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Singing Along

             Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100)

I’ve written a number of times about catching my thoughts after they’ve gone in the wrong direction for too long. One of the things Dallas Willard repeatedly notes is that we can’t really combat feelings directly. Sometimes, we can talk ourselves out of our bad thinking, but “you shouldn’t feel that way” and “calm down” don’t really work well unless they are combined with our taking our thinking in another direction. It is thinking differently that changes our emotions.

So today, and every day, I try to make sure to play some music that lifts my spirit in the direction I want it to go, because whether or not I am singing along, the words guide my emotions just as if I were thinking them. This is why psalms like Psalm 100 are so essential to our lives.

Today, as I read the words, I find myself pondering the idea that I am His. It seems unbelievable that God would choose to include me in His flock or that He would be willing to include me among His people, and yet, there it is. Even if I am convinced that He’s got to be crazy to even consider me as a possibility, it still puts me in a place where there must be thought. There must be a response. And in that moment, I can catch the direction and make a choice. And that gives me a reason to sing along.

 

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