living in the lyrics

our church community has been having an ongoing study on prayer and this week we discussed the place of music in a prayer life. many were talking about how music takes them to places of worship but more importantly it helps them express need and is akin to prayer as they agree and talk to God.

music is incredibly important to me. i have tunes all ALL THE TIME at work, although i leave it on my headphones so as not to bother my co-workers in the next cubicles. in truth though, most of my music ... isn't Christian ... in that Jesus' name isn't mentioned all that much as i listen to the lyrics. that doesn't mean that it isn't spiritual or it isn't moral because those elements are key to whether or not i like a tune. i listen to a lot of Bruce Cockburn, Bob Dylan, Yusef Islam (that would be Cat Stevens), plus a good deal of artists that fall into the Christian genre but who still seldom mention Jesus in their lyrics. most of the time i enjoy a tune because it speaks out on social justice issues, poverty issues, or just the God-sized vacuum that inhabits the soul. i guess you could say that i pray through lyrics many times, that i live in the lyrics.

i'm not sure that everyone gets that concept. the desire to be poetic, heroic, or just to rejoice or mourn in song gets deep into my heart. it's like those occasions when i try to explain the poetry of baseball to someone who just isn't a fan. they just don't get how baseball is a metaphor for life for me ... many of my reactions, my morals and thoughts can be directly linked back to songs that impact my life in some way. i really do live in the lyrics.

do you understand that? do you get just how deep that goes? music is a major source of life for me. i do like to have the radio on, i do like to have my music on shuffle just to see what i'll get.

that's where i live ... and pray ... and move ... and have my being.