Tunnel of Love:  Notes and Links from the Forum Series 1/12

Dear Trinity Church and friends,

 

Last Sunday we began our session by watching the full band play “Blinded by the Light,” informing our discussion of the song with selections from Springsteen’s 2005 Storytellers reflection (lightly edited to honor Forum propriety as we could!): his introduction from that program may be found here.

With companion scriptures Luke 2:41-52 (“his mother said to [Jesus], ‘Child, why have you treated us like this?  Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.’”) and Galatians 5:13-26 (“For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence …”) as companion scriptures, we compared the “freedom-from” of “Blinded by the Light” with the “freedom-for” of “My Hometown.”

We shared some of our own experiences of leaving home and wrestling freedom’s tensions, and we concluded our conversation with imaginations of Kate and the narrator of “My Hometown” – either staying where they were to raise their young son, or deciding to leave, to “pack up … and maybe head south.”

 

As we prepare to honor the legacy of Dr. King, we will consider what happens when “the personal and the political collide,” and this Sunday we will begin our session by watching Springsteen’s Storytellers reflection on “Devils & Dust,” followed by his 2000 performance of “American Skin (41 Shots)” from Live in New York City.  The latter song, inspired by the shooting death of Amadou Diallo, shined a light on the perils of “living in your American skin,” and brought controversy to Springsteen’s turn-of-the-millennium reunion tour with the E Street Band.  Luke’s story of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion in chapters 22 and 23 will serve as our companion scripture.

We will end by anticipating the next Sunday’s session on fatherhood and sonship.

 

See you Sunday,

 

Morgan