A Song in My Heart
Editor’s Note: This is a guest story by contributor June Titus. See her last post, What to Wear, for more encouragement!
A SONG IN MY HEART
I don’t know about you, but I am one of those fortunate people who have a melody constantly playing in my brain. Sometimes it is the same one for days on end; sometimes it is a tune my head makes up as it goes; sometimes it gets downright annoying, especially when I can’t connect the tune to the words or a title. Mostly, it is enjoyable.
Music has always been a part of my life since I was a tiny child. I could carry a tune by the time I was two or three and could harmonize at age five.
Music, too, has been a balm for me in trying times, bringing comfort to my hurting heart, producing needed tears when I needed to grieve, and lifting my spirits when work seemed overwhelming. Song lives in me and I am thankful.
I call to remembrance my song in the night;
I meditate within my heart,
And my spirit makes diligent search.
Psalm 77:6 (NKJV)
Recently a dear friend has been going through yet another heartache in her life. She, too, loves music and sings beautifully in the church choir. She quietly goes along in these difficult days with their important decisions, yet when it comes to singing in the choir, she is there. I can see the tell-tale concerns etched on her face, yet when the music begins, and she sings, her entire face lights up with the joy and praise in the anthem. The beauty of our Lord Jesus Christ is in her face.
I spoke to her later and told her how encouraged I was seeing her singing when I knew what she is going through in her personal life. She told me how difficult it was to sing that Sunday, although it was a simple song. It was not the choral arrangement that was so difficult; it was the words, “Oh when I am alone, give me Jesus.”
My friend knows from experience she is not alone in this struggle; Jesus is there, guiding, listening, healing.
What is it about music that can fill our hearts with joy, peace, courage, and hope? Psychology explains it in part—what the Bible has been saying for thousands of years—that chemicals are released in the brain for different emotional reactions. Soothing music will alleviate depression; pleasant music can help someone do a difficult task. Music can speed healing, increase creativity; improve memory; help us fall asleep. There are negative effects of music as well, such
“Music absorbs our conscious and sub-conscious mind and directs
If music itself has an emotional impact on us, how much more do the words of the music touch us in communing the attributes of Jesus to our soul. Those musical strains that run through my head, so long as they relate to meaningful words, might do me some good. My friend is working through her difficulties singing the lovely music along with the deep meaning of the words, and she is given courage, being blessed, and blessing others.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I will praise Him.
Psalm 28: 7
June W. Titus is a retired nurse and poet and mother and grandmother, living with her husband in southern Georgia. Now in her eighties, she remains active in her local church. Among other church responsibilities, she teaches a Sunday school class of her peers. She writes a weekly blog on Facebook, entitled “Monday Musings.” Prior to moving to Georgia, she was a regular contributor to “The Watauga Democrat” newspaper, and “
