30 days of thankfulness, Day 6: Thankful for music (especially Southern Gospel!)

 

 On day 6, I am thankful for music. I'm not sure why, but secular music has never held much appeal to me. I have 7437 songs on my iPod, and of those, 252 are secular, and I rarely listen to those 252. I stumbled onto Southern Gospel music when I was a teenager, and that is mostly what I have listened to ever since. I listen to some Christian Contemporary and Praise and Worship, but the bulk of my CD collection is Southern Gospel.

  During all of my struggles over the years, in my wandering, depression, and rebellion, I still held onto the music. This is not meant as a criticism, but I don't get Christians who listen to mostly or all secular music. Christian music has the best message and good news of any music out there, and there are so many styles out there..... I can't imagine my life without Christian music, but I can easily imagine it without secular music.

  Southern Gospel music gets a bad rap. A lot of people who don't listen to it assume it is all twang and banjos, and there are some singers who fit that profile, but many more who do not. Some lean more towards contemporary, some lean more country. Southern Gospel encompasses a large variety of music and artists. And I could be biased, but I have heard a lot of music of all styles of music, but I believe Southern Gospel music of all styles, is known for encouraging songs. The music has given me hope over and over through the years. It cheers me up, has convicted me, encouraged me, and pointed me towards Jesus. Why wouldn't anyone want to listen to it?!

  So on day 6 of my 30 days of thankfulness, I am thankful for music in general. Thankful I learned to play the piano, thankful I have ears to hear music with a message, and that I came to love the best music on earth: Southern Gospel.