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"...Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 5:18b-20 NIV)
It was a beautiful, Summer morning today. I took my dogs for their morning walk just as the sun was rising over the hills. The air was still cool and I laughed as I watched my dogs romp and play in the grass still wet with the morning dew. Then I did some morning chores and made myself a warm breakfast and a hot cup of coffee. I didn’t want to ruin the perfect peacefulness of the morning by turning on the news so I opened my record player and put on some of my old, vinyl records instead.
The music sounded heavenly and I smiled as I did my morning exercises. That is until the record started to skip. For those of you too young to remember that is when damage to one of the grooves in the record causes the needle that picks up the music to skip back so that you hear the same few notes over and over and over. It can become annoying almost instantly. I quickly ran over to the record player, gently lifted the needle and moved it past the damaged part.
After I did this I thought for a while on how many times my own life has become like a skipping record. How many times did I become stuck on one problem or difficulty in my life? How many times did I become fixated on something negative and failed to learn my lesson and move forward? How many times did I ignore the peace, love, and grace God was offering me because I was too busy stewing in my own misery?
Thankfully, God continues to forgive me, guide me, and bring me back to love and joy in my own life. And if there is one thing I have learned in this life it is that we are here to make our music and live our love. God doesn’t want us to become a skipping record stuck on the same jarring notes over and over. God wants us to learn our lessons, sing our song, and share our love. May you always do so. May the song of your life make God smile and the angels sing.
Joseph J. Mazzella
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