every obstacle out of the way of

I'm kinda schizophrenic when discussing hymn-singing in churches. On one hand, I think that churches that believe in hymn-only liturgies are ridiculous. Their complete dismissal of contemporary worship songs means they miss out on some amazing works of art whose only purpose is to draw you closer to the throne (translation: Tomlin songs). Their criticisms of modern structure and instrumentation and production belie a stubbornness against change and a clinging to tradition for the sake of tradition rather than intent of heart.

On the other hand, sometimes I completely agree with their criticisms. The U2 experience that accompanies contemporary worship threatens to overshadow the heart. Or the songs focus on something other than God (looking at you "Heart of Worship"). Or the songs are just plain bad (looking at you "Famous One"). And there is this beauty in simplicity of melody and poetic lyric found in many hymns that can't be matched by contemporary arrangement. Sang a simple but great hymn yesterday, and I found myself thinking, "Yeah, maybe hymn-only IS the way to go."

Two days after the purging, and maybe some part of me thinks there's still a lot of clutter to get rid of. Still a lot blocking that walk twixt me and God. And maybe getting down to the bare minimum is the only way to remove those weeds that make that walk so much harder.