The Children’s Song I Don’t Sing
Today’s post may sound like I’m splitting hairs, but I hope it causes all of us to think. For one thing, we always need to be mindful of the words we sing. While we need to allow for poetic license and we also need to realize that some lyrics might mean something slightly different to one person than another, the words still mean something, so we need to be very careful about what we sing.
For a long time now, there has been a children’s song–often sung at VBS or other gatherings with little children–that I simply do not sing. And I am not saying that it should just go away. Rather, I mean that, for me, I would not be singing the truth of I sang it.
What is it?
“I’m in-right, outright, upright, downright happy all the time.”
Simply put: I am not happy all the time.
When I am dealing with a grieving family, I am not happy. When I have to discipline one of my children, I am not happy. When I see my sweet wife dealing with something difficult in her life, I am not happy. When something at Central is “off” and a lot of effort is being put into dealing with the issue, I am not happy.
(Hey, even when my favorite team loses, I’m not very happy!)
However, no matter the circumstances and no matter my emotions, I am joyful all the time! If we could just change the song to say “I’m in-right, outright, upright, downright joyful all the time,” I could sing that.
Scripture teaches us to rejoice in the Lord. That mindset is not changed by circumstances (unless we allow it to be). Happiness comes from, well, what is “happening.” It can be turned on or off, seemingly in mere moments.
But joy? This world simply cannot take that away because Jesus, as the song says, “took away my sin!” And that’s a song I can sing all day, every day.
AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
