Music for the Soul

I love listening to music—all kinds of music. I cannot say one type of genre is better than another.

When I am in a nostalgic mood, listening to Trisha Yearwood sing “She’s in Love with the Boy,” is comforting.

I remember the first time I heard and saw the video. I was on vacation in Dahlonega, turned on the television, and there she was. Whenever I hear it today, it reminds me of her dad, and the men and women like him, who influenced so many of our lives as children and youth.

Whenever I feel I have been wronged unjustly, there’s nothing like a good Toby Keith tune to put me back into what I would consider the right frame of mind. “The Red, White, and Blue” most definitely comes to mind.

Of course I like a lot of groups from the 80s. I even listened to Madonna until I was hit head-on in an automobile accident. I was listening to “Open Your Heart.” My sternum was broken in half in the accident. As you know, your heart is just below. I don’t listen to that particular song any more. However, of all types of music, my favorite music is church music—great hymns of the church.

In the little churches I attended growing up we didn’t have organs, just pianos. In college I attended a large church with a pipe organ. There’s nothing quite like singing a great hymn of the church to the sounds of a pipe organ. Nor is there anything quite like singing a great hymn of the church in a church where all music is sang acapella.

There is, however, one thing that truly annoys me, regardless of whether I am singing along to a pipe organ, a piano, or with the voices of other worshipers—not singing all the verses of a hymn.

Do we not realize that all the verses make up a story based on a life-changing experience and/or verses from the Bible? If you don’t sing all the verses, it’s no better than having your car radio on scan.

It wasn’t until I started writing this week that it dawned on me why my wife gets irritated with me when I choose scan on the car radio. When she hears a song she enjoys, she appreciates hearing the entire song. Nonetheless, she lets me do this because she knows I honestly have ADD, but more importantly because she loves me.

The next time your church leaders choose to skip verses of a hymn in worship, let it be known that you prefer singing all verses, and as you sing all those verses, comprehend the message being conveyed.

Whether you or your church leaders have been diagnosed with ADD, like me, it’s worth hanging in there for the whole hymn. You will not be disappointed.

Then, the next time you are in a bookstore, buy a book or two about the writers of hymns and read their stories. This will make the hymns even sweeter and more meaningful to you.