Beautiful Words, Wonderful Words, Wonderful Words of Life

Over the past couple days I have been especially thankful for the ability to read words on a page, to communicate my thoughts through words, to write in my journal and to write a blog! All things that I have taken for granted.

This past weekend my husband Bruce and I visited with his Dad Gene who has a brain disease called Primary Progressive Aphasia. Gene can't read more than one or two words, he can't formulate complete ideas and cannot verbalize what he is thinking other than a few recognizable words here or there. He is otherwise a very healthy and joyful person to be around.

We visited the house where he was born in 1925 and although he couldn't formulate words he did seem to know where he was. Throughout the weekend I would sit with him and listen to him express himself with words that didn't make sense to me but hoping that he felt understood.

My work with songwriters is a great joy for me as I hear them express the full spectrum of their lives through the words of the songs they write.

So I've been thinking, what would a song be without words?

What would life be like without the ability to use words to express myself?

I am struck with a profound sadness thinking about Gene's word-less life.

However, my faith in God, who I believe meets us in the middle of every circumstance we face, gives me hope and courage to pray that Gene will know that he is loved, that he is known and that he is heard.

So words... beautiful words, wonderful words of life, wonderful words of life!

I am always looking for wonderful words of life in the Bible that specifically relate to songwriters and I was struck with the relevance of the very last verse in the Gospel of John.

John says "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written."

THE WHOLE WORLD would not have room for the BOOKS that would be written...

Then I started to think about the thousands of lives that Jesus impacted during the thirty plus years he walked on earth. In heaven we are going to hear all of these stories! Add to that number the countless number of people who have been impacted by Jesus' life before his incarnation and after his ascension.

This will make for some heavenly writers-in-the-rounds. I believe there will be new songs written in heaven!

So what does this have to do with songwriters?

I believe that songwriters have the privilege of telling what Jesus is doing in their lives through the words of their songs. I believe that this is a powerful motivation for working at the craft of songwriting: telling the story of the Savior.

Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life!
Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life!
Words of life and beauty, teach me faith and duty.
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life!

Blessings!

Cindy