Devotional from Pastor Dave June 5, 2024

One of the unexpected outcomes of our son Noah attending Vanderbilt is that he has become a fan of country music. I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised at this, since Nashville is, after all, the home of country music. He has attended several concerts since he’s been there, and he has introduced us to some bands and some singers and songwriters that we probably wouldn’t have gotten to know otherwise.

When I was his age, I went through a bit of a country music phase myself. This was the day of Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, and George Strait. One of my first big concerts featured Clint Black and Merle Haggard. But then my music tastes changed, and country music changed, too. But Noah has introduced us to some of the artists who are presenting a fresh face and a new voice to the country sound.

This summer, he’s gotten us tickets to two concerts downtown at the Signal, the venue which is beside the Choo-Choo. The first one was Charles Wesley Godwin. I almost went to hear him for his name itself, which evokes the hymn-writing co-founder of the Methodist movement. His reference to kinfolk who had preached in the mines and hayfields in his song “Family Ties” makes me wonder if his ancestry goes back to the Wesley brothers who did just that all across the British Isles.

This past weekend, we went to hear the band Flatland Cavalry, which hails from Lubbock, Texas. One of their songs, “Mountain Song,” was featured on the tv show “Yellowstone,” and another song, “Wool,” was written for the new “Hunger Games” movie. At first, I was having trouble remembering the band’s name, but now some of their songs are stuck in my head. They are so well-written. Some are clever and witty; others are quite touching and warm. And they put on a fantastic concert. We were all surprised by how much we enjoyed it!

At the end of the concert, the continuing applause brought them back onstage for an encore, and their very last song was not one that they had written. It was one that I already knew, and knew well. You probably know it, too.

Some glad morning when this life is o’er, I’ll fly away

To a home on God’s celestial shore, I’ll fly away

You know, as good as it is to learn some new songs, it’s also mighty good to sing some of the old ones, too.

We were up on the balcony, so I looked out over the crowd packed tightly on the floor, filled with folks who looked half my age or younger, and virtually everyone in the venue was swaying and singing along to this song that is almost a century old. They knew the words, too!

And you know, I’ve got to say, it felt a little bit, maybe more than a little bit, like church.