i'll fly away.

even though i appreciate (for the most part) the plethora of praise courses coming out of my generation, i still wish we would balance things a little more with some of the beautiful hymns of the past. i was listening to a modern rendition of "i'll fly away" on the way to classes today and was wondering why songs like this and so many others ("how great thou art," "in christ alone," etc.) seem to carry a certain richness that many contemporary praise courses feel to be lacking in. i was wondering, as someone reminded me just minutes ago in an email, if it has something to do with the "great cloud of witnesses" that have so graciously come before us. because, when i sing "how great thou art," no matter what the musical rendition, i have never not been moved. there's power in legacy, in tradition, and in heritage. i don't want to be simply "all about the new" or "all about the old" when it comes to songs that praise the Lord b/c both seem to be flawed. however, i wish many churches would remember that faith doesn't get stale when it gets older, but rather, it becomes more meaningful, and rich and powerful. thank you madeleine for reminding me of that repeatedly.