Photograph by Robert Lowman Photography

I GOT THE MUSIC (BACK) IN ME

Sydney Montgomery

Genesis 31:27: Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels and harps?

2 Kings 3:15 (NKJV): But now bring me a musician.Then it happened, when the music played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him.

Most people give up something they love for forty days during Lent to show their empathy for Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. I know that Lent is for deep contemplation and being in the depths of despair with Jesus in His darkest hour.

However, I discovered that gaining something lost just as powerful.

Months ago, I began listening to one radio station in the car, as my choices were limited. This particular radio station plays the same handful of songs ad nauseam, and the identical commercials that seem to go on forever. I get up at the same time very day to this radio station, and listen as I drive my familiar path to and from work. Some days the same song would play as I approached the same intersections in both directions of my daily commute. There were days on end that just coming home and preparing for the next day took everything out of me, which included my writing. And I just put up with it.

I was in a deep rut that weighted me down. I didn’t even realize, but I knew that I wasn’t happy.

But then one day my car had to be taken in for a small repair and detailing. In the meantime, I was given a rental, a much newer vehicle than mine, with an activated Satellite Radio account.

The following day on my morning and afternoon commute, I listened to music from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 8-‘s – songs that I had completely forgotten about. I sang along, drumming on my steering wheel, and thoroughly enjoying myself. People sitting next to me at traffic lights thought I was Looney Toones, but I was having myself a grand old time. All because of music.

Once I picked up my car, it dawned on me. I USED to do this all the time.

I re-activated my satellite radio account and selected the stations I wanted. Then at work I went to YouTube on my desk computer and searched for specific genres music. I began not to mind my commute as much, and I discovered that I wasn’t so burdened at my work desk. I found this “new” experience to be very uplifting.

And all because of Music. Music is a part of my soul – a universal language that speaks to every heart. The spring is back in my step, and I’m having fun again. The music is bringing me back to life!

This Lent Season, instead of giving up something I love, I’m gaining something I thought I had lost forever. An energized piece of myself that I thought I had buried forever. I began to feel alive again, as if a switch had suddenly been turned on inside.

What I have decided to give up during this Lent Season, is all the negative and depressive thoughts I’ve allowed to take over me. I no longer consort with angry and pessimistic people, and I’m staying out of solitary situations I had continued to put myself in.

Why did I run from God and allow circumstances take away a part of my soul in the first place? I have no idea. But I truly feel as if the hand of the Lord is upon me again, and He is sending me into the world every day with joy and “singing to the music of timbrels and harps.”

My winter of discontent is over. I’m ready for a new season, a new chapter, and a whole new enthusiastic me. The more uplifting situations I put myself in, the more energized I am, and the better I am able to spread the Word of God!

Whatever you give up for Lent, I urge you to make sure it is not a part of your soul, or something that takes you further away from yourself. And from God.