I Heard It on the Radio - “How You Live”

I CLOSE THIS SERIES with what I wish could be every woman’s theme song. You know . . . like the one Mary Tyler Moore had on her sitcom in the seventies.

Recorded by the female Christian vocal group Point of Grace, it’s not necessarily a spiritual song but rather a positive score on the importance of living a quality life. In three stanzas and a chorus, the secret to living with uncommon joy is laid out for us: just by celebrating life—whether by taking a moment to feel the sun’s warmth on our faces or by getting out the fine china for tonight’s ordinary dinner—we will find the simple but satisfying path to a joy most of the world never finds.

I love this song because it encourages us to do one very important thing. It’s the one thing we usually forget: we’re supposed to live.

And the girls encourage us, in four-part harmony and with the voices of angels (and a great string section), to “turn up the music.” In the end, they remind each of us, it’s not the people you knew or what you did that counts; “it’s how you live.”^a

How many times in the past week did you get caught up in stuff? Stuff that drained your life energy rather than restored or embellished it? Things like schedules, restrictions, limitations, expectations, judgment, jealousy, envy, competition, and resentment. Point of Grace reminds us that one day we will look back. And when we do, we will have to live with the decisions we made today: to stuff our BlackBerry’s database with contact information that reads like a who’s who; to get a million to-do items scratched off our pad—or to strive for a life well lived.

I really hope you download this song. Play it every morning on your way to work, as you drive the kids to car pool, or as you take off for a day of shopping. And when you do . . . turn it up loud.

I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life. (John 8:12)

P. S. Wow. In a four-minute-and-twenty-eight-second song, songwriter Cindy Morgan said everything I’ve written over the past three years. Now that’s a gifted writer.

I Heard It on the Radio - “How You Live”

From the book