The Soundtrack of Life
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Last week when we gathered for the Hymn Sing, I was not surprised with the number of people and the enthusiasm with which everyone sang. Those old gospel songs were the mother’s milk of our faith. We may have learned them in worship or Sunday School, but we also likely heard them sung around the house, in the workshop, or in the garden as our parents went about daily tasks. They became as much a part of life as biscuits and gravy, or fried chicken and cornbread!
As we ate lunch after singing, we talked about the youth musicals of the 60s and 70s that were a powerful influence in our lives. It’s hard for me to accept that “Celebrate Life” is 50 years old this year! Those songs of Ragan Courtney and Buryl Red still frequently sound in my mind. Back in my long-hair teenage years (yes, I once had hair!) I caused a scandal (the first of many, it seems) when I played guitar in the sanctuary of my church in one of those musicals.
I remember a leader of youth choirs who reminded us the music we teach our teenagers and children becomes the soundtrack of their lives. Like the soundtrack of a movie, its always there in the background, shaping the way they see the events of their lives. How have your old, favorite hymns influenced how your life?
Nearly 300 years ago, John and Charles Wesley had a powerful method for teaching the faith as they traveled around the British colonies of America. John would powerfully preach his “method” of interpreting Scripture and following Jesus. Charles would then take the scriptures John was teaching and write hymns that he taught the congregations. They knew that if the people sang the theology, they would remember it long after the Wesleys had gone away.
I remember my college days leading music for weekend revivals in rural and small-town churches around Northeast Arkansas. Some of those joyful gospel songs were planted deep in my soul as I led congregations who sang as exuberantly as we sang last week. My own faith soundtrack includes many of those songs that go through my head as I drive to work on 285 (Nearer My God, To Thee) or mow the lawn (Heavenly Sunlight). What are the hymns in your soundtrack?
When you are in a joyful spirit, can you hear “He Keeps Me Singing,”or “Since Jesus Came Into My Heart?” When you are anxious or worried do you sing “What a Friend We Have in Jesus (one of my grandmother’s favorites),” or “Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus?” When you feel close to Jesus do you sing, “There Is a Name I Love to Hear,”or “In the Garden?” When you are in need of hope and encouragement do you think of “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” or “Have Faith in God?”
Whatever you need in the moment, your spiritual soundtrack of old hymns is there to fill your mind and your heart. Go ahead and sing out loud – God loves a cheerful singer!
Greg Smith
Legacy Ministry for Older Adults