The Power in Music

Music - an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.

Music. The genres are virtually limitless. What's your favorite...Classical? Rock? Pop? Gospel? Rap? Heavy Metal? Jazz? Bluegrass? Opera? Punk? Grunge? Inspirational? Hip Hop? Contemporary Christian? Country? Blues? Latin? Reggae? Shoegaze....wait. What? Shoegaze? Yep. That's real. Perhaps you knew that. I didn't. Anyway, this list is only the beginning of a plethora of music styles.

I am a music person, meaning, I love music, not that I'm musical. I don't play an instrument, though I have always desired to play the piano. I keep praying that God will give me that 'playing by ear' gift so that I can just sit down one day and play. Still waiting. I love to sing and have been told that I "have a good voice" but I wouldn't win any contests. I just love listening to music and singing along. And of course dancing if I'm so inclined. In my pre-teen & early teen years I was sure I was destined to become either Mrs. Davy Jones or Mrs. John Cowsill. (Gasp! Spellcheck did not even know who the Cowsills were. I had to "add them to the dictionary".) Loved The Monkeys & the Cowsills along with The Grass Roots, Three Dog Night, Linda Ronstadt, Bread, Aerosmith, Chicago, The Eagles, Rod Stewart, Elton John, Carly Simon, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Abba, Doobie Brothers, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Kenny Loggins....you get the picture.....70's & 80's music. Oh, and Bobby Sherman! Oh so dreamy. I knew every word to every song and I'm sure they're still embedded deep in my mind today.

In 1982-83 I went through a divorce & found myself a single mother of an 18 month old. (No, I was not married to Davy or John.) As do most music lovers, I used music to feed my emotions.  It fed my sadness & depression....and I liked that. My choice of music seemed to validate my feelings but certainly did not bring any encouragement or hope. I was sad & I wanted to listen to sad music. It made me feel better. (??) You could say I was addicted to feeding my negative emotions. If I was a songwriter I could have written a few songs about heartbreak, maybe had a hit. Love gone bad is a very popular theme. Adele & Taylor would have been on the top of my sad, emotional feeding list no doubt. I'll take Adele's voice any day but not the life she sings about.

I don't know the exact timeline, but one day God woke me up out of my emotional stupor and spoke to me in a defining moment about my music. He told me to stop listening to secular music. I was to listen only to His music. Music that would benefit & encourage me. I can say, that without hesitation, I obeyed. It was strange. I knew without a doubt that the God of the universe was speaking to me. He cared enough to pull me away from something that was not enhancing my life. He's personal like that. I never looked back. Honestly, it was a miracle because I was truly addicted to music that I identified with emotionally. What was wrong with that?  I should have argued & fought, but I didn't for some reason. It was a supernatural experience. At this same time He made me ultra sensitive to lyrics. All of a sudden the music I loved so much was now a turn-off. And to this day, lyrics jump out at me in a very big way.

This belief in the power & influence that music has over us has been reaffirmed to me over the years. My mother dealt with depression. I remember a time of walking in the house finding her sitting in the dark, listening to country music (the crying in your beer kind) threatening to take her life. This was not a lone scenario. No, the music was not the cause of her depression, but it was obviously feeding the negative emotions-exactly what she wanted. I knew that feeling. Eventually she was successful in the taking of her life. Again, I'm not blaming the music. My mother had much deeper issues haunting her. But, I can't help but think, during those times of feeling hopeless, and going to music, what if she had listened to songs that were uplifting? That made her feel happy? That gave her hope? Could it have played a part in bringing her out of her darkness instead of driving her deeper into it? Could she have had the courage to ask for help? I'll never know. But I am so happy that at this tragic time in my life I was not using sad music to 'make me feel better'. Of course I was heartbroken but feeding that heart-brokenness was not the answer. Feeding the hope and peace that only God can give at a time like this was what I needed.

Please know, I judge no one for their choice of music. I realize there are amazing songs in every genre. There's no denying that. This is simply my story. My thoughts. My experience.  I have dealt with a bit of ridicule over the years for this decision but I don't mind. I answer to no one but God. As does (or will) everyone else on this planet. I decided to never again allow music to influence my life in a negative, hopeless, immoral, ungodly way. It has now been over 30 years since that day God spoke to me and I have no doubt that decision spared me a few excessively emotional, self-indulgent, unnecessary sad moments.

Enjoy whatever style of music you love but most importantly, I hope the lyrics encourage you & inspire you to live a happy, hopeful, moral, fun, peaceful, pleasing to God life. Music is spiritual. It no doubt affects our spirit one way or another. 

Listening for Him,

Leslie