music for my soul

This morning I awoke and, after laying there for as long as my cat would let me, I got up. I ate, prepared a cup of hot tea, and turned on my stereo. I love music, and about the only time I just sit and listen is on Saturday mornings.

I really enjoy music of all kinds. I love music. On the rare occasion that I can just sit and enjoy it, I really get into it and it speaks to me. I'm not talking about anything mystical, but as Richard Dreyfuss' character in the movie Mr. Holland's Opus said, "Music [is] the language of emotion."

When I was a kid in school, my parents paid for guitar lessons for me, but I lacked the personal discipline to study, practice, and learn the basics. You see, God had given me "an ear for music," and so, rather than practicing and really learning to read and play music, I more or less ignored my instructor, and "picked out" each new song. I could hear it and then "play" what I heard. However, because I did not learn and develop the proper foundation, today I really can't play an instrument other than a stereo.

Even though I have regrets about not being able to "give" musically, I consider it a great gift to hear and appreciate music, to be moved by it, and I have often enjoyed discussing feelings evoked by this song or that. Even more, it is awesome to give praise to God for the musical talents he has bestowed on some of the people I know, such as both my kids, or my friends Tony, Billy, Eric, Wayne, and others.

Perhaps you're wondering where I am headed with this musing. Jesus told his disciples of something they had been given, and it kind of jumped out at me recently when I reread it. Today I quote my Lord, from Matthew 13:10-11:

And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"
Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted."

I have long known of and have heard from other believers about the hunger satisfied, the various emotions evoked, the need filled by reading the scriptures. And, of course, I've had others tell me they get nothing from reading the Bible. I don't remember thinking of that understanding (itself) as a gift, but it is. Certainly the Spirit by whom we understand is a gift.

Sometimes my music is playing and I'm not moved by it--it's just on. Sometimes I read my bible and there are just the words--I don't hear. But just as I sometimes let go, focus on the music, hear the meaning as well as the sound, God has granted to me (and to all believers) to know Him and what he has revealed in the words of scripture. All I have to do is listen--it's like music for my soul.