Emily lives in West Sussex and is married to Ben. They have 3 young boys who keep them busy! Emily has a Masters in Drama and Movement Therapy and writes a blog about her journey living with and overcoming OCD. You can check it out at www.markersinthesand.com
I have 3 very vocal boys. Daily they come out of school over-worked and under-played. Manifestations of hungry tummies, irritable thoughts and fidgety legs play out; a cheeky snipe that gains momentum as a foot reacts. A squeal as a finger pinches, a tummy growl that needs a biscuit. And an internal monologue that sings its own song, to the tune of ‘breathe in...and out’. As a car-full of feelings and frustrations we very naturally find our own sound.
My 8 year old gets home and he runs... arms and legs flail in different directions as he begins a song that carries him into the depth of his imagination, abandoned wholly to the very essence of who he is. A child, created to create- to pay attention to the song deep inside of him and to delight in its sound.
I believe that inside all of us is a well of creativity that holds the fragile essence of who we are. As someone who has had my own agonising journey with mental health since I was a little girl, I have learnt that when the noise in my head is loud; to sing and to write is to connect with and allow space for the release of the purest expression of who I am, made in the image of The Creator. When I do, the fire in my belly takes authority over the chaos and burns off the dross. Often it’s only God that listens, and through my surrender He brings healing.
And I think part of the reason mental health has become such a pandemic is because as we grow, our God-breathed ability to run with arms and legs flailing becomes lost. Our song becomes muffled under the weight of limitation, disappointment, rejection, expectation. And our internal fragile alignment is severed.
Maybe we lose sight of what the Psalms mean when they speak of ‘deep calling out to deep’. Of our corporate song as a bedrock for the sometimes inexpressible: our deep pain, desolation, isolation, hopelessness.....
Our shared sense of wonder at the beauty of his creation, a tapestry of colour; his flawless work of art.
Ephesians 5:19 speaks of ‘making music with each other with Psalms, hymns and songs from the spirit...from your heart to the Lord’.
And when we sing together we take hold of and claim the truth of who we are as children of God. As the words fill our spirit so we magnify the glory of God.
Our Father delights in our sound, and even when we don’t hear it, our song is always there.
Emily