The Brain Invasion of Lady Gaga

My son is a proud trombonist of the Temple City High School marching band. While I normally would highly encourage him to spend more time practicing his instrument, I was a bit dismayed the other day when he started blasting tunes from his band's field show late in the evening, just before my bedtime. One of the pieces happened to be a very upbeat rendition of Lady Gaga's overexposed hits – a very catchy tune, but the words to the song are unfortunately quite offensive to my sensibilities, and, shall I say, not quite appropriate for children. After a while, my son started to play other tunes, and I prepared myself to go to bed without much additional thought on the matter.

I woke up early the next morning as usual for my morning run, and as I stepped on the asphalt I did my best to meditate on the greatness of God and His creation:

"God, I praise you, for you have placed the moon and stars in the sky to shine in the night, and the heavens declare Your glory...BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, DA, DA, DI DI DI DI, DA, DA, DI DI DI DI, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM..."

I barely rounded the corner of the first block before my time with God was rudely interrupted by Lady Gaga's tune in my head.

"OK, Satan. Very funny. Now get thee out of my head so that I can give God the glory and honor that is due Him...Lord, forgive me, for my mind wandereth...O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the works Thy hand hath made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling...BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, DA, DA, DI DI DI DI, DA, DA, DI DI DI DI, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM..."

Aaaaagh! Not THAT tune from Lady Gaga again! Fortunately I was only humming the notes and not singing the words. Once a catchy tune infiltrates one's brain, the only thing that can get rid of it is to replace it with another catchy tune. I spent the rest of my run futilely trying to make another song stick. I tried everything, from Amazing Grace and Jesus Loves Me to songs from Veggie Tales, even stuff from Sesame Street. Imagine me mouthing the words of Ernie's ode to his rubber ducky while perplexed neighbors and their dogs looked on.

Later that morning, I caught myself briefly humming a few bars of that festering tune while taking my shower, and while driving to work. Fortunately, diligence finally paid off, and the song was eventually extricated from my consciousness...after a few days.

In the apostle Paul's letter to the Philippians, he gave the following command,

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  (Philippians 4:8)

Indeed, we must consciously do our best to fill our minds with the things of God, i.e., the good, the true and the beautiful, so that there is no room left for Satan to enter with his metastatic work of distraction and deception through mass media. To believe otherwise is to expose the soft underbellies of our faith to the devil.

Somehow, having the tune, "It's A Small World After All" stuck in my head no longer seems to be so bad.

Oboe Muscles, Prayer Muscles

I often wondered if I could have made it as a professional oboist. The saxophone was the first real musical instrument I learned that is not a piano, but it was through playing the oboe during high school that my potential to become a professional musician was recognized.  I entered high school not even knowing what an oboe looks or sounds like, but my band teacher took a chance on me, and offered to have me play the oboe in the orchestra, if I would audition for a scholarship with the saxophone, and use the money to pay for oboe lessons.  The convoluted plan came to fruition, and I soon understood the necessity for oboe lessons.  The oboe is generally regarded as the most difficult wind instrument to play, but my band teacher recognized something about me that fit the profile of an aspiring oboist.  His gamble paid off, and I became, over the course of three years, one of the better high school oboists in the state of California.

My band teacher’s dreams of my professional music career came to a halt when I chose to study biology in college, and my oboe playing ended after a one-year stint as a member of the school orchestra at UCLA.  I learned to play the guitar, and still managed to maintain my saxophone skills for a few years, but my oboe days were history.

I had frequently considered purchasing an used oboe since college, but waited until my mid-forties before yielding to the temptation. The vintage Linton oboe and reeds that I purchased online arrived in reasonable condition, and I was anxious to play it. The first few sounds were disconcerting – raspy, out of tune, and took every ounce of my breath and energy to produce, easy reminders of why the oboe is such a difficult wind instrument.  Weeks passed before squawking and squealing gave way to something that resembled musical tones, and it took a few more months before my playing improved to the point where my daughter, who was still in middle school, also became interested in the instrument.

Just as it takes practice to regain my “oboe muscles,” it takes time to develop “prayer muscles.”  Though never my strong suit, prayer was a significant part of my early Christian walk, and seeing God answering prayer in tangible ways reinforced my desire to pray regularly.  However, the cares of family and career took a hold on me, and my spiritual walk started to decline in regularity, frequency and vitality.  Prayer started to feel unnatural and uncomfortable.

It took several major crises in my mid-life years before I was shaken awake from my spiritual slumber, and I started to develop a renewed desire to study God’s word and know God.  My wife was involved in prayer ministry at church, and I felt drawn to participate in a prayer meeting for the first time in many years.  It felt awkward, as I was still not used to speaking with God, and was too self-conscious of what others thought about my prayers.  I claimed God as Lord of my life, but my claim was vacuous.  It took the passage of weeks for my “prayer muscles” to become strengthened, and conversation with God became less labored and more intimate.  I rediscovered that as a sinner redeemed by Christ, I am made to pray, just as I was made to play the oboe. It just takes practice, and with practice comes joy and freedom that is unfathomable to those who have not experienced them.

Prayer is not a spiritual gift given to only select members of the body of Christ – it is expected of each of us. Jesus instructed in the Sermon on the Mount and to His disciples, “When you pray...,” not “If you pray....” It is true that some are more “gifted” in prayer, particularly intercessory prayer; however, the person who diminishes the importance of prayer because he is not good at it is one who cuts himself off from the God who is the source of all existence, the God who gives us the privilege of participating in His divine ordained plan as instruments of His redemption and healing, of knowing His will, of worshiping with words of prayer that rises to His throne as fragrant incense. Prayer is spending time with God and communing with Him. Adam and Eve rejoiced in the presence of God until sin entered their lives, then they hid from Him. We no longer need to do so as Christians, but Satan will remind us of our sins not so that we will confess our sins, but so that we will flee from the face of God.

God does not need our prayer. He knows the end of the universe before it began, and he knows every thought in our hearts. But God wants us to pray, that we may align our wills with His, and that we can be active participants in His work. If we do not pray, He will use others for His glory while we atrophy into insignificance.  The apostle Paul knew a thing or two about prayer, and his command to the saints in Thessalonica included these simple words,

pray without ceasing, (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Blind Spots

A friend sent me a web link to an instructional video on how to properly adjust one's car mirrors and minimize blind spots while driving.  I had already been driving for decades with a nearly spotless record, and was skeptical that I could possibly learn anything that I wasn't already doing.  I figured that the video would be about as useful as those with claims like, "Eat these ten foods if you want to die from cancer," or "Tax saving secrets that the IRS does not want you to know!"  The video actually was unexpectedly informative and well done, and I have taken the recommendations to heart ever since.  Every car has blind spots that can present serious driving hazards, but one is much less likely to swerve into adjacent vehicles if the mirrors are properly adjusted and used, and if one knows where the remaining blind spots are and checks them with a turn of the head before changing lanes.  However, even the best driver will occasionally fail to see the trailing vehicle in the adjacent lane, and it may take an angry honk of the horn from the other driver to avert disaster. 

I started to think of blind spots in a more metaphorical sense, i.e., each of us has certain blind spots in our lives and experiences that are likely to be sources of misunderstanding and conflict.  These blind spots may be maladaptive personality traits, ways of doing things, habits, anxieties, fears, viewpoints, etc., that are blatantly obvious to other individuals, but may totally escape our own attention until they are pointed out to us.  I certainly have many blind spots, and I know that they are blind spots because I often made the same errors repeatedly, and never saw them coming.  I suspect that such tendencies are not restricted to just myself and those who appear on Dr. Phil, Jerry Springer or The People's Court...the same likely apply to each of us in some way as well.

In view of this, it is good to figuratively "adjust our mirrors" once in a while, to occasionally turn our heads and to heed the warning honks of vehicles into whose paths we are intruding - through introspection, through prayer, and by being attentive to wise counsel.

A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.  (Proverbs 15:1)

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!  (Psalm 139:23-24)