"Aaahhhh...Sweet, Sweet Music."

Three years ago, I had the privilage of taking a fine arts class in the middle of beautiful, art-filled Italy. I had been a person who listened to and appreciated music, but it was after that class that I found myself falling in love with music and the arts far beyond my shallow adoration that rarely made it past my own art pad or my headphones.

Tonight I am writing from a table in Chattanooga, TN where I am enjoying the quarterly finals of an open mic competion held at a local coffee shoppe/Anglican Church. I find myself blown away by the performances that I have heard and I find my soul refreshed in listening to the creative works of these artists who have poured themselves into lyrics and ryhmes. If you have never been to an open mic, I would encourage you to go out and find one in your community and enjoy :)

Hopeful and Numb

Recently, I was listening to top 40 radio and I noticed an interesting trend. Apart from Adele, the majority of music that you will here will consist of partying, sex, lyrics about how "fly" someone is and how amazing they are, avoiding problems in life and just enjoying the moment, or just complete nonsense (*cough cough* Nikki Minaj cough*).

It seems that having depth or meaning to a song is no longer necessary for it to be good. So long as it has a good beat and one can escape their own reality for a moment, then it's all good. I'm amazed at the crudeness of some songs like "Whistle" by Flo Rida, which totally shows disrespect for women and degrades the value of sex...but who  surprised? America devalued sex roughly four decades ago. Whet really boggles my mind is that there are people that actually listen to this junk. Don't get me wrong, there are songs that I hear on top 40 radio that I quite enjoy listening to, and actually brings benefit to my life. Like Adele who expresses depth and true emotion, or the song "Titanium" that is full of emotion and strength. 

The thing is that people have turned to music to escape, to feel numb to the pain they are experiencing and to gain hope for the future. I fear that this is having a very profound affect on the minds of Americans, as well as others in the world who listen to them. Hope, true hope that brings about an end worth having is only found in Christ, but it isn't wrong to have a little boost from music either...so long as that "hope" isn't rooted in pride and false conception of one's self. 

Music is a gift, can we please stop abusing it by putting "artists" on the stage who can't do anything more than talk about themselves and all the people they have slept with? Perhaps we can even get singers who sound good without the aid of a computer! Ok ok...you're right...one miracle at a time...

Will You Yield?

Today I was deep in prayer in meditation when I began singing random songs. One song I began to sing in particular was "Where You Go I Go" by Brian and Jenn Johnson. The song is simple, and mildly repetitive, but a good song nonetheless. As I was singing I began to meditate upon the words and ask myself, "what is it that I'm singing?" and "why are these words significant?" From the title alone I'm sure you can guess what the song is about, but the part of the song I want to focus on is the part that says "How can I expect to live without You, when every move that Jesus made was in surrender?"

Now, this may seem like a very insignificant question to you, but if you thought about...I mean REALLY thought about it, do you have this kind of mindset as you walk through your day to day life? "Am I living in surrender?" If Jesus Christ, the pure and holy one lived out His life in complete submission and obedience (which He did, check out the book of Philippians) then how is is that we, mere mortals of flesh and bone that are full of sin and evil habits, think that it is possible to get by without relying on God or living in surrender to Him? I'm a believer in providence, but I'm also a believer in free will as a element of the Image of God within humanity. I must conclude therefore that I'm responsible for something within this divine romance that we have with God.

I have the responsibility of spending time with God, meditating on His attributes, worshiping Him and being in a relationship with Him. A relationship that requires me to be vulnerable, open, trusting, and honest. The hardest things to do, even unto someone as perfect as God. We can not live without Him, for without Him we have no truth, no purpose, no reason for working or doing. It is all in vain. May we remember to yeild ourselves to our Most Holy One, our God and King, that we might find our purpose in Him and have a true reason for living that the World does not have and will never ever have outside of Christ.

"God forgive me of my fallacies once again and carry me unto Thy grace, before Your throne, that I might be with my God and be made whole. In Nomine Patris, et Filis, et Spiritus Sancti"