimes and bells go nuts. These guys get a little rowdy–the Benedictines to the south think of this music as punk.
- Love Came Down, Brian Johnson. A thousand years and a ten thousand miles from the monks comes an album from the Jesus Culture rockers. Don’t even call it unplugged. It’s sweet and gentle, and a pathway to His presence
This article about how to dial it down originally appeared here, and is used by permission.
