Rock with a Liturgical Beat

Saturday night, several of us went to our coworker/friend Mike's concert. This was not a normal concert, though. This show integrated great rock songs into a liturgical worship service - see this article in the Willamette Week. Saturday's alternative liturgy featured songs by the artist Radiohead. I knew a couple of Radiohead songs that were played on the radio in the late 90s/early 2000s (such as High and Dry), but Mike gave me a list of songs to study the week before the show so that I could be familiar with the tunes and lyrics.

I have to say, this show was incredible! The above article quotes the organizer of this show as saying, "God types see God everywhere." Which is so true. I often find myself listening to "alternative" main stream music and finding the lyrics to have spiritual connotations.

The show began with a choral version of the song Creep (see video below) followed by some of the following readings and songs:
Reading: scripture from Ezekiel 34; "a man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone" - Henry David Thoreau; "if you are neutral in situtations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppresor." - Desmond Tutu
Song: Fake Plastic Trees (see Mike's rendition here)
Reading: Luke 4:1-13 (The Temptation of Jesus)
Song: You and Whose Army
Reading: Matthew 25:31-46; stats about Oregon being the #1 hungriest state in the country (this show helped raise money for a local food bank)
Song: High and Dry
Reading: Mark 14:43-51 (The Betrayal of Jesus)
Song: Karma Police
Reading: Mark 15:21-37 (The Crucifixion of Jesus)
Song: How to Disappear Completely, Pyramid Song
Reading: they read the "song" Fitter Happier on Radiohead's album OK Computer - so interesting
Song: Videotape; Born Again

The service ended with a reading from the well-known Lorica of St. Patrick:

"Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right,

Christ on my left, Christ in breadth, Christ in length,

Christ in height, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me."