Art in the Liturgy: High versus Low

"While English is Jamaica's official language, most Jamaicans speak patois. But it does not yet have a standard writing system. Those opposed to the translation project have argued in the country's newspapers and other media outlets that formalizing a written standard for patois would undercut efforts to promote Standard English." --"Translation Tiff," Christianity Today (Jocelyn Green).

In art, one of the lines that divides high art from pop art is dialect.  Yet there are often grey areas.  For instance, Warhol used the dialect of consumerism.  Twain used the dialect of the poor, the slave, and the lower class.  Copeland and other Modern composers used the dialect of folk music. 

Christianity often finds itself in the midst of translation battles, high church versus low church, and the valuation of worship.

Worship doesn't need to be quantified, it needs to be qualified.  We are priests, we are the leaders and followers of one who is the leader of the angel armies that sing for joy: "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty."

Whether one worships and reads in patois or English or Spanish, we must serve God faithfully and trutfully.  And then the division between high and low will fade away.

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