Earworm

I had my music on quite loud as I was cleaning.
It was a Jackson Browne, Pandora radio station.
All the songs I listened to in my college days were playing.
Cleaning just seemed to go that much faster.

Song after song brought back so many memories.
I had the albums of many of the songs that were being played.
Song after song was a favorite of mine.
It was as if the radio station had my specific music tastes in mind.

A song came on that transported me back to a certain time in college.
It was song that makes me think of a special friend.
This friend was my husband’s roommate at Georgia Tech.
This friend is still in our lives and very special to us.

I never call him by his real name.
I call him by a name that is actually a nickname.
The name came about because of a certain sandwich he liked to eat in college.
I had never heard of the sandwich before.

A patty melt is a type of sandwich consisting of a hamburger patty, sometimes topped with caramelized onions, and American, Cheddar, or Swiss cheese, between two slices of bread.

Melt’s name was born.
The name does not fit his successful business career.
The name does not fit him as the husband of a wonderful woman.
However, according to my husband and I, the name fits him perfectly.

The song came on the radio as I was cleaning.
It was a Dire Straits song from 1978 called, Sultans of Swing.
I always associated the song with our friend.
I sent him a text to tell him the song came on the radio and it made me think of him.

I had forgotten the reason why the song brought our friend to mind.
It is silly, the way most long standing stories go.
Our friend reminded me of the reason in his text.
It made me think back to the high pressure days of studying to be engineers at Georgia Tech.

I can picture them studying.
I can picture the song coming on the radio.
Apparently, my husband would break the intensity of homework by snapping his fingers.
Not unusual, except he would snap them in his roommate’s face and say, Sultans, Melt.

Our friend admitted that he thinks about that every time the song is played.
I joked back that I understand; I have been living with my husband for almost 36 years.
I know about his antics.
I know the way his antics replay in your mind.

I just learned a new expression: earworm.
An earworm is a catchy song or tune that runs continually through a person’s mind.
It is the jingle you cannot get out of your head.
It is the song someone talks about that plays on repeat.

I love my husband but he does have a way of doing these little things that stick with you.
I realized that I have been living with his earworm antics my entire married life.
How do you get something out of your head once its in there?
How do you change the station inside your mind?

Finally, brothers whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

We have enough earworms from our culture.
We have enough noise repeating inside our head.
We have things that play over and over in our mind.
It is time to change the station.

It is time to read and meditate on God’s Word.
It is time to hide God’s Word in your heart.
It is time to stop the repeat of worldly things in our mind.
It is time to have another kind of earworm that will help us be more like Jesus.

Saturate yourself with God’s Word.
Hide the truths of Scripture in your heart.
Be intentional about what is playing over and over in your mind.
Change the station.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing 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)

Forget the admonition, Don’t touch that dial!
Touch that dial!
Change that station!
Have one earworm only: the Word of God playing on repeat in your mind.

I am going to a Bible study this summer.
All of us women have committed to memorizing Scripture.
We each can pick whatever passage we choose to memorize.
By the end of the summer, as God allows, the passage will be firmly in our hearts.

That passage will be an earworm for me.
That passage will be on repeat as I study it and memorize it.
It can be difficult to memorize large passages of God’s Word.
However, the benefits are huge.

My Biblical earworm will be dug down deep.
My Biblical earworm will take root in my heart.
My Biblical earworm will be readily accessible to share with others.
My Biblical earworm will minister to me as well.

An earworm is a catchy song or tune that runs continually through your mind.
A Biblical earworm is God’s Word on repeat.
God’s Word playing over and over in your mind until the truth is planted deep.
Perhaps you can memorize a passage of God’s Word so it will be an earworm for you.

Hide God’s Word in your heart.
The benefits are huge.