More Country Music? ARRRGGGG!

Dear Lord,

When Harriett and I tuned into her favorite radio station, an old country song came on.  This seemed out of place for an alternative rock station, and we both wondered aloud exactly what was going on. The song was too old to be new.  It was the original version, so it wasn't a remix, and it was, in Harriett's words, "too new to be 'folk'".  It was a bit of a puzzle, so we switched to a better option.

The next day, she broke the news.  Her beloved alternative station had been bought out by a...(wait for it)...COUNTRY STATION!!!  (Gasp!)  "Aww, MAN!" she complained.  "Like we don't have enough of those ALREADY!"  I had to agree.  We do have plenty of quality country stations in the area, if you like that sort of music.

There's a deeper reason for her disappointment, however, and I get it.  Who needs another country station, playing the same old melancholy songs?  Who needs a cookie cutter copy of the same thing that's already happening?  How many times can his wife leave him and his dog die, and his pick-up truck be used for carrying beer and girls in cut-offs? Same twang, same guitar, same sound.  Same same same.

She wanted artists to reach out and try something new and daring and exciting.  She wanted them to play the song how THEY feel it, not how it's been done before.  A musical adventure, if you will.  And now her station that played the artists that aren't afraid to push the definitions of musical genres, and defy classification will play more of the same country.  The originals have sold out to the same old voices.

I hope I'm NOT the same old voice that people want to NOT be.  I love you, Jesus. Lots of good ole boys do, too. I know my message is similar to what a lot of people have to say:  Be Kind, Love Each Other, Learn Something, God Loves You!  The list goes on and on. Behold, I see how you make all things new.          

You made me with my OWN twang, and my own patterns and rhythms.  You made each of us exactly how we are best. Original, No other quite like each of us.  We each have music inside us that's made to celebrate who YOU are, and how we love you.  I could LITERALLY sing of your love FOREVER!  (Which is also a song title),  Still, we sometimes become like the 5th newest country station.  We say the same things in the same way as someone else has over and over.  We forget to be honest and true to you, our maker.

Please help Harriett find her own song.  Help all of my kids see the immeasurable treasure of being true to the one who created them.

Love,

Me