HARLAN RICHARDS
December 29, 2017

Joy to the World - Find Your Special Song

As I was singing songs during a recent chapel service, I was thinking about the difference between the average person and a person who had a knack for music. Those who have the ability I'm referring to generally take it for granted and assume that everybody understands music the way they do. They remember melodies and lyrics, have perfect timing and effortlessly sing, or play an instrument.

The choir sang a song through one time and the conductor then asked the service attendees to sing along with the choir as the song was repeated. My first thought was that there was no way I would be able to sing along. Even though I had just heard the song being sung, I couldn't remember the lyrics. That's when I realized that musicians (those with the knack) took it for granted that everyone had the same ability as them to hear something once and be able to play or sing it. There is an overhead projector which they use to project song lyrics on the wall so we can sing along. I guess they didn't have the lyrics for that song on a transparency because the projector sat there unused.

Needless to say, nobody sang along. I don't know if it was because, like me, they didn't know the lyrics or just didn't want to sing.

The incident made me think about the importance of music in our lives and I thought it would be nice if people had a special song or an acknowledged favorite song. I decided that I should find a song which represents me and how I feel about my life and the world around me. I write lots of critical blog posts and, when I reread them, I think I sound like an angry, bitter person. But I'm not.

I believe that I tell it like it is—or at least how I perceive it to be. Just because there are negative or bad situations in my life, it doesn't mean that my experiences have soured my disposition or world view. In fact, I'm pretty much happy and upbeat all the time. My favorite world is "fantastic", which I use so much, I'm known as that guy who's fantastic all the time.

Let me get to the point of this post. I thought about what song I would like to have as my theme song, and I decided that the Christmas song, Joy to the World, should be my song. So there you have it. Joy to the World reflects how I feel and how I view the world.

Joy to the world, the Lord has come...

Joy to the World
Joy to the world, the Lord has come!
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy

No more let sins and sorrows grow
Nor thorns infest the ground
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found
Far as the curse is found
Far as, far as, the curse is found

He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love
And wonders, wonders, of His love

Lyrics: Isaac Watts
Music: George Frederick Handel

Song #125 from the Hymnal For Worship and Celebration
Pub. Word Music, 1986