A few weeks ago I was having a rough day. I can't remember the exact crappiness of the day, but that's irrelevant. I was driving in the car (I think I was by myself) and so I put in a CD of favorite songs. This one came on:
(You can read the lyrics here if you want.)
Probably because I was having such a hard time and had been praying to feel better and figure out some solutions, this song hit me powerfully. Instead of a song conveying a message of love from one person to another, it suddenly seemed to make so much more sense as a message from Jesus to all of us. And it made much more sense looked at in that light than it ever really did to me as just another love song.
Then a couple nights ago, I was reminding myself of the importance of being hopeful, and this song popped into my head:
I started thinking of how many scripture passages there are that say essentially this same message. There's tons. All the verses about things working together for your good, the fear not little flock verses, and (personal favorites) the trust in the Lord passages. I'm not an expert scriptorian by any stretch, but I had a hard time thinking of anyplace in the scriptures where it says, "Now is definitely the time to panic. You should be profoundly worried." (Granted, there are those verses about millstones and teeth gnashing, but while I'm far from perfect, I feel fairly safe from those negative promises.)
It's so easy to forget that the gospel of Christ is the GOOD news, and the good news is that there is hope and something worth striving for. There are plenty of things in life that get us down, but if we really listen to the message that Jesus gives us through the scriptures, we'll see that it is a message of love and peace and joy. And I think that message gets spoken and sung over and over by voices all around the world. Maybe they aren't hymns in the traditional sense, but that doesn't diminish the truth of their message.
Any favorite rock hymns of your own?
3 comments:
ooh yay! What a nice post! Yes music is so powerful! A lot of times if I'm starting to feel frustrated with the kids I feel prompted to put music on and we all dance around in the kitchen.
I need to remember to do that more often. My kids love to dance, and so do I (except when I'm super pregnant). Today Spud was being a real stinker and carrying on and on about something while I was working at my computer, so I turned on some music (partially to drown him out) and after a couple of minutes he was sufficiently distracted and went off to play. Music can, indeed, soothe the savage beast. Or four year old!
Excellent post. Timely, too. I think I needed the reminder as well. I laughed over "Now is definitely the time to panic." It's true you don't come across that message much in the scriptures. You don't hear that much from the prophets either. Gentle warnings and loving prodding is what I hear. Another lesson I take besides the hope you mention is that I need to incorporate the softer communication style in my messages to my children.
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