“And” Rather Than “Or”

Maybe what we need in our fraying, graying, grating old Church is a more appealing and enticing overhaul, one that energizes young people, that engages conservatives as well as progressives, that challenges everyone of every race and  gender to preserve the old by infusing it with the new. I’m talking about honoring the dynamics and beauty of the traditional Church while simultaneously energizing and enriching it with current ideals, insights, and expressions. In music especially, although also in other arts, this is called a remix. Its joys come from affirming and celebrating what was by celebrating and including what is now to help form what will be. It is accomplished by committing to using “and’s” rather than “or’s.” 

Sasha Frere-Jones gives one example of how this happens in music in his article “On Top: Mariah Carey’s Record Breaking Career” in the April 3, 2006 New Yorker:

Carey, more than any other musician, established R. & B. and hip-hop as the sound of pop. One of her frothiest and most delightful No. 1 hits was “Dreamlover” (1993), which features a loop of The Emotions’ 1971 soul tune “Blind Alley,” a song made famous by the rapper Big Daddy Kane, who sampled it in his 1988 track “Ain’t No Half-Steppin’.” Beginning in 1995, rappers started performing guest verses on Carey’s songs. Suddenly, people who would cross the street to avoid listening to hip-hop were bringing rappers into their house, under the cover of Carey. It became standard for R. & B. stars, like Missy Elliott and Beyoncé, to combine melodies with rapped verses. And young white pop stars—including Britney Spears, ’N Sync, and Christina Aguilera—have spent much of the past ten years making pop music that is unmistakably R. & B. 

Maybe we, too, will cease walking across the street to avoid listening to each other if we, too, become an integral part of a glorious remix!

In her reflection, “Creating a Generational Remix for Mission” in the June 25, 2021 Global Sisters Report, Susan Rose-Francois actually encourages us to apply this method within our Church:

We have a sacred window of opportunity for the present generations — youngest to oldest — to mix and mingle in community for mission. This opening is necessarily time limited. Those elders who entered in large numbers will be going home to their loving God in large numbers, but they are here now. The smaller numbers of younger members are also here, and everyone in between. Think of the possibilities!

My point exactly! 

She goes on to cite the work of Lindsey Pollak who wrote The Remix: How to Lead and Succeed in the Multigenerational Workplace. Pollak defines a remix as what is created “when an artist takes a classic song and adds or takes away elements to create something both recognizable and entirely new”…and, as in Mariah Carey’s case mentioned above, calls us to recognize, include, affirm, and celebrate those who have formerly been marginalized or excluded. 

In the workplace, according to Pollak, a successful remix “involves a combination of keeping the best, ‘classic’ workplace practices of the past while simultaneously embracing more modern and innovative approaches to work.”  Susan Rose-Francois and I would also apply this to the Church.  In fact she states this plainly: “In religious life, it is about mission! Each generation (and I would add gender) brings its own flavor, and the remix spices it all up in a new way, for the sake of God’s mission.”

Rose-Francois uses some of Pollak’s helpful hints for workplace remixing and applies it to religious life specifically, but I see it as relevant for the whole Church. Consider this:  We would begin by stopping generational and gender shaming and stereotyping; we would embrace, rather than merely bear with, the opportunity to listen to evolving ideas about values and desires, even world views. We would assume everyone has good intentions despite different paths. We would make a conscious effort to ensure each of us feels at home and safe. We would discern together.

All good, but I found two of her last pointers the most helpful:  We would be willing to keep what works. We would figure out the difference between “roots”, our core identities as Catholics, and “anchors”, those dogmas and practices that weigh us down. Finally, and I especially love this one, “It’s OK if everyone wins.” 

Susan Rose-Francois concludes by making me feel buoyant – and couldn’t we all benefit from that feeling?  We are called to steward, she points out, not only our own lives, not only our own spiritual communities, but the whole Church. And the remixes she and others call for are the perfect tools to accomplish this. Remixes are what make us feel both valued for the insights we’ve already gained and the new ones we will soon proclaim.  

And so I join with Rose-Francis in declaring : “I can’t wait to see what we discover next.”