Psycho-something worship

I'm sitting here listening to Chris Tomlin sing "Sing with me how great, how great, is our God..." and a thought crossed my mind.

I know that sometimes there are worship songs that just get my heart thumping. It crosses all genres and styles and I think the core of this music is baisically Christ-centered (that is, Jesus is the point of the song, whether I'm singing to him or about him).

Then there is what I call "Happy Jesus Music." It's basically what you listen to when you're trying to honor God with what you listen to but aren't looking for any more than that. An example is some of the silly Christian rappers I've heard. It's good the music is out there, but that's about all it really is - out there.

Then, there is what I call "Deep Worship," a phrase taken from C.S. Lewis's idea of "Deep Heaven," from The Great Divorce. This is the music that carries the trappings of the first category, but is so much more. There is one distinct flavor to this type of music that sets it apart from anything else - God shows up, and His presence can be felt in a deep and powerful way.

After a while of deep worship, I just want to die. Really. I know that if I died right now, I could be praising in deep worship for eternity. As I look around this world I see just how much this world is not "deep," in the sense that it is so far from what was in the original creation. A longing that I rarely feel in such intensity awakens and I immediately get depressed.

Oh well. I guess this is the shallow end of the pool, anyway, and everyone's got to learn to swim way over there in the deep end.

Danny