When I was a teenager I loved classic rock music. The ripping guitar solos and the loud, untamed drums really made my teenage boyish jaw drop. However, in the middle of my college years I went to see a concert by a young musician named Bebo Norman. Bebo got up on stage with only his acoustic guitar and played a beautiful and moving show. He poured out his heart on stage that night, just him and his guitar. From that moment on I set aside classic rock and really began to listen to music, not for the flashy solos, but for the message behind the melody. I fell in love with the art of songwriting and how great songwriters, like Bebo, so easily and fluidly were able to express their deepest thoughts and experiences in simple and memorable melodies and lyrics. In my experience, what makes good song writers is that they write and sing with passion. When you have a message that you feel very passionately about, it makes a song so much better. The man who is desperately in love writes and sings a better, more passionate love song. As well, the man who has found hope in God in the midst of deep suffering writes the better Christian song. This reflection got me thinking. What was I passionate about? What was the message that I needed to communicate in song? What was the message that would transform me from a guy who played guitar into a real artist, an artist with a unique message to bring forth? It didn’t take me long to figure out that I needed to communicate my experience of Jesus Christ and my desire, after encountering him, to go out and be His hands and feet to others. What are you passionate about? What message moves you to speak, write, or sing?
Your Hands https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPyCvApslgA
