I love gospel music, but I won't sing it in church. The theology doesn't fit my rather progressive Catholicism - and the bloody lambs and warfare analogies and the sentimentality, just don't work in a Catholic context. But the tunes are great and very singable, and the lyrics colorful.

I love the songs I sing in church, but I rarely feel comfortable singing them in a non-religious context. Some have reached a wider audience - "On Eagles' Wings" and "Make Me a Channel of Your Peace" - but those songs are sacred to me, and I'm reluctant to sing them outside of a sacred context and don't want to impose my religion on somebody else.

But gospel music is so much fun to sing - I think it's written to be fun.

My friend Mrs. Lev won't sing gospel, though. I think this is an area where there is a wide spectrum of opinion, something that demands respect and tolerance, and an openness to the sensitivities of others.

-Joe-