changes: mere christianity and the sound of music

Part 4 in the how-I've-changed series.

Just ask me this: what is your favorite color? And it will be very hard for me to answer. I like blue. But I also like yellow. I like wearing yellow. And gray. And brown. I like looking at green things.

Now this: who is your favorite singer? And it used to be very hard for me to answer. I would like certain songs from people, but I wouldn't exactly be able to say, Oh, I've listened to every single song he/she's ever written. The closest I've ever gotten to someone like that was John Mayer. But this year, I found a legit one: Ingrid Michaelson. 

My obsession with her has been very apparent, since I always write about her and how awesome she is. Why is she so awesome? Because her music just fits in my ear. It's like there was an Ingrid-sized hole in my ear that was just waiting for her sound waves to come through. And her words, though she doesn't use very many, hit me directly in the heart. And she's a very personable stage character. She's the first and only non-classical music star I have ever gone to see live. I mean, just listen to "Giving Up" or all of her second c.d. ("Boys and Girls") or "The Chain."

Now, my whole music taste shifted from listening to Top 40s artists to indie pop/rock and folk music. But you want to know something else? I actually started listening to Christian music this semester.

How did that come to be? To be very honest, before college and before this sudden immersion into Christianity/church, I didn't see the appeal of Christian music. They all had the same key words: God, grace, redemption, worship, etc. How creative could you get? Being obsessed with song-writing since I was eight, I didn't see the lyricism in Christian lyrics. And, as much as I hate admitting being a hopeless romantic, I love songs about love. Unrequited love, lost love, amazing love, depressing love. You name it, I'll get addicted to it. And yet, for me to be singing along to Christian songs outside of Sunday services...I don't know. I think I couldn't really apply it to my daily life because I wasn't able to think of anyone if I wanted to. The center of Christian songs, well, is God. I can't think of my unappreciative crush and lament in song form along with so-and-so artist when I'm saying "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord." 

I realized that Christian music to me is kind of like what classical music is like to other people. They say it stimulates people's minds and helps them focus more on the task at hand. But unfortunately, my thirteen years of being a violinist often prevents me from preventing myself from singing along to symphonies. Sad. But although I'm starting to know the lyrics to Christian songs pretty well, I get more in-the-zone when I study and pray and etc. 

So yeah. Music is a huge part of my life: I can't live without it. I think I'd rather be blind than deaf. (Well, I'd rather not be either, but hey. Let's allow some artistic liberality.) And I think it's true, what your parents tell you. You know, how they say that they used to tolerate the popular music of their day, but today's music is very dissonant in their ears - yeah. I think as I've grown up, so has my taste in music.

And my appreciation of the true love to whom I should really be singing.