Have you ever had a song stuck in your head?
Have you ever been driving down the road listening to the radio, when a song comes on you really like? It may be a song you haven’t’ heard for a long time, and it reminds you of a happier, simpler time in your life. Somehow that song gets lodged in your brain and you sing it in your head the rest of the day. One part of you is annoyed, because you can’t shake the tune, but another part of you is having a really good day. You find yourself being upbeat and happy for no apparent reason. You never considered the song as a source of your good humor.
So what is it about the songs that get stuck in your subconscious? Is it because life was simpler then, not as many responsibilities, and worries? Was it just a catchy tune, with a simple rhythm and lyrics? Or does it remind you of yourself, at another time and place in your life? Do you like who you are today, or were back then? What is the difference? Did you have grand goals in life, and had to settle for a lot less? Or was it a time of trial and insecurities, when you found comfort in music? Any way it happens, the song is lodged in your brain until you go to sleep.
I surround myself with music each and every day. When I wake up in the morning, I turn on my favorite radio station, and while driving in the car, I have the option of radio or CDs. For Christmas my grandkids in Texas gave me a CD titled “The Gift of Music.” That is exactly what it is, a gift that you can carry in your heart, your head or you can just sing along with.
We are blessed in other ways with music, in that, when we become a Christian we are given a new song. We find a new joy and security in life, and we just have to sing about it! Our very prayers to God are music to his ears. We just have to look around to see the 10,000 blessings that God bestows on us every day, and that of itself is a reason to sing! And that is one song, I don’t mind being stuck with!
As parents it falls upon us to instruct our children in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is what we are commissioned to do as children of God, (And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.) and the best place to begin obeying that charge is at home.
We as authors have been known to use songs or music as a safety net in our stories. Where our characters can play, sing or just remember songs, and it brings them back to a place of comfort. What is your special song?
O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth.
Psalms 96:1
I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.
Psalms 144:9
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Ephesians 5:19
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Colossians 3:16
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Revelations 5:9