Music - melodies, rhythms, lyrics, harmonies - all combined those elements have affects on us like nothing else. I have passionately loved music as long as I can remember - from the music of Simon and Garfunkel, The Carpenters and The Eagles that my parents listened to in the 70's and the infamous boy/hair bands (still love Bon Jovi!!) from the 80's to my current play lists, not a day goes by without a song in my head and my heart.
Music somehow transcends us to another place, another attitude, another memory...and that can be good or bad depending on where we are and where we are going. Music can make us laugh or cry, give us hope, or connect us with another person - or God. I love the way a friend of mine described music. She said it leaves footprints. I like that.
I have felt the gentle press to work on a Bible study about music. It's been a long time since I have written - or felt like writing. But somehow I can't ignore this tug at my heart. Music is God - ordained and God- organized. Sometimes man messes it up and distorts it, but sometimes man has an inspiration of the Holy Spirit and gets it right. When that happens a song will sing to hearts in ways that are difficult to describe. When a song sings to my heart and soul, I feel it to the depths of my being. I might not be able to put it in intelligible words, but it resonates and worship happens.
You and I were created with a need to sing. Sometimes it is the only way we can express our feelings. And in my case, someone else has been gifted with the ability to pen the emotions I feel, but don't know how to say. So I sing along and you probably do too.
Here is what is currently blaring in my ears :
If you put your arms around me, could it change the way I feel?
I guess I let myself believe that the outside might just bleed its way in.
Maybe stir the sleeping past, lying under glass, waiting for the kiss that
breaks this awful spell to pull me out of this lonely cell.
Close my eyes and hold my heart.
Cover me and make me something...
Change this normal into something beautiful.
What I get from my reflection isn't what I thought I'd see.
Give me reason to believe you'd never keep me incomplete.
Will you untie this loss of mine, it so easily defines me.
Do you see it on my face? And all I can think about is how long
I've been waiting to feel you move me.
Close my eyes and hold my heart.
Cover me and make me something..
Change this something normal into something beautiful.
And I'm still fighting for the Word to break these chains and I still pray when I look in your eyes that you'll stare right back down into something beautiful.
I'm sure if you have stuck with me for this long, you probably guessed it's a Jars of Clay http://jarsofclay.com/ song. I love it because I think it delicately describes the transformation for which so many with authentic faith are desperate. One of the members of Jars describes songs as "living." They take on lives of themselves - and their meaning changes over time through experiences. I can certainly testify to that one.
So the next time you sing, think about what you are singing and why you are singing it. Reflect on the words, listen to the depths, and drink in the meanings...and when you think have it figured out, it might just change on you - or it might change you.
