Sharing Your Song With the World

Eric Elder runs “The Ranch” website at www.theranch.org, an online ministry designed to give you a boost in your faith anytime.  You can also find Eric on FaceBook at “facebook.com/theranchmessages”.

I love to play the piano.  But until I was 30, I only played for myself.  I just loved doing it for the sheer joy of doing it.  I loved figuring out the notes and hearing them come together to form songs.  To think that the music I was hearing was coming out of notes I was playing was, in itself, fully satisfying.  As Carlos Santana says,

“When you play from your heart, all of a sudden there’s no gravity.  You don’t feel the weight of the world, of bills, of anything.  That’s why people love it.  Your so-called insurmountable problems disappear, and instead of problems you get possibilities.”

I was quite happy to just play for myself.

But one day a friend came over and heard me play.  He said, “You wrote those songs?”  I told him I did.  He said, “You should record them!”

I didn’t know why I should record them.  I just liked playing them.  But he said he had some recording equipment and he’d be glad to help me record them.  So we set up a time for him to come back, and a few days later he had recorded a dozen of my songs.

When he played back the tape for me, I couldn’t believe it.  The songs sounded completely different!  For the first time I was able to hear my songs without having to play the keys in front of me.  It was a totally different experience.

As odd as it may sound for me to say this, the songs really touched my heart.  I no longer heard them as “my songs” but just songs.  Even today, when I hear other people play my songs, I don’t usually recognize them at first.  I just love them.  And somehow, they really minister to my heart in a deep way.  When I first heard them played back, I thought, if they touch me like this, maybe they would touch others, too.

Music has the power to touch people in a way that goes beyond words.  The Bible tells of a young boy named David who played the harp for a king:

“Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.” (1 Samuel 16:23)

Many times as I play the piano, I find it calms my own soul as well as the souls of those who listen.  In the 16th century, Martin Luther said:

“Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.”

For me, music is like the oil that lubricates the engine of my life.  Things just seem to run smoother with music, be more enjoyable.  Of course, there are times when silence is golden.  But the right music at the right time can change the whole atmosphere of almost any situation.

I remember walking around SeaWorld in San Antonio one day with my wife and young kids.  As we strolled from activity to activity, everything seemed so perfect and calm and wonderful.  I couldn’t believe it.  Then I realized what was happening.  Although the weather was gorgeous and we were truly having fun, I noticed that there was music playing everywhere we went.  It was coming out of speakers hidden in the rocks in the ground that lined path and trail in the park.  It was like having a sound track synced to our lives, and it was beautiful.

Whether you’re a musician or not, I’m sure you can appreciate how music can touch people in ways that go beyond words.  As Plato said:

“Music training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the secret places of the soul.”

If you are a musician, I’d like to encourage you today to consider sharing the songs that God has put on your heart with others.