no one
beats god at ‘name that tune’
Theologians like to
argue about whether God hears all prayers.
What about a child’s
prayer for bubble-gum-flavored rain?
What about a
hate-filled man’s prayer for revenge?
What about the
deathbed prayer of a killer?
Let the theologians
argue. Whatever system God uses to filter, categorize and react to all those
prayers is surely the best possible.
So forget about it.
Instead, think about
this for a minute:
I believe that God has
heard every song ever sung, every tune ever played.
All of them.
We know from the
psalms and other biblical passages that God is honored by the raising of
“joyful noises” in his direction – that’s a lot of leeway, and that tells me
that God is a music lover with broad tastes.
So, I boldly assume,
God has heard it all.
Not just “The Old
Rugged Cross” and “Amazing Grace,” but even devilish stuff such as “The Devil
Went Down to Georgia,” “Devil With the Blue Dress On” and the old Barney theme
song.
I’m not sure what
God makes of some of the songs, but I think he knows them, knows the story of
how they were written, by whom and under what circumstances.
I think he knows the
sadness that went into “O Sacred Head” and “All By Myself.”
I think he knows the
confidence and camaraderie of “Onward Christian Soldiers” and “We Will Rock
You.”
He may very well tap
his foot to a good mandolin riff as well as to Handel’s “Messiah.”
I think he gets the
hate-soaked despair that’s behind a lot of rap.
I think he gets the
beer-soaked lust that’s behind a lot of country.
I think he gets the
reckless, total abandon of rock.
God is ancient, and
I know that each new generation tends to think that it is more musically astute
than the previous generation, but God defies that principle.
If you are, say, 17,
God has heard all 3,547 songs on your iPod. He knows why you chose each one. He
knows what the lyrics are and what they mean. He knows what your mind
associates with every verse. (He even knows whether you actually paid for each
song, or just found a way around the iTunes fee … although that’s another topic
for another day.)
You know what a cool
thing it is to share a song with a friend – crank it up on the car stereo,
share a pair of ear buds with your heads bobbing together, croon the words
while your bud plays guitar around some campfire.
I just want you to
consider the possibility that God has, for your entire life, been sharing every
song you’ve ever loved.
And I don’t say that
to warn you to hold it in or just listen to stuff you think won’t shock him.
I say it because how
well God knows your music is a just a feeble example of how well God knows you
– whether you’re quietly praying or like, totally rocking out.
Doug
Mendenhall, who teaches journalism at Abilene Christian University, has written
this weekly column since 2000. He enjoys talking about it to church and civic
groups of any size. E-mail him at
doug.mendenhall@acu.edu.
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