Depositing Into The Reservoir

I have record albums in a bin in my basement.
In my teen years, they were my most treasured possession.
Some would call them vintage now.
I would just say that it is my music collection.

My husband bought me a record player years ago.
I was able to play my records for my children.
They were amazed that my albums were like a giant CD.
If they only knew the transformation music went through as I was growing up.

We had record players, which played 33s or 45s.
Only my generation would remember the plastic disk that was inserted in the circle.
That little disk adapted the 45 record and allowed it to be played on the record player.
Or course you had to change the speed so that the turntable revolved appropriately.

It seems like a lot of steps now as I explain it but it was really second nature to me.
Some of the allowance I received was saved so that I could buy a new album.
Record players became stereo systems with massive speakers.
Music was portable first through a transistor radio then a boom box or Walkman.

With the onset of iTunes and an iPod, we were able to carry our entire music library with us.
Right there in our pocket or purse, we had access to any song or album.
Where could we possibly go from there?
Streaming music was the next thing.

With Pandora, Spotify, and Apple music you have access to the entire music library.
All genres are at your fingertips.
I have Apple music, which suggests music for me.
Simply by my choices and an algorithm, my FOR YOU always has interesting suggestions.

As I got in my car the other day, I opened my Apple music and checked the FOR YOU section.
All of the suggestions were ones I would have chosen.
One album stuck out since I had not heard it since 1974.
It was a John Denver album and I decided to listen.

As soon as the first song began, I was transported to another time.
A time when the radio would be playing many of the songs on this album.
I was driving when the third song began.
Without missing a beat, I sang along.

When the song reached its end, I was amazed.
How did I ever remember the chorus, which Denver sang so quickly.
It had been years but every word was still in my head.
It was over 40 years since I sang that song and I remembered every word.

The chorus was always the tricky part but I had mastered it.
It was one of those silly songs that makes you tap your foot.
It was even sung by the Muppets who brought their own hilarity to the chorus.
I sang the chorus of Grandma’s Feather Bed like I only heard it yesterday.

It was nine feet high and six feet wide
And soft as a downy chick
It was made from the feathers of forty ‘leven geese
Took a whole bolt of cloth for the tick
It could hold eight kids and four hound dogs
And a piggy we stole from the shed
We didn’t get much sleep but we had a lot of fun
On grandma’s feather bed.

I found myself laughing.
I was quite proud of myself for remembering the words.
Then I began to think.
What we pour into our minds really makes a difference.

If you ask me to sing the Oscar Mayer bologna song, I can.
If you ask me to sing the Have It Your Way at Burger King jingle, I can.
If you ask me to sing the Brady Bunch theme song, I would be able to oblige.
I could even do a rendition of the Flintstones, or Gilligan’s Island as well.

I either watched the show or heard it in the background.
Either way, the songs are still in my mind.
They are easily retrieved.
They are hardwired even after I thought I had long forgotten them.

Being able to sing any one of these songs is not a problem in and of itself.
What it shows me, however, is that we are subconsciously depositing into our minds each day.
The question is: What are we depositing?
Does that deposit need to change or be more balanced?

We rehearse things in our minds all day long.
There is a reservoir deep inside us from which we draw.
What is poured into the reservoir determines what comes out.
There is no neutrality; the deposit has been made.

Some of those choices we can make ourselves.
We can choose the music we listen to, the movies we watch, and the books we read.
Sometimes things are poured into our minds simply because we were a bystander.
It is very hard to un-see or un-hear something once it has been poured in.

We must be intentional to balance the pouring.
We must be careful to protect the precious minds of our children.
We must be intentional about the things that we or our children come in contact with.
Good deposits don’t just happen.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)

Filling our minds with God’s Word will fill up the reservoir from which we draw.
God’s Word can enter our mind through reading, hearing a sermon, or through music.
As I learned on my car ride, music goes down deep into our souls.
The truths we deposit there really matter.

We must be intentional about what we pour into our minds.
Let us help ourselves and our children rehearse God’s Truth.
If asked years later, we will be able to sing or proclaim truth that matters.
We will have rehearsed words that we didn’t even know had taken root.

We will be amazed that the Truth had gone down so very deep.