"Find new ways to spread the word of God to every corner of the world."
- Pope Francis
I have, admittedly, been slacking on my writing. As a writer, I should be writing at least once a day. But alas, I am a writer who is first a teacher, a big sister, a daughter, and a service worker. Therefore, in the past few weeks, I have been fulfilling those duties. But as the last few days of my Summer start to wrap up, I seem to have multiple ideas for writing swimming around in my head. You're welcome.
Perhaps I have mentioned this before, or maybe you already know this about me, but I absolutely, positively love music. And it's not just one type of music, but rather every kind of music, including some rap. This is rare, I know, to find someone who will willingly listen to anything. Of course, I always do have my preferences: it's a tie between traditional African hymns and something along the lines of country and Mumford and Sons. My Sister might tell you I only listen to Jesus music, but that's because she likes to spread stereotypes about me. The Apple genius application doesn't work on my phone yet, because all my music is too eclectic for it to make suggestions. This is the honest truth. I have everything on there from Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" to Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again" to Zac Brown Band's "Jump Right In" and yes, even some Miley Cyrus. Of course, if you were to look at my most recently purchased songs from the past few weeks you would find some Disney music ("I'll Make A Man Out Of You" is a classic belt it out song in my car, just ask Lizzie), some country, some pop, some Christian, some Broadway show tunes, some everything. And what I love more than music, is turning up the music in my car and singing it at the top of my lungs, harmonizing with my sisters in the middle traffic on 95. Yep, no shame.
Anyway, so I love music, but what does that have to do with Jesus? Well everything actually. Like I said, my sister, Mary likes to tell people that all I listen to is Jesus music when in reality, anything that's on the radio is good enough for me. When I was in high school, however, that wasn't the case. I absolutely, positively refused to listen to what I considered to be horrendous music on the radio. I would rather listen to the silence in the car than to what people were trying to pawn off as music. I would get so frustrated that people actually listened to this. Didn't anyone have any morals anymore?! What did it take to find good, decent music? Something, anything with value. Then one day, I was driving in the car, and to avoid a minor argument with my sister, we left the radio on. That's when Jesus spoke to me through modern day music.
Say what? Jesus spoke to you through the music? Okay, well it's not as crazy as it sounds. I can't remember the song honestly, as this happened so long ago, but ever since then I've listened with a different ear. In fact, it became such a common occurrence, that every time a new song would come on the radio, my roommate would say "Okay, find Jesus in this one." And without a doubt, I'd easy be able to look at the lyrics and find God. I've wanted to do a post about this for a while now, so, I looked up the top 100 pop songs of the week which included : "We Can't Stop" by Miley Cyrus, "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons, "Love Somebody" by Maroon 5, "Beneath Your Beautiful" by Labrinth, and finally, "Come and Get It" by Selena Gomez. Now, at first glance, one may think, oh my gosh, how on earth can one find Jesus in these songs. Well, buckle up your seatbelts and get ready for the ride of your life.
It doesn't take a genius to know that Miley Cyrus' newest song is about partying. Moms, I know, you're holding your breath right now, but hear me out. It has a catchy beat and most often, songs today are like that: a beat so catchy, you can't help but sing along. Well that's what happened to me after hearing this song. Trust me, I didn't want to like this song. I even forced myself to turn it off a few times, but then I found myself downloading it. Why? Well because I heard these lines: "Remember only God can judge ya. Forget the haters 'cus somebody loves ya." Those two lines hit me like a ton of bricks. Isn't it obvious? Of course, how many times does Miley say "we can't stop, no we won't stop"? Shouldn't that be how we act about loving Jesus and practicing our faith? Hmmm....
The next song, "Radioactive." Is actually one of my favorites. Up until a little while ago, Imagine Dragons was a best kept secret but I am so glad more and more people are getting to know their music. The entire chorus of this song which sings "I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones enough to make my systems blow. Welcome to the new age, I'm radioactive." When I first heard this song, I was struggling with the "why do I get up for Mass every day?" There are plenty of times when I am literally dragging myself out of my nice, warm bed to Mass. Yet, there I am. And the moment when I am sitting in Mass I realize, this is all I am living for. The love for Jesus is in my bones, my blood, my entire system. It should be so much so to make my systems blow. I should be bursting with this love. I should be radioactive for Jesus. I haven't watched the music video for this but the music video that plays in my head is me waking up every morning on fire for Jesus.
"Love Somebody" is a song that Mary introduced me to. I was never really a fan of Maroon 5's music at first glance; it's something that has to grow on me. Usually it's only one line or two that really hits my heart like a little message from Jesus and at first, it was just one line "I think about you every single day." But there are a few lines in this song, now that it has grown on me, that really seem to be Jesus shouting it out at me : "I know your insides are feeling so hollow," "Love me today, don't leave me tomorrow," and finally, "I'm right in front of you, asking you to stay, you should stay, stay with me tonight." If we put those words coming from Jesus, Himself, wow, how beautiful, honestly? He is right in front of each of us, begging us to love Him, asking us to stay with Him every night. How beautiful that He thinks of each day and wants us only to love Him?
The next song, "Beneath Your Beautiful" is a song I actually have not heard on the radio but rather, stumbled upon in on iTunes. I fell in love with it instantly; it's just beautiful. It's a song that truly beckons the girls to take off the shows they put on for the world. The chorus sings: "Will you let me see beneath your beautiful? Will you let me see beneath your perfect? I wanna see inside." It moves my heart. Jesus doesn't care about the show we put on. He wants the real us, He wants all the icky stuff. He wants all the hurts and brokenness and all shows. He wants to take it all and show us real love, real, true love. Will you take off your beautiful, your perfect? Hmm...
Of course, I can't help but address Selena Gomez's newest song: Come and Get It. Have you ever heard the story of the gentleman Jesus? It's one of my favorites, so to summarize: each one of us has a door to our heart with no handle on the outside. The only way to open the door is for you to open it from the inside. Jesus simply knocks and then waits real patient for you to open the door. That's what I thought of when I heard this song for the first time: "When you're ready, come and get it. No need to worry, it's an open invitation, I'll be sittin' right here, real patient, all day, all night, I'll be waiting standby." Yeah. Jesus, the gentleman right there, folks.
I understand that this could easily be one of the most controversial blog posts I have ever written, especially coming from someone who is discerning to be a sister. But here are two things I want to truly express here: first, simply because I find Jesus in everyday music, it does not mean the music's message is any better. The truth is, the artists who write and perform these songs know the messages they want to convey and I can tell you, I almost one hundred percent do not approve. I know what each of these songs I just addressed is really trying to say, and I would hate to be known for encouraging this, because in essence, I am not. However, this is where the second point comes across. In today's day and age, we don't have wholesome music readily available. After all the musical research I have done, I can say, we never really did. However, music today is much worse when it comes to morals. Jesus is aware of this and He understands that day by day the amount of things getting in the way of our full listening to Him gets larger and larger. So, He takes what He has and speaks to us through that. There is one radio station that plays Christian music, but good luck trying to get it tuned in in the car or in your house. The radio waves aren't that strong. And Jesus knows this. He knows what our teens are listening to and that He needs to try His hardest to reach young people today. For you moms and dads, the only reason I try to find Jesus in each song is to prove a point. For you young people, please know that it's hard to find Jesus many places because of all the barriers we have to reaching Him. But just know that if you truly believe Jesus is always with you and in everything you do, He will make Himself present to you. I promise.
Of course, as I am finishing writing this post, I can hear my HS English teacher in my head saying, "Well, you saved yourself again with that conclusion, Bec." The main point is, we are always going to be surrounded by music but what I have learned time and time again is that most often a piece of literature (music is literature....google lyrical poetry) is not interpreted the way the author originally intended and it is made for that purpose. Literature is meant to be interpreted by each and every single person in a very personal way. So, remember that when listening to the music of today's day and age: it's open to how you interpret it. If you listen to our music today with an open heart and a heart full of Jesus, you'll probably be hearing Jesus singing just as often as I do. Of course, I have dashboard Jesus to help me.
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