Monday, August 25, 2008

Songs in the Night

As a child, I recall many trips where I rode in the back seat of our family car singing “Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go.” All was pleasant and joyful for a time, but the road soon became bumpy, the journey became boring, and my song changed to a whiney query, “Are we there yet?”

In my seventy-five-year life-journey, the roads have frequently been bumpy; some experiences have turned into trials and tests; and the “river” that we all must cross doesn’t seem to inspire a song.

But then, in those memorable childhood travels, it was neither the bumpy rural roads, nor the bridges over Arkansas’ rivers and streams that kept me singing -- it was anticipation of the journey’s end.

However, it seems that even though there is joy in focusing on the goal of my life’s journey, the songs along the way tend to modulate into a minor key.

I must keep reminding myself that it’s the destination – not the journey – that produces a song in the heart.

The lyrics of a chorus I sang as a college student seem appropriate:

You can have a song in your heart in the night,
After every mile, after every trial.
Anyone can sing when the sun‘s shinning bright,
But you need a song in your heart at night.

Songs in the night don’t come from surroundings – they come from what’s been internalized in a person’s heart of hearts. It’s the vision of the destination that produces a joy that blossoms into a song.

Hmmm. I’m glad I wrote this – I needed to read it.

4 comments:

Charles W. Hodge, DMin said...

Thanks honey,

As always, I'm eager to know 'how and what you think.' Your candid thoughts reveal your transparent heart. Your encouraging words have strengthened me for over 53 years, and now, I anticipate responses from others as you share your life with others.

I am with you on every leg of this journey -- Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 "Two are better than one . . . For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion, but woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up."

I love you dearly as 'the wife of your youth,' and always, even in your old age and graying years, I will love you with all my heart.

Margaret -- Bestwyf

Tim said...

Songs in the night... I think we all have need of them. I get the idea that many of the Psalms were composed around a campfire after particularly grueling days. Some even sound as if the writer were unsure if the sun was going to rise the next morning. But the song was there.

Lauren Stewart said...

Charles, I just figured that I posted my blog under Sun., the 24th, and I maybe should have sent it under Mon., the 25th, to stay current. There wasn't one for today as yet, so read mine under Sun.
Love,
Lauren

gommy said...

Darling,
speaking of songs that are internalized in a person’s heart, . . . here’s my heart.

Like the sound of silence calling,
I hear your voice and suddenly
I'm falling, lost in a dream.
Like the echoes of our souls are meeting,
You say those words and my heart stops beating.
I wonder what it means.
What could it be that comes over me?
At times I can't move.
At times I can hardly breathe.

When you say, “I you love you.”
The world goes still, so still inside and
When you say you love me
For a moment, there's no one else alive

You're the one I've always thought of.
I don't know how, but I feel “sheltered” in your love.
You're where I belong.
And when you're with me. if I close my eyes,
There are times I feel like I can fly
For a moment in time.
Somewhere between the Heavens and Earth ,
And frozen in time, Oh when you say those words.

And this journey that we're on.
How far we've come and I celebrate every moment.
And when you say you love me,
That's all you have to say.
I'll always feel this way.

When you say you love me
The world goes still, so still inside and
When you say you love me
In that moment, I know why I'm alive

When you say you love me.
When you say you love me.
Do you know how “I love you?”