The Spirituality of Vinyl Records

In the late 1980s, I got a part-time job at a record store for an employee discount. 

Since I had a full-time job at Walt Disney World at the time, I worked about 70 hours a week and only had one day off, but it was worth it to be able to buy my music at half price. 

One of my jobs every week was to change out the singles chart behind the counter to match the current Billboard Hot 100 singles for the week.  

In case you were wondering, the singles chart took up a whole wall behind the counter, and all of the singles were 45s (smaller vinyl records for the uninitiated). 

I also received many freebies when the record labels sent promo material, and by the time I had to give up my part-time job after a few years, I had amassed a record collection of over 600 vinyl albums. 

And then, as the years went by, I slowly got rid of them all.  Vinyl gave way to compact discs, MP3 players, iPods, and iPhones.  

I worked at the record store on the last day we sold actual records and filled all the bins with CDs, which was a surreal experience, considering we kept the place's name as Flipside Records.

Fast forward to 2024, over 30 years later, and something interesting is happening in the music business.  Not only is vinyl making a comeback, but more vinyl records are being made today than when I worked at the record store. 

I have begun rebuilding my record collection by visiting various record stores here in Austin, all selling new and used vinyl.  And everywhere I travel, I tend to find record stores to see, like Easy Street Records in Seattle, which pretty much looks like heaven to me: 

I've been thinking about the resurgence of vinyl records for a while now, and I  have some thoughts about why they've made such a comeback.  It's not merely an "everything old is new again" kind of thing; it's deeper than that. 

People are buying vinyl records because of the experience. After a couple of decades of digital music, more people than ever want the experience of buying an album, holding it, opening it, reading the liner notes, and then putting it on a turntable to listen to. 

And you can't really skip tracks with a vinyl record like you can with your iPhone.  You have to listen to all of it.  

It slows down the process of listening to a vinyl record. You have to turn it over when side one is complete and be more present.  

The spiritual connection in all of this is that in a world of immediacy and less tangible experiences, we find ourselves craving what is tangible, which requires less immediacy and less convenience but more joy.  

For this reason, faith communities dedicated to showing Jesus through inclusivity, acceptance, love, and grace embody something many in our current culture long for but may not be able to express. 

Those of us in faith communities who embody Jesus's love and grace are well-positioned to speak into the void that so many feel in this emerging new age.  

May we do all we can to offer tangible means of love, hope, joy and peace.  May we embody Jesus in ways that draw people to faith.  And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all, now and forever. Amen.