It's come to this

Beyoncé received acclaim for her 2016 album Lemonade, which was widely interpreted as a reflection on both the hurt that black women sometimes experience in romantic relationships and the trauma they’ve endured over generations from the double-whammy of being black and female in America. But the lyrics to many of her songs, when viewed as a conversation with God, are ripe for use as hymns, Norton adds.

As an example, she cites “Flaws and All” from Beyoncé’s sophomore album B’Day: “She talks about being a train wreck. She talks about, ‘When I need attention I tend to nag.’ All the things that she says in there, whoever she’s talking to, if we make that in our worship a song to God, that’s exactly what we do,” Norton says. “So put that into that context and then have this chorus, ‘I don’t know why you love me, and that’s why I love you.’ That to me is a perfect conversation with God.”