I love to sing, and I always have. A local AM Christian radio station is my station of choice when I am in the car, especially during programs focusing on Christian music. Depending on the time of day, it may be contemporary music or at others, it is more traditional. One recent Saturday, my daughter and I were running errands and I, of course, had the radio on. We were listening to a choir singing an older traditional hymn that she was not familiar with, but I sang along and was able to go the full four verses. She asked me, "Mom, how in the world do you know all of these songs?"
When I was in about 4th grade, my parents bought a stereo record player. With this new addition to our family, my mother ordered several sets of record albums through the Reader's Digest. The record sets arrived, and among the albums was one set of 2 or 3 long play records that was entitled, "Great Hymns of America." For whatever reason, this quickly became my favorite, and everyone in my family became accustomed to my belting out my own accompaniment to one hymn and another. This obviously laid the foundation from my ability to recall songs and sing along. Even after the passage of many years.
As I began to take music lessons at this same age, I discovered that to relax and de-stress, nothing worked better than thumbing through a hymnal and play either an old favorite or tackle an unfamiliar tune. This is a habit that continues with me to this day.
I once heard a meditation on the radio noting that it is impossible to frown while singing a hymn. The speaker suggested that this might be something to remember when one was having a particularly "bad day" as a method to bring a smile back to the face. I know for a fact that this works! What better way to chase morning grumpiness away than "When morning gilds the skies, my heart awakening cries---my Jesus Christ be praised!"
Mary Lewis, for 2006 St. Mark Lenten Devotional "Twenty Days to Easter"
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