So, what to do, what to do? I just retired, and am re-inventing myself, you understand. It’s not exactly a finished work yet. So after some obligatory house-cleaning, yard work, shopping, watering the grass, I begin to reach out. Maybe a friend knows something I can do, some church event going on that I can go and profit from.

Now, my friend must be somewhere near the age category that I have attained. The activity he offers, well, I am caught a little off-guard. So I will use the lonely days, and his extravagant suggestion, and my surprise, all as excuses for my unheard of response, men and women of the jury.

He lets me in on what seems to him to be a delightful piece of knowledge. This very day, in a city not far from where we stand, a gazillion different bands have congregated and are scheduled to hold a concert to end all concerts that evening.

I know he means well. He suggests that praise and worship is the desired end of their meeting, and that surely I must be interested in that. He is right of course. But something else rises up within me. I say the most awful thing.

“I’m really not into rock music.”

“Nah, it’s just contemporary.”

“I’m really not into contemporary music. I’m the old fashioned kind.”

We then go into a discussion of our ages, and I politely excuse myself. But the damage has been done. I have become a self-acclaimed heretic if ever there was one.

To think that I, after all these years of following and seeking the Lord. Of ministry in and for the local and international church. With all the articles, books, and videos. All the youth ministry. The mission trips. The training. I am now to be locked out of the church by the music department.

For, yes, to admit to the modern crowd that young-sounding music is not the only gig going is to say a lot of other things, in their ears: You are not filled with the Spirit. You are a part of a dead religion. You are a Pharisee and a hypocrite. Of course, you are old. You are not moving with the flow of things. You poor man.

From a child I have not liked “contemporary” music. Whether in the church or not, the sounds made by twisting bodies and way-too-loud instruments were annoying to me. The damage done to my ears, the awfulness of the messages, the predominance of sound over content and beauty were all enough to say, Stay Away!

Many of my fellow believers from the beginning were into rock in the world and had no problem accepting it in the church. Today’s youth simply will not show up if such music is not allowed. The words have been changed of course, but in my mind the associations are still too strong to allow me joy and peace in a contemporary setting.

Not too long ago I would have tried to wrap up such an article right here. I’ve made my case. Get rid of rock, back to the good stuff, don’t look for me if the world is all you want. Judgment. Criticism. I win.

Can’t do that now. Now, don’t leave, fellow oldsters. But since my original blog is too long, I have to say,