Sweet music of July

On this last day of July 2018, I'm listening to melodies of precious memories in my mind.

One involves a beautiful and joyous wedding in which my nephew and his bride stood at the front of a collegiate chapel singing along with all in attendance two great hymns of faith, "How Great Thou Art" and "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee." I don't think I've ever been at a wedding with congregational singing, and I absolutely loved it. The majestic pipe organ in the simple chapel enhanced the sense of building the marriage on a firm foundation of faith in God.

Another melodious memory is the 2018 inductions for the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. The Hall's first "genre-specific" induction class featured contemporary Christian group Point of Grace, gospel singer Smokie Norful and praise and worship songwriter and leader Dennis Jernigan.

The evening included powerful spoken testimonies, then soul-stirring songs by each artist. Although the inductees all were considered to be within the same genre, i.e. Christian music, the musical styles varied richly.

Jernigan's music is profoundly God-focused. The words may seem poetic and the music majestic, but the message of God's love and redemption is front and center.

Norful's message may be just as powerful, but his silky smooth voice sometimes caused me to shift my praise to God for His creation of such a wondrous sound! Norful's energy and enthusiasm lifted my spirit.

Point of Grace, a trio of Denise Jones, Shelley Breen and Leigh Cappillino, delivers its message of God's love and mercy with dynamic harmonies and next-door-neighbor friendliness.

As I've been struggling in recent months to keep writing on my blog, I've tried to get back to my original intent: sharing the sweet music of my life. It's not coming easily. Distractions threaten to drown out the musical memories when I sit down to write. And suddenly it's bedtime, and I have to decide whether to stay up too late again or stop writing before I'm finished. Tonight, I will publish this, knowing I can always come back to finish it later. Writing is important; so is rest. And so is music. I'm trying to find the balance.

Something about singing hymns at a wedding with the bride and groom inspires me to think the balance could come from incorporating music more intentionally into many areas of life.