An early morning surprise on NPR: the stories of people willing to die for their musical expressions, often totally unseen by anyone outside their own countries. Oppressed and often silenced, they share their music underground, expressing religion in opposition to rulers.
Much of the world is caught up in the Sunni/Shiite struggle for the heart and leadership of Islam. And, like an underground aquifer flowing out of sight, there is the music of a different passion.
http://mideastunes.com/ opens a window. The majority of the middle eastern world is under the age of 25. The musical expression becomes actually nothing less than a religion itself, so passionate that some are willing to risk death to perform it, and to listen to it.
Familiar to our ears? Probably not. Traditional religious behavior, in a deep sense, absolutely! Does this have anything at all to do with God? Without a doubt!
The highest and most grand proclamation of the New Testament is that God loves the world. The whole thing. Not JUST my part. Whether it is the best-informed or the least informed, the human spirit that reaches out for Him pleases Him. Whether that reach agrees with ME is probably of no concern to God at all; it agrees with HIM passionately.
Mid-East Tunes. What an unexpected spot to launch a discovery!
