Freezing outdoor temperatures make for some interesting interactions between siblings who are stuck indoors together for long periods of time.
Take, for instance, something I heard the other day when my teenage son was listening to some music that told a sad story, much to the dismay of my younger son.
“It’s a good song — just ignore the lyrics,” the teenager said.
“Well,” his brother retorted a short time later, “I can’t ignore the lyrics when you’re singing them!”
Both had a valid point, and I couldn’t help but smile.
No matter how beautiful a song may seem, the lyrics can be hard to ignore.
Songs in our hearts
This can be true with “songs” we find in our own hearts.
Sometimes we follow impulses in our hearts — a thought, a feeling, an idea — sort of humming along to a “song” without thinking about the “lyrics” of what that song is really about, without praying about it first and finding out whether or not it is God’s will or something intended for His glory instead of our own.
Sometimes our hearts can be wrong.
We need to recognize whether our thoughts or actions are being driven by emotion only, instead of being tempered by reason and prayer, which need to be the primary forces behind our actions.
“First, prayer; then, atonement; in the third place — very much ‘in the third place’ — action,” said St. Josemaria Escriva (The Way, #82).
Examine motivations
What are the lyrics, the motivations behind our actions, behind the songs in our hearts that we follow day by day? Do we take our songs to God in prayer first, before we act?
Do we examine what is truly driving us forward? Is it a desire to do God’s will or further our own interests? Is it love of God or love of oneself that is making up the lyrics to our songs?
“Desires often inflame thee and violently hurry thee on, but consider whether it is for My honor or thy own interest that thou art most moved,” said Thomas à Kempis (My Imitation of Christ, p. 196). “If thou hast no other view but Me thou wilt be well contented with whatever I shall ordain, but if there lurk in thee anything of self seeking, behold, this it is that hinders thee and troubles thee.”
Humility is key
“Self seeking,” of course, is pride, the root of so many sins. If, upon examination of the motivations behind our actions we find pride, it’s time to clear it out and change the lyrics — or switch songs entirely.
“If I am left to myself, behold I am nothing and all weakness; but if Thou shouldst graciously look upon me, I presently become strong and am filled with a new joy,” said Thomas à Kempis (p. 186).
“In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:6).
When we realize that the lyrics to every song in our hearts should start with humility before God — with an understanding that we are truly nothing without Him and can do nothing without Him — then we are finally in the right place to start listening to His songs and His lyrics instead of our own.
Julianne Nornberg, mother of four children, is a member of St. John the Baptist Parish, Waunakee.