Appreciate the Music

When I was a kid, my dad had two favorite musicians. James Taylor and Van Morrison.

James and I, we got along. I enjoyed dancing with my dad in our living room to Mexico and How Sweet It Is. Some of my fondest childhood memories include good ol' Mr. Taylor.

Van Morrison, on the other hand, was a different story. I didn't get the appeal. He didn't sing...well, WELL. He never really kept a beat, and sometimes he would sing on and on and on, and I couldn't understand what he was saying because he was mumbling and jumbling his words together. I mean, come on, who can enjoy listening to that?

But there my dad would be, bobbing his head, slamming his fist on his knee with his eyes closed expressing a passion for what he was hearing that was far beyond my comprehension.

I was baffled.

Well, about two years ago, I came upon some of Van's music and I chuckled at the memories that came to mind. I thought, what the hey, I'll listen to a bit of it. A little nostalgia, you know?

As the music came through the speakers and Van's voice filled the room, I stopped what I was doing. I wasn't hearing the obnoxious voice I remembered. I heard an amazing saxophone humming in the background, a piano adding to the melody and a series of string instruments pulling together the most unique sound I had ever heard.

And bursting through the array of music was the rich voice of an Irishman who expresses more passion in one sentence of his lyrics than I could ever express in a thousand Facebook notes.

It's amazing, really, how something can look so different after you've stepped away from it for a while. It's interesting how something can seem so horrible, but when you look back on it you can see what is surrounding it - and you can appreciate the music.

I've looked back on events in my life and I have seen how wretched they've been. Like listening to mumbling and jumbling lyrics, not understanding the meaning, where the musician is singing without rhythym and you can't sing along...

But I have also seen what is surrounding that event - and I can see how God took everything about that situation and made it beautiful in light of where I am now.

I can feel the passion of His music - the sax, piano, harp and Cello. And I can hear the love in His voice as He sings my life out for me. I know that I'm going through tough situations. But I also know that in the end, I'll play the music back, and I'll be bobbing my head, slamming my fist on my knee with my eyes closed, enraptured in what God is playing for me.