He's Always Been Faithful By Sara Groves

Morning by morning I wake up to find 
The power and comfort of God’s hand in mine 
Season by season I watch Him, amazed 
In awe of the mystery of His perfect ways 
All I have need of, His hand will provide 
He’s always been faithful to me. 

I can’t remember a trial or a pain 
He did not recycle to bring me gain 
I can’t remember one single regret 
In serving God only, and trusting His hand 
All I have need of, His hand will provide 
He’s always been faithful to me. 

This is my anthem, this is my song 
The theme of the stories I’ve heard for so long 
God has been faithful, He will be again 
His loving compassion, it knows no end 
All I have need of, His hand will provide 
He’s always been faithful, He’s always been faithful 
He’s always been faithful to me.

What was Once a Memory...

(A paper I wrote about music and its importance to me...)
             Music is such an abstract word, used by so many people in infinite ways.  Music serves countless purposes including describing cultural divides, defining family and friendship bonds, getting parties started, resting, exercising, and aiding in religious services.  Of the five propositions of music including various aspects of the properties of music, sound and how it is organized, people giving meaning to music, intentions and perceptions, and how it is intrinsically based on the Western view of music, music’s most influential and important role is how sound is organized by people creating the music (Bakan, 3-6).

The most significant role I have had in the making of music in my lifetime was when I was in high school.  My identity was “choir kid.”  I went to a small, Christian, art and theatre high school in the west suburbs.  Everything that I did there had something to do with singing.  I was in two choirs (one mass choir and another small a cappella choir of twelve students), a worship team band (one at school and another at church), and was in all four musicals during my high school education.  I sing; it is what I do.

The proposition that I most identified with was the third: “Sounds are organized into music by people; thus, music is a form of humanly organized sound” (Bakan, 4).  Choir was an outlet for me to do what I love to do.  By the help of our choir director, our group of fifty to sixty students organized sound using the dynamics to emphasize certain phrases, dissonance, and harmony to show conflict and resolution.  When we discussed the translations of international pieces or the depth of certain poems that were put to music the sounds grew in meaning for my heart.  When we performed our songs I realized the importance of relaying the heart of the message to the audience, which did not have the time spent in class to hear about the impact the song had on us, by use of dynamics, dissonance, and harmony.

Because choir was a class in high school it was very important that we treated class as we would any other.  We were tested on our ability to memorize the music and were expected to appear professional during performances and class time.  This may have damaged my view of music.  I became callused by the formal display of music and how creatively stunting it can be, thus why I have not joined choir at UIC.  I enjoy the private, less pressurized, singing with a single instrument.  Choir also taught me what sounds “right” in music and what sounds “wrong.”  To appreciate music that is dissonant or unappealing to a choir audience is especially difficult for me.  I have been trained to know when a note is out of key; therefore music that displays such notes is rejected as beautiful.

I enjoyed singing songs from other cultures and in other languages.  The songs that were in different languages, including German, Italian, Spanish and others, were much harder to memorize.  However, those songs definitely helped me see into another country’s culture, thus proving how powerful music can be in the defining of cultural divides.  Though I have a hard time accepting some music as beautiful, all music has value.  These songs really broadened my view of music and have helped me see beyond myself.  I am a white, young, suburban, middle-class, American woman and student who refuses to be aware solely of herself and country.  I love to travel and experience how others do things.  But being trained in music the way I have been, might have affected my perception of other kinds of music negatively.

This summer I spent eight weeks in Uganda, living with a family and organization that houses street children while providing them food and education.  I experienced rich community and love.  The kids that I lived with were incredibly talented in nearly all things they attempted to do.  Church, on Sunday mornings, looks a lot different than a typical Christian service would here in the states.  Their “choir” was a massing of all the kids together to shout songs to God.   During these songs the children would dance using their entire bodies to praise God.  Rarely do we see this kind of display in the states, one that is undignified in almost every way.  Somehow, I found beauty in it.  They taught me a lot about how sound matters less than the heart of the music does.  If someone is singing to his or her Creator or loved one, it usually does not matter how “good” it sounds if someone can feel the passion in the demonstration.

All in all, music has various meanings and holds different weight for different people.  Learning how to sing with a big group of people was an invaluable lesson.  Choir taught me how to work in a group to prepare a piece of art that can be enjoyed by an even bigger group.  I learned about cultures outside of my own because of the various languages in which we sang.  I hope that my view of music continues to broaden from here, making what was once my identity merely a memory.

Works Cited

Bakan, Michael B. "What, in the World, Is Music?" World Music: Traditions and Transformations. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.

Here, I place my stake.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks with freshmen move-in, the first two weeks of classes, and various other transitions and friendly gatherings.

But, today I submit to you (whoever is reading) that I yearn to be a woman of God, following after the heart of God-the One from whom I was made. It has been a roller coaster of a summer.  I have experienced joy, pain, exhaustion, fulfillment, the fruits of obedience and the frustrations of self-focus. However, I know that I have been bought with a price, and that price was steep and for my salvation and rescue. I want to be a woman that knows who she is: His.  Everything else can just follow after.

I need not, God will supply.  I have always felt entitled, and God always reminds me that I am not.  Everything that I have is because of Him: shelter, family, food, finances, community...  They are all blessings from the Lord.  I need not take them for granted, I need not hold them as my own, I need not trust my own strength.  I need not, God will supply.