“But they strive for attendance while I
starve for transcendence…”
These are lyrics from a song written by a band
called Lost and Found. Lutherans are familiar with the wit of long-haired
Michael and the energy of piano player George, the two members who make up this
traveling pair.
Last weekend, they stopped by Bexley as they move
across the US for their farewell tour after twenty-nine years of performing for
small churches, mega-sized youth gatherings, and anything in between. Michael
and George are not going to win a Grammy. They are not to be found on any radio
station, featured in Rolling Stone, or make it to the Cleveland HOF. However, I
think they are remarkable. Here’s why.
As a high school junior, I traveled to New Orleans
for the ELCA Youth Gathering. I met Lost and Found there and found my way to
their nightly concerts in a hotel ballroom. Religion had always been mostly
dead rituals and contradictions to me, and I had stayed involved simply because
I loved the summer mission trip weeks. That summer trip, Lost and Found caught
me off guard. They did two things:
1) Laughed and had tons of fun.
2) Sang songs with basic vocabulary that sparked
wonder for a kid who was trying to figure faith out.
Here’s a few chorus examples –
The song “Kingdom” – ‘The Kingdom’s big enough for
you. You were made to be here, too.’ Message – All are welcome.
The song “How Can You” – ‘How can you still want
me? I have turned a deafened ear, said what you don’t want to hear, and somehow
you still want me.’ Message – Grace is good news. And good news/Gospel always
gives life and freedom, and nothing we do can separate us from that.
The song “Be Not Afraid” – ‘Be not afraid, be not
alone, I have come to take you home. Be not alone, be not ashamed, I have
called you by your name. Be not ashamed, lose not your sight, my yoke is easy
and my burden is light.’ Message – We are together, and fear is erased when the
love of God whose name is Jesus names us as Precious, Honored, Loved, and
Redeemed.
Some L & F songs sting too; there is “Used to
Be,” which calls out an apathetic world that is still afraid of accepting love and
relationship as the answer. There is “Baby,” which laments how humans must wear
masks to hide real pain. There is “Opener,” cited at the beginning of this
blog, a plea for waking up to transcendence instead of functioning through an
anxiety of church survival.
And so 17-year-old me listened to these songs, and
I thought this Lutheran thing maybe had more to it than I initially knew. At
that same gathering, I met a representative from Wittenberg University and thought
maybe it’s a pretty good idea to go to an ELCA school if I’m so curious about
Lutheran identity.
Flash forward six (!) years, and I’m sitting on a
blanket with some of my best friends from Witt, my fiancé from Witt, and once
again I’m listening to Lost and Found have tons of fun and sing songs rich in
simple beauty.
Thanks for Lost and Found for 29 years of music, and
for teaching me that you cannot separate joy from faith. Stein auf.
