aspenhillcc

ASPEN HILL
CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Our Mission is to be a Faithful Church Where People Experience, Cultivate, and Share The Love of God

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13501 Georgia Avenue, Aspen Hill, Maryland 20906 | 301-871-7222

I Went to a Garden Party

One of my favorite songs from long ago is “Garden Party” by Ricky Nelson.  He had a problem with being a  teen idol who had starred in  the old Ozzie & Harriet Nelson television series.  He had a difficult time growing out of and beyond and out of his teen image from the T.V. series and it posed real problems for him.  Wherever he went people wanted to see and hear the same old songs he had sung as a teen idol.  He was tired of that.  He wanted to sing new songs but the crowds wanted only the old songs.  It was a terrific metaphor for what I was experiencing in the church and so I resonated a lot with its message.

In particular the  words from his song Garden Party that have always resonated with me included this chorus:

            But if memories were all I sang
            I’d rather drive a truck
            But it’s all right now
            I learned my lesson well
           You see, you can’t please everyone
           So you got to please yourself 

That’s the truth.  If memories were all I sang, I’d rather drive a truck.  “Right”!  “Spot on”!  “Nailed it”!  When I was young it was especially easy for me to identify with what Nelson was saying.  I saw “old” people in the church refusing to accept change, staying locked in to the “old ways” of thinking and doing things.  Of course at that age “30” was “old” to me.  As a young person trying to introduce “change” to churches much in need of change, attached to the old ways and especially resistant to change I found the words to Garden Party inspiring.  I wanted to do more than just sing old memories.  I wanted to sing some new memories too.

I’m in a different place now.  Now, I’m one of the “old timers”.  I find change harder and harder  to gravitate to, harder to negotiate, a bit more troublesome than when I was a young buck intent on “all things change”.  I never was one of those radical young guys wanting to throw the baby out with the bath water but change was good.

 It’s kind of funny though how things look different now than years ago and how my perspective changed over the years.  Having said that I still resonate with  “if memories were all I sang, I’d rather drive a truck”.  Being older I have more memories that are precious to me, more stories to tell and more of a tendency to get into those good old times but I want to experience new things, new ways of doing things and staying young at heart.  The church of today has to be about tomorrow, not yesterday.  The church needs to always be looking forward, not backwards and the church, if it is to continue to be relevant in making new disciples, is called to look through the windshield, not the rear-view mirror.  While cherishing and learning the lessons of the past let’s keep looking forward and singing the song in new ways.

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