Religion should appeal to the hearts of the young

Originally written 1//25/25

Gideon by My Morning Jacket (MMJ) came into my hearosphere driving from New Smyrna Beach after watching an amazing sunrise on Monday morning. 

I was thinking a lot about church. Who is there? Who is not there? Why? Why not?

Early in the song, Gideon:

Religion, should appeal to the hearts of the young.

I agree with this. This is hard. This means for us who are old, giving up some things. In my world, it has meant giving up hymns, not altogether, but as I know them and and as my father knew them. Sometimes, this giving up feels too much to bear, almost a betrayal of those who came before me.

If I don't worship with Blessed Assurance out of the hymnal, am I turning my back on George Edward Linney, Jr. (my father) or Sarah Johnson Linney (my grandmother)?

I did give up these hymns in a faith community, the new music, the new creation, filled my soul in ways that no music had ever filled it.

Church, in my view, in the troubled world of the 21st century, has to compromise on personal preference. We need pragmatism. What will give young people a chance to try getting in the door to the local church? Do that.