The Hymnal that Hums in Our Soul Part 1

 

If music is the language of the soul made audible, then human voices, raised in concert and in human gatherings, are primary instruments of the soul.  Music conveys common memories, with powerful association.  Don Saliers

 

There is a musical soundtrack to your life that hums on repeat, replaying in your soul, perhaps just beneath the surface of consciousness.  It is a compilation of experiences and encounters with music that moved you, leaving an imprint upon you.  The soundtrack is not just hymns from church, but from concerts where your breath was caught in the back of your throat as tears welled up, dripped from your eyes.  The soundtrack of road trips where you and your friends sang along at the top of your lungs whilst rolling down the highway passing the miles.  Your high school dances or your wedding day or an ordinary Tuesday when a melody came from the speaker that stopped time.  The jukebox of your life is comprised collection of when/how/where and what awoke the holy hum that moves us through the day.

 

In May, I’ve invited the church to offer your favorite hymns.  If you read the fine print, I do ask that if you submit more than five to me, you do so alphabetically, please! 

 

The question is, how?  How do we begin to name and notice what is part of the soundtrack of our life?  There is no one way to do this.  This week, I will offer some structure for how you can begin to reflect on the music that is your soul’s shy voice made audible. 

 

First, I invite you to start with a blank piece of paper and write down all the hymns you can think of right now.  This is a soul-stirring and searching exercise, so tell your inner editor who wants to offer strikes or say, “Oh no…not that one!!” to go take a coffee break.  For example, I might write down, “In the Garden.”  This doesn’t mean that “In the Garden” will make the final cut, but this hymn is certainly there in my soul and you might even be humming the melody right now ~ and for the rest of the day.  You are welcome.

 

The point is to write down as many hymns as you can.  Don’t hold back.  Pro tip: this is NOT a timed test!  As a matter of fact, I hope you start the list now and come back to it at lunch and then before you go to bed and then again tomorrow morning.  I apologize in advance that you may wake up tonight with a hymn humming you hadn’t thought about in years.  Please do not text me, write it down.  As a matter of fact, you don’t ever need to stop this exercise.  This is also an open book invitation…or open hymnal.  There is an index right there in the back of the first lines to set your mind singing! 

 

Pro tip number two: if you have difficulty getting started, center your thoughts on a season.  What Christmas Carols warm your heart?  Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful, or maybe Joy to the World.  Next, think about hymns you sang at meaningful moments in your life: I am thinking here of summer camp with a campfire blazing in front of you and s’mores stuffing your stomach while stars shine down blessing the ground.  Or maybe funeral services for your parents or grandparents.  Or maybe a hymn that you sang recently in church.  Rewind and review your life for the melodies that cause goosebumps to race up and down your life. 

 

Pro tip number three: there is no wrong way to do this.  Listen to your shy soul start to sing reminding you of moment that made you feel alive and awake to the unfinished symphony that is within us and around us which our Composer, Conductor and Collaborator God is still writing every day.  May you fill a page with hymns that sing to your soul in such a time as this.  Amen.