It’s true, at least it is for me anyway, my likes and dislikes have been shaped by circumstances of my life.
My mind has been busy, over this last week, thinking about the ways books and music have fit into my life, thinking about the impact they’ve had, and why there even needed to be an impact.
I can remember liking this song well enough as a young girl to be able to pick it out by ear on mom’s piano
(There’s A) Bluebird on Your Windowsill
There’s a bluebird
There’s a bluebird on your windowsill
There’s a rainbow in your sky
There are happy thoughts, your heart to fill
Near enough to make you cry
There he is.
And with every tear you’ve washed away
All the things you’ve kept inside
You count your joys this lovely day
And you wonder why you cried
The melody was cheerful, maybe that’s why I liked it, or maybe it was because it mentioned tears and I latched on to that. I wanted to be done with tears.
The song says “you wonder why you cried” but I doubt I caught the meaning of that phrase. I did have reason to cry, lots of reason, not that I can recall ever forming any of it into conscious thought in those days, but my subconscious knew and was looking for hope.
Books and music were favorites of my mother and watching her they became mine too. These favorites did many things for me, but most importantly – they were a safe place to land, they helped me forget, for a time, that I had reason to cry.
As I’ve been thinking, and blogging, about these current day passions it occurs to me that readers may have a different frame of reference when they read my words. Their expectations may be different. They may be looking for an intellectual discussion of music appreciation or examples of an impressive performance. They would be disappointed if this is true because while I love music my frame of reference is quite different. I go for the love of music rather than the knowledge of it. I like to live inside the music, where there is healing. The emotional experience is most important to me.
My criteria for great music is possibly different too. Melody is important but the lyric is more so. It must have something life changing and relevant to say. The goal must be to impact rather than impress. Likewise, with the performer, if their goal is to impress, there won’t be impact.
My kids will testify to my love of impact over impression, we had a tape once, of a Southern Gospel group, their talent and musical proficiency was lacking but their hearts shone through in spades. I loved that tape. My kids…….not so much. I guess their hearts didn’t need the message of those songs like mine did. Having said that, I do appreciate musicians who excel at their craft and I promise not to post anything in my music blog that isn’t excellent. musictonourishmysoul.blogspot.com
There is nothing wrong with the intellectual point of view for music enjoyment, it’s just not where I am at, and it helps the reader to revise their expectations if they know where I’m coming from.
The circumstances of my life, the mountains and the valleys, have created the need for music to there for me, keeping me sane, giving me comfort and hope, crying with me, connecting me to the Heavenlies and the One who can truly be there for me, helping me rise above it all, to live a fruitful and overcoming life.
I think music is a gift from God, the language of heaven, a universal language- not needing interpretation. What a gift!
I hope you will find your needs met in the blessing of music too, if you haven’t discovered this blessing already.
A couple of books to impact my life this week
Sharing Jesus (Seeing Jesus book 3) – Jeffrey McClain Jones
I’ve read books 1 & 2 in the last few months, as well. In each of them Jesus becomes visible to the main characters and lives with them for a few days. Actually he always lives with them, he just isn’t visible the rest of the time. It was a deeply moving experience for me, reading these stories of how they lives were changed. I know God is always with me, I talk to him about everything in my life, it was an affirmation of many things, hearing someone else relate to him on such a personal level. As always, reading these stories reveals some things to me, about me, too, and that’s a good thing.
Check out this book if you can relate to, or desire such a connection. I can’t say any of us would ever experience a visible Jesus but this story can encourage us toward recognizing the invisible Jesus more often.
For the Love of Books 