Finding a Song

“Those who wish to sing always find a song.” The Swedes knocked it out of the park with this wise proverb. I think this photo I ran across recently proves the Swedish truism. Pictured at an evening outdoor birthday party with me are Anne (far left) and birthday gal, Dorease. Look at our smiles and the beautiful early summer flowers.

While Dorease is the gifted vocalist among us, all three of us have learned to find songs and sing—especially in the crushing times when we could have lost our voices entirely. I find this proverb about finding a song particularly fitting for this Mother’s Day weekend.


Stretching Your Vocal Cords Anyway

I know several moms who do not wish to sing about their life circumstances and who have stopped looking for a song. I know plenty more who, despite their trials and pain, search for an old song book or modern-day lyrics online and stretch their vocal cords anyway.

My mom was one of these women. She was not a center-stage vocalist, and she didn’t really play an instrument (unless you count the old accordion that sat in the closet pretty much untouched), but Mom did delight in music. She owned quite an eclectic collection of 78 albums, including ones featuring Elvis Presley, Nat King Cole and The Beatles. And I played the DJ, spinning these albums and more on our coffee table built-in stereo in the living room.

Yet perhaps like you and me, Mom’s challenges did not always warrant belting out “The Twist” with Chubby Checker or “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” with Diana Ross. Something in my mom’s biochemical makeup caused flareups with depression. Later in life, glandular skin cancer marred her face with scars, two reaching from ear to ear. But resilient Bernice, who knew how to bend when life dared her to break, still wished to sing.

My mom dug deep to always find a song. In fact, two days before she suffered a massive stroke, Mom, drove around to visit friends who could no longer get out because of their own health challenges. Just being with these friends stirred a melody within.

Determining to Always Find a Song

So how are you doing in the song category these days? Do you no longer wish to sing because your heart feels too heavy? Have you lost interest in even finding a song? Or, frankly, lost interest in listening to someone else sing their song or even a song to you? You are not alone.

Mother’s Day is often mixed with myriad emotions. We rejoice in the joy of having children. We cry over children we cannot birth, or did, but they have passed or are distant. We laugh over fun memories with our own moms, and we ache when our moms can no longer laugh with us.

So, we have a daily—sometimes hour by hour—choice. We can turn off the radio, stay away from musicals, cancel Spotify and toss out our earbuds. Or we can determine to always find a song. And keep singing. Even if it’s only in the quietness of our heart, where only our Creator and us can hear.

 

 

 

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