G!d songs are Meant To Be

Early on in life, I could hear G!d in songs. In the beginning, it was the Psalms in the Bible. No tunes or melodies; just words. But they tugged at me in profound ways, helping me navigate the rough waters of abuse and toxic dysfunction of my childhood. The Psalms were my anchors.

In 5th grade, I learned to love singing. I didn’t have a pretty voice, but I loved belting out the alto harmony and landing the notes, hearing the power many voices could bring to a single song. Listening to each of the four parts of harmony separately sounded strange, but when all four parts were sung simultaneously, it was so beautiful! I loved feeling and hearing my voice as part of such a beautiful whole experience of music.

After college, however, my opportunities for singing as part of a choral group were slim to none. I began listening more and more to the radio for my source of musical joy. One night in my late 20’s, I was driving home with the radio tuned to a pop music station. I had just made an important commitment, after having gone through a rough year and coming out the other side. The song Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper came over the radio.

“…Sometimes you picture me--
I’m walking too far ahead
You’re calling to me, I can’t hear
What you’ve said--
Then you say--go slow--
I fall behind--
The second hand unwinds
If you’re lost you can look--and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you—I’ll be waiting
Time after time…”
(Songwriters: Rob Hyman / Cyndi Lauper
Time After Time lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc)

It was the first time I heard G!d singing to me through the radio, and it was a song of deep love and care! It became my first G!d-song. It was a love song G!d sang whenever I needed to hear it most, through the magic of radio and the mouth of Cyndi Lauper. Who knew? Yet, clear as day, G!d was reassuring me through Cyndi Lauper that no matter how lost I felt, I would always find my way back to G!d, Who was always there waiting to catch me when I fell. Even still, when I hear this song, it nestles into a tiny crevice in my heart, filling me with a sense of being loved and cared for no matter what.

After that experience, I began to listen for G!d-songs. Three years later, going through a heart-wrenching time, G!d came to me, again through Cyndi Lauper, with the song True Colors.

“…Don’t be discouraged
Oh I realize
Its hard to take courage
In a world full of people
You can lose sight of it all
And the darkness inside you
Can make you feel so small
But I see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that’s why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful
Like a rainbow
(Songwriters: Billy Steinberg / Tom Kelly
True Colors lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC)

It was exactly the song, and words from G!d, that I needed to get me through that challenging time. Once again, I was reassured through a pop song on the radio that I was surrounded by G!d.

Throughout the intervening years, there have been many other G!d-songs come to me via the radio, and I find great comfort, wisdom, encouragement, and sometimes even direction in them. So now, when a song on the radio really grabs me, I pay attention to it. Just maybe, it’s the voice of G!d singing to me through that song.

Over the past couple of years, some of my favorite G!d-songs have been significant for me. See You Again by Wiz Khalifa came to me when I lost my sweet Peaches 4 years ago. Don’t Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers was hugely significant two years ago. Earlier this year, Try Everything by Shakira for the movie Zootopia really spoke to me. Recently, You Found Me by The Fray resonated deeper than any other G!d song ever has, and still does.

In the last couple of weeks, the song Meant To Be by Bebe Rexha has grabbed me. First, I need to say that of my diverse range of music genres I love, country is, with some rare exceptions, not one of them. The exceptions are the occasional country cross over song— a country song that crosses over other genre boundaries, such as into pop. Meant To Be is one of those.

I’ve been singing Meant To Be for days. I can’t get the catchy words and tune out of my head, and I love the harmonizing in it. I sing it all day long, and at night it awakens me and dances another few loops through my head, keeping me awake for awhile.

“…Who knows where this road is supposed to lead
We got nothing but time
As long as you’re right here next to me, everything’s gonna be alright
If it’s meant to be, it’ll be, it’ll be
Baby, just let it be
If it’s meant to be, it’ll be, it’ll be
Baby, just let it be
So, won’t you ride with me, ride with me?
See where this thing goes
If it’s meant to be, it’ll be, it’ll be
Baby, if it’s meant to be…
..But hold up, girl, don’t you know you’re beautiful?
And it’s easy to see…”
(Songwriters: Bleta Bebe Rexha / David Garcia / Joshua Miller / Tyler Reed Hubbard
Meant To Be lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Round Hill Music Big Loud Songs, Capitol Christian Music Group)

If you are not familiar with this song, you can hear it here on YouTube:




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOP5HrIkTrA

Sometimes I can be dense. It wasn’t until Tuesday night when I was awakened yet again by this song in the middle of the night when it finally hit me….. Meant To Be is another G!d-song for me. It is also the most profound song about Holy Process I’ve ever heard. And, it came, once again, exactly when I needed it, as an answer to prayer.

The song reminds me that the best way for me to live isn’t in trying to manipulate outcomes and people, or forcing particular results I might think I want, nor is it in overlaying positive sentiments over the top of an underlying reality that I must acknowledge before I can move forward. In the math educational world, this is referred to as “chocolate covered broccoli.”

Too many computer games use the overlay of a game to teach a challenging subject, like math. When done correctly, games are a great teaching tool. However, far too many games out there employ the “chocolate covered broccoli” technique. That is, they allow the child to play a few minutes of the game before forcing the child to answer a math question in order to continue playing the game. The math question has nothing to do with the game. The game is an overlay, making it appear as if the child can “have fun” while learning math.

Do you catch the subtle difference between making the educational process part and parcel of the game as opposed to having the “fun game” nothing more than a superficial false overlay to the math problems? This is the technique of “chocolate covered broccoli.” One is a all-of-one-piece process/approach, and the other is a fake face front of superficial nicety.

I am familiar with living the “chocolate covered broccoli” approach to life. This is related to my previous post on spiritual bypassing. (I note that I wrote that blog last August, 2017, but kept it as a draft and never published it until yesterday. Only while writing this post did I remember it and post it.) Lately, I am seeing many ways where it is easy to live life as an “overlay” rather then deeply authentic. It might look like authenticity, but there is an overlay, a matrix, which appears as reality. A few people in this world are given the gift of being able to see through the overlay, the chocolate covering on the broccoli. Apparently, I am one of them. The prophets of the Bible often saw through the overlays to a deeper reality.

Bottom line, life is simply to be lived in the moment, and with great contentment and deep authenticity. The older I get, the more meaningful the word content is for me. I am learning to become content with the content of my life. When tides turn and computers go wonky and I get not so great news about something critical with very little time to make changes and people I thought I could trust turn out to be only fair weather friends, that is when I need to find my inner contentedness. Even my G!d song reminds me “if it’s meant to be, it’ll be, baby just let it be. …. just ride with me, ride with me, see where this thing goes…” THAT is the G!d of Holy Process promising me that “good” or “bad” is all of a piece, all have a message, and just to lean into being content rather than trying so hard to manipulate the results.

At the end of the day, I cannot manipulate and force the results I want. I can simply face each moment authentically, not cover over the broccoli with chocolate, pray for a soul friend whom I can trust with the messy parts, and keep riding the Holy Process of life. Denying and ignoring the messy parts does not actually serve or further me, even though it can sometimes appear as if it does.

May we all have the gift of being content, of having the courage to be authentic, and to let go of the strivings and overlays which surround us, falling into the arms of Holy Process!

Sing it with me:

“…Who knows where this road is supposed to lead
We got nothing but time
As long as you’re right here next to me, everything’s gonna be alright
If it’s meant to be, it’ll be, it’ll be
Baby, just let it be
If it’s meant to be, it’ll be, it’ll be
Baby, just let it be
So, won’t you ride with me, ride with me?
See where this thing goes
If it’s meant to be, it’ll be, it’ll be
Baby, if it’s meant to be…
..But hold up, girl, don’t you know you’re beautiful?
And it’s easy to see…”
(Songwriters: Bleta Bebe Rexha / David Garcia / Joshua Miller / Tyler Reed Hubbard
Meant To Be lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Round Hill Music Big Loud Songs, Capitol Christian Music Group)