You can spend your whole life building something from nothing
One storm can come and blow it all away
Build it anyway
You can chase a dream that seems so out of reach and you know it might not ever come your way
Dream it anyway

Chorus:
God is great, but sometimes life ain’t good
And when I pray it doesn’t always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway, I do it anyway

This world’s gone crazy and it’s hard to believe that tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway
You can love someone with all your heart, for all the right reasons, and in a moment they can choose to walk away
Love em anyway

Repeat Chorus

You can pour your soul out singing a song you believe in that tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway, sing it anyway

I sing, I dream, I love, anyway,

Surely that sweet music for you heart’s ears will play any moment now!

“To baby girl, welcome!”

Can’t wait to hear that paeon announcing the entrance of Mike and Diane to the fellowship of grandparents!

[I know, not a pure paeon, but I tried. ]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525949690/ref=pd_luc_0250307734743900525949690/104-0629862-9036719

From one review:
“In this textbook for those who don’t like textbooks, he discusses neurobiology, neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, empirical philosophy, Gestalt psychology, memory theory, categorization theory, neurochemistry, and exemplar theory in relation to music theory and history in a manner that will draw in teens. A wonderful introduction to the science of one of the arts that make us human.”

You asked me to flesh out my post with an example, thank you, I’m honored you even bothered to read it.

As you mentioned, “the whole earth is full of His glory and that the beauty of the one who is the Lord of the whole world is breaking out all around us, often in ways we couldn’t have expected.” Music—another gift from God in my opinion—can be analyzed in human terms. For example, in western culture, if you sing the first seven notes of a major scale, we instinctly hear the tonic to resolve the scale. The 7th pushes or pulls us towards the root.

Certain music—for me, Pat Metheny in particular—is very uplifting. Lush harmonies that pushes and pulls, improvisation that truly sounds like instant composition, the joyful manner in which he presents it. In fact, there’s a scholarly work on one of his pieces, Emotional Response to Music: Pat Metheny’s Secret Story (Studies in the History and Interpretation of Music, V. 80,) (Hardcover) by Wayne E. Goins (Author).

We scientifically know loud noises (and music, such as metal, etc.) trigger adrenaline. Culturally, as I mentioned, we hear a major scale resolve when the first seven notes are played. Surely we have some response to even more complex harmonies and melodies.

I believe God hardwired us to appreciate music, and gave it to us as a gift. A cappella, instrumental, or vocals with accompaniment, I love it all. And like the Father himself, the more you learn, the deeper the love. As the great jazz drummer Art Blakey said, “music washes away the dust of everyday life.” I can’t think of a better way to say it.

In the Church of Christ, et. al., tradition, a cappella is the standard. But even without instrumental accompaniment, elements of music are still present that inspire us. Rhythm, tempo, dynamic, range, etc. I would argue those elements, presented without lyrics, may sometimes have the same desired effect of making us feel appreciative for the gift of life, the gift of music, of relationships, etc.

I’ll give this some more thought and try to answer more intelligently and succinctly soon.

Thank you,

Jeff

Last year on Easter we sang “How Deep the Father’s Love” by Stuart Townend. Those lyrics have stayed on my mind for a whole year now. I think this one will stand the test of time and become a classic hymn up there with “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”.

Are you just on pins and needles waiting on this grandbaby or what? Please don’t delay too long while you call the long list before you post the big news here!

I can’t help but believe there are still a lot of souls in the world who have a sense that they are lost in it; who pray and hope that there’s a heaven.

How is it that the agnostic – Rutter, Fauré, Mahler, Vaughn Williams, Finzi, Stanford, et al – crafted musical thoughts that could connect so cogently with those of us who believe so deeply in the resurrection and life everlasting in Heaven?

I like this quote from Robert Reilly: ‘I have found that they [agnostics] are often particularly close to God – intimate enough to hold a personal grudge. Usually, it has to do with a misunderstanding as to who He really is or what He has done. Frequently, their objections to God concern things to which God Himself objects…’

Faure, Mozart, Verde, and Berlioz come to mind.

When my heart is heavy with grief, Mahler speaks to me, as does Wagner and Bruchner. For joyful frolicking – in a rehearsal with the Romano family as they pick and pluck their way through Rodrigo’s magnificent guitar works.

But when I worship, it is with the high church hymns such as O! Sacred Head or Worthy is The Lamb – and to make my heart leap with joy, singing These Are The Days of Ezekiel with a room full of college students.

Music is with me nearly 24/7 in one form or another. I have been asked by a blind friend of mine in Mexico City what my choice would be if I could have only one of two senses: sight and hearing. If I had to choose, I would want hearing. A life without music, including the music of voices I love, would be nearly unbearable to me.