In about
four weeks, my husband and I will become grandparents for the first time. Our
son and daughter-in-law are the ones affording us the great honor. As I try to
get myself ready for this momentous transition in life, my thoughts go back to the days
of parenting that son, his twin sister, and his younger brother. I remember the
book series we subscribed to that sent the classics of children’s literature
our way – including Pigs in Hiding, The Carrot Seed, and Goodnight Moon. When I went to the
Scholastic web site to see if I could subscribe to the same series for my
grandchild, a new option should not have surprised me: ebooks.
I also thought about the series of child
development toys we subscribed to from Johnson & Johnson. One particularly
well-used one was a yellow “dumbbell” with squeaks at each end and a bright, red
tracking ball in the middle. The series offered similar toys sent once every couple
of months. They were all equally bright, functional, and educational. Since all
of my twentysomething children are independent and successful, I wondered if
those toys had anything to do with it. Are these toys still available? Can I subscribe
to the series for my grandchild? No – but I can buy used ones on ebay.
Books and toys are important for shaping
a child’s world, but so is music. The songs my children grew up hearing came
from Sesame Street, including the classic “It’s Not Easy Being Green,” Raffi (“Three
green and speckled frogs sat on a speckled log eating some most delicious bugs”),
and Mr. Rogers. In my book, that man was a saint, along with being a
Presbyterian minister. Who else but Mr. Rogers would think to write a song for
children telling them “You Can Never Go Down the Drain”?
As I pondered my children’s complete musical
repertoire, once again, the internet blessed my memory. A quick search reminded
me of “Free to Be, You and Me” and some very timely lyrics: Parents are people; people with children.
When parents were little they used to be kids, like all of you; but then they
grew and now parents are grown-ups, grown-ups with children…
As I contemplate the changes my grown up kid
about to become a parent will face, I wonder what kind of music will shape his
child’s life? When I began to reflect last Sunday with the saints of Seneca
Presbyterian Church on the power of music to shape faith, I was taken with the
amazing individuality of musical options in our time. With Amazon Cloud
Players, Pandora, and Sirius radio, we can easily listen to whatever we want to
hear whenever we want to hear it. I wonder how this world will alter the power
of music to shape a generation, because music does have the power to shape us.
It teaches us what is important, where our passions should lie, what it means
to be human, and for Christians, what we think it means to be children of God.
When we gather for worship this Sunday at
SPC, we will consider how music teaches. How do the hymns and songs we choose
to sing together shape our understanding of God, of Jesus, of the Holy Spirit,
and what it means to be Christian disciples? If you are anywhere near-by, come
join us!
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