Raoul’s 2 Cents
Hip Hop and Humble Pie
Rap music … Hip hop … do you like it? I don’t. In fact, it’s probably the only type of music I cannot really stand. When I hear it, the images of tatooed gangster peaocoks strutting with half-exposed bottoms, undershirts and gold studded rings on fingers and teeth reflecting in hazy spotlights immediately come to mind. What’s worse are degrading lyrics towards women and bitterness towards the world.
Last Sunday, there was a rap music that culminated our weekend worship and I was livid. I could not focus on the words much less, worship God. All I could see were the same hip hop peacocks in my mind’s eye. The next day I asked some other people what they thought about the music and some shared my sentiments. I guess that gave me the license to write one of the church leaders about my disdain. I was not kind. I felt I needed to get it out of my chest. What happened next was unexpected. This leader asked me to meet him in his office to talk about it. I was a kid asked to go to the Principal’s office.
At the Principal’s office it was tense but cordial. Other than the regular banter, the “principal” and I did not really know each other. What ensued was quite humbling. I learned the background of the rap music. It’s also called the “spoken word” which essentially means lyrics read out loud. It’s a form of modern poetry. It takes time and talent to craft a good one. The person who delivered the rap music last Sunday was undergoing a lot of personal issues and was reluctant to take on the musical task — to write and to perform in front of the congregation but she did muster the courage to deliver her spoken word. I also learned that there were quite a few people (especially those coming from that culture) that were blessed by the music.
I felt so small. How could I be so nasty to a hurting human being? The principal was so gracious in approaching my shortcomings. The humble pie he offered was far from delicious but it was exactly what I needed.
Rap music will never be my favorite. But now I have an alternate picture other than the peacock gang. I will now see a fellow human being getting by with the the hardships of life.
I apologize if you think I am opinionated about many things. Having been taken advantage by many taught me to be critical. And though discernment certainly has its value it also has its shortcomings. The “principal” reminded me to approach opposing perspectives with grace. For it is by grace that God chose to love us and it is grace we need to offer back to others.
TGIF people!
Joke of the Week
Thanks to Peter Paul of S Pasadena, CA for sharing this joke.
Don’s Puns
From Don’s collection of puns
Validation
A mini-movie about a guy who validated parking tickets
Shared by Chuck of Whittier, CA
Parting Shot
Thanks to Naomi of North Hollywood, CA who shared this:
People from all over the world send him jokes and Raoul sends those jokes back with his original sketches. 
Ed
December 13, 2019 at 9:15 am
Really enjoyed your ‘humble pie’ piece.
Ed
December 13, 2019 at 9:28 am
Really enjoyed your ‘humble pie’ piece.
Great approach and clever writing!
Lee
December 13, 2019 at 9:44 am
Hi Raoul,
Thanks for your sharing today. At times I feel like the church is trying to be more like Hollywood than the church and so we want to show how free we are to be as much like “them” but always careful not to go “over the line.” I agree with your assessment of the hip-hop kind of music today and once in a while I long for a service of awe inspiring experience with God such as the Psalmist who said “the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before him.”
Sometime back, however, I was in a worship service where a large group of young people (college age) were enjoying the rock and roll style of music in the service and while it did not appeal to me, I noted that they were in church and enjoying the experience. I had to ask myself if I was being too selfish with what I wanted rather than what was reaching the younger generation. One of the songs was a total turn off to me (“Stamp on Satan” during the singing of which we were all told to jump up and down) and I did not participate with it. Occasionally I see goofy things going on in church and I have to ask if it has integrity and a proper sense of who we are and in whose presence we are celebrating and worshiping.
You raise some good points that often reflect the challenge of getting all of God’s people under the same roof worshiping the same God. When we went more contemporary at our old church years ago, a dear older woman told me that what we were singing was not her favorite kind of music, but because it made the young people feel welcome and they were with us in the church that it was okay with her. I gave her a hug for her gracious attitude and tried to learn from it myself. Everything in church cannot be just the way I like it, but it surely must have a good focus on who God is and how we are to reverence God even though the style is not my preference. We go to a church where the preaching is superb and so is the music, but it is not my kind of music and I try to focus on the words in it and less on how they are delivered.
Bless you for your thoughtful words.
Lee
Raoul
December 13, 2019 at 9:46 am
Thanks for sharing.
Maybe this is just our excuse because we are turning into the old
fogies that we complained about when we were younger. I thought I was
already very accepting but when they injected that Hip-hop music I was
so angry for “disrupting” my worship that I couldn’t focus anymore.
Indeed, our experience with music is so varied, we need to be more aware
of other people’s intent and appreciation. After all, it isn’t about us.
It’s about Him.
TGIF!
Doug
December 13, 2019 at 9:47 am
Raoul, I like your attitude.
Doug
Vanessa
March 16, 2020 at 5:47 pm
Adorable Validation film
Vanessa
Ray
March 16, 2020 at 6:11 pm
I like that you can talk about your faith in the TGIF emails. Keep it up.