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Fall 2007 CJA Network Featured
Article
Count
Your Blessings
(By
CJA Network Founder David Arivett)
Recently the lyrics to a couple of
songs came to my mind: "The best
things in life are free" and "count
your blessings". These are two
very profound thoughts and I would
like to elaborate further on them.
The Beatles sung the lyrics to the
first song I mentioned. The song goes
on to make the point that although
it's been said that "the best things
in life are free" - you can give
them to the birds and bees, I
WANT MONEY!!!! Our culture and
its mad emphasis on "consuming mass
quantities" creates a tremendous
vacuum for the majority of us
Americans - Christians included!!
Unfortunately, the "American dream"
has become grafted in with the
presentation of the gospel. The
constant bombardment of advertising on
TV. and elsewhere helps create an
enormous appetite for money and what
it can supposedly give us. Our level
of expectations is unnecessarily
jacked up to an impossibly high level
and then Jesus and the Father are
thrown in the mix. Many Christians
only get on their knees when the bank
account is on empty. I can almost
picture Jesus and the Father saying to
each other, "you know, all they want
from us is the car keys"!!!!
Yes, we live in a culture where the
pressure is very great to make a
living and the stress from doing so
can be a major detriment to our
spiritual lives. Much unhappiness can
result from not being able to make
ends meet! Moreover, I must confess
that many times in my life I have
found that when observing the
financial successes of certain
musicians this has had a negative
effect of making me envious and
discontent. Why? Because I
haven't found the monetary rewards
that they have obtained, or that I
once thought were an automatic
guarantee to me and all us Americans -
but especially for "us Christian
musicians"!
The
Psalmist states that, "my feet had
well-nigh slipped when I saw the
prosperity of the wicked"!! Do the
wicked prosper??? According to the
Bible they do!!!!! It has taken
me almost a lifetime to discover that
regardless of how talented you and I
might be, that is no guarantee or
ticket to financial success. And
accepting Jesus as savior isn't a
ticket to financial prosperity either!
(contrary to the "prosperity gospel!"
) And the old fairy tale, "I think I
can, I think I can" only helps to
propagate this myth further. The truth
is if you try harder you might prosper
-- or you might have a heart attack
from the stress!!!!!!
Sometimes it takes a crisis before we
come to our senses, maybe a health or
financial crisis, a loss of a loved
one, ect. before we begin to wake up
and smell the coffee. Then it begins
to dawn on us just how precious the
gift of life is and how much we take
for granted. But I really do believe
(contrary to the lyrics in the
Beatle's song) that the best things in
life are free, and to be thankful and
savor the days and moments with
gladness is of utmost importance. And
that serves as an intro/segue into the
next song...COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!!
I recently have been working on this
old hymn and have arranged it and
written charts for it. I have chosen a
fast swing (150 bpm) tempo and the
song and lyrics have of course played
over and over in my mind as I worked
on it. I really think that there is no
better therapy or prescription for our
lives than to follow the admonition of
these lyrics to "count our
blessings"!! Begin to count the
wonderful gifts that are truly free,
the breath of life, the gift of family
and loved ones, the gift of eyesight,
hearing, walking, loving, the gift of
music, the gift of learning, the joy
of laughter, and the list could go on
and on!
I once heard it said that the only way
to get out of the valley of depression
is to climb the mountain of gratitude!
Start counting the incredible
blessings that you and I have been
given and name them one by one. Once
you start doing this you will become
victims of radical amazement because
you will clearly be able to see all
that God has done for us! All monetary
rewards pale in comparison with having
the breath of life. How can we compare
the fleeting momentary financial
successes that we might have in this
life with all the freebies that our
loving Creator has bestowed and
lavished upon us????
Even further, how can we begin to
compare the gift of playing, creating,
and listening to music with any of the
things that money can buy us? Living a
life that is truly successful is a
life that savors and enjoys the bounty
of free gifts with a heart of
thankfulness. Wanna' talk about
something that is priceless???
Counting your blessings is the ticket!
And thinking and praying for the
countless millions of people, (human
beings who are made in God's image)
that are starving and suffering untold
agonies every day is a humbling
reality check for those of us who are
blessed and fortunate enough to live
in America!
The best things in life are free,
count your blessings, and pray and
have compassion for the needy. Sounds
like the very essence of the teachings
of Jesus!
Celebrate today!
David Arivett
CJA Network
David Arivett is a
pianist/composer and founder of the
Christian Jazz Artists Network. Other
articles by David can be found
here! More
information on David Arivett's music,
CD's, and other resources can be
found here:
songsofdavid.com/davidjazz.shtml
www.songsofdavid.com |
