Music does a soul good

I spent a couple hours tonight with a dear friend, here in NC.  On a whim, I decided to give her my copy of the CD of songs I had created for the Women's Retreat Weekend at OBX 2012.  I had a feeling she needed to hear the words more than I did at this time in her life.  Below is the letter I sent out to the girls who had gone on retreat last summer.  If any of you would like a copy of this CD, please do let me know and I'll happily mail you or deliver in person a copy of this CD.  Pax!

 

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July 16, 2012

I hope that you are well rested and ready for a new week after our retreat!!  Hopefully, the music on the way home helped to make the drive go a bit quicker for you!

I wanted to share with you an annotated reflection of the songs I chose to include on the Women’s Retreat Weekend at OBX 2012 CD….

The first 11 songs come from one of my favorite Christina artists, Francesca Battistelli.  I find her lyrics to be powerful & that they are able to be applied to so many life situations.  “I’m Letting Go” and “Behind the Scenes” are the ones I best relate to right now.  J

Our God’s Alive:  Let’s try to keep God alive for others by living out the gospel and, as St. Francis of Assisi ecncouraged us long ago, we, as young adult Catholics, should use words only when necessary.

Wind Beneath My Wings:  My take on this song is that we can learn from each other and try to emulate those whom we admire in our lives.  Lisa, from our video on Friday night, is someone I hope to be more like some day.  Aren’t we lucky to have role models and those who help to lift us up in our lives??!

“Livin’ on a Prayer”, “Hallelujah”, and “Keep the Faith” are pretty self explanatory.  With the help of others, prayer, and faith, we can hold on to what we’ve got and keep on keepin’ on in life!

You KNOW that I just had to have some Bryan Adams songs on the CD.  I started with “Star” because as Bryan so eloquently sings, life is hard sometimes.  He urges us to continue to carry on even if we feel like we just aren’t getting it, whatever ‘it’ entails for each of us. In “You’re Still Beautiful to Me”, I’m reminded of how much God wants to be with us and wants to take care of us.  Let yourself be embraced by the love of God and find some comfort in knowing that no matter what we’re still beautiful to God.  God is love and nothing is going to change that.  Regardless of our sins, He sees us as the beautiful daughters of God we are.  Let’s work a bit harder each day by committing random acts of kindness for those in our lives to try to bring a bit of Heaven down to Earth.  For as we grow in virtue, the more beautiful we are to those around us.

Finally, I decided to include one of my favorite church songs as the final song on the CD.  “Here I Am Lord”, by Carl Herrgesell, reminds me of the importance to remain alert and to be willing to answer God’s call.  This may require more living in the present and remaining in the moment in case God is whispering to us.