Sometimes You just gotta have a little Gospel Music

You know what I mean? Sometimes you just gotta have it, have to have it, your spirit is thirsty for it --- some good gospel music. One of my favorite gospel choirs is the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. They started as a group of 9 singers and the founding director, a blonde lady named Carol Cymbala is still the director. They are just amazing. Not professional singers but SO disciplined in their rehearsals. And filled with joy that's just plain contagious! In a choir (as in most things in life) discipline = freedom. Discipline gives you the foundation from which you can then take off and soar. I looked on YouTube for a performance of theirs of a different song (I have several "favorite" songs done by this group) and the performance I found of "This is How it Feels to be Free" was filmed from a gospel concert they gave at the Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana. Talk about some dynamic meanings….true freedom which can be found in a prison like that. It's too late in the night (or early in the morning…whichever way you look at it) for me to go on about how totally Biblical this concept is, about the Apostle Paul, for example, and the freedom he found despite being in prison, how many of his most encouraging, inspiring Epistles (letters to churches) were written either from prison or from living in an enforced house arrest situation.

But friends, from time to time, we're all in our own prisons, many of which are formed by our own hands. Or we allow our spirits to be "imprisoned" by the actions, words and attitudes of others. We need a boost, a reminder. We need to reclaim our joy, no matter the circumstances, and our inner freedom. So, sit back, turn up the volume on your speakers and drink it in. Enjoy!