cover image A SONG TO SING, A LIFE TO LIVE: Reflections on Music as Spiritual Practice

A SONG TO SING, A LIFE TO LIVE: Reflections on Music as Spiritual Practice

Emily Saliers, Don E. Saliers, . . Jossey-Bass, $21.95 (209pp) ISBN 978-0-7879-6717-8

Two respected musicians from wildly different venues add a new volume to the Practices of Faith Series on Christian spirituality, this one on the spirituality of music. Don Saliers, a church musician and professor of theology and worship at Candler School of Theology, teams up with daughter Emily, one-half of the popular group the Indigo Girls, to write a warmly personal book about the healing power of music as it "encodes life, most especially shared life." Although Emily's music is labeled "Saturday night" and Don's "Sunday morning," they want readers to have "crossover experiences" in which we find the sacred in all authentic and truth-revealing music, regardless of genre. The authors address the "worship wars" taking place in churches over which type of music is the most welcoming to newcomers, warning churches not to dismiss either traditional or new music, but to look for music from many styles and cultures that challenges us to encounter mystery. Pull up a chair and sit in the family room as these two share the places where their views on music connect and diverge, demonstrating how to "make musical judgments, but not in a judgmental manner." Musicians, music-lovers and indeed all those devoted to the "spirituality of daily life" will be inspired. (Nov.)