Radio
I don’t spend much time in the car. However, when I do find myself in an automobile, one of the first things I do is turn on the radio. If I’m alone, my second step is to turn the volume up to a “more-than-comfortable” setting. Typically, my radio will be tuned to NPR or some college radio station.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how I could use my time in the car more productively. Rather than listening to in-depth reports about how messed up things are with our government, environment, economy, etc…I could use the time to focus on something more positive. Rather than listening to a lot of sub-standard indie rock…I could use this time to focus on something more uplifting.
So, over the last two weeks, I’ve been tuning into Christian radio stations. My line of thought is that the positive messages of the Christian music and dialogue would charge my spirit. One thing I learned within the first day is, with our local Christian stations, I can pretty much only handle K-Love. They tend to sprinkle in more Crowder, Robbie Seay, Switchfoot, and other tolerable, modern Christian acts than the other stations. And, I also realized that I need to mute the channel when the DJ’s start their banter. My goodness, I never thought I’d find dialogue more annoying than what I find on WLBC (104.1 in East Central Indiana)…But, Christian radio has come through and delivered me into a land more pestiferous than local Top 40 radio.
Here’s what I’ve found…Over the last two weeks, I’ve found myself ignoring and turning off the radio on a much more frequent basis. There are times in which I just can’t take it any more…This usually occurs when Sandi Patty, Avalon, Point of Grace, 4Him, FFH, or Steven Curtis Chapman make their regular appearance.
Also, I’ve found that my spirit is often charged…just not in the positive way I was hoping for! Unfortunately, I find myself getting irrate and irritated listening to the Christian radio stations. I find much of the music to be so sub-standard that I wonder if God’s really getting the glory for it. I often find myself wondering if God is listening in and asking, “Is this the best you’ve got?” Too often while listening to Christian music, I get on my soapbox…proclaiming that Christian music should be the best music out there due to the subject matter. But, unfortunately, I can usually spot a Christian music station within 4 seconds due to the production quality and overall cheesiness of the product. This often troubles me. Then only thing that offends me more than the dialogue of the DJ’s and much of the awful music is the talk show hosts. I’ve yet to listen to a program that has offered positive and helpful alternatives to the topics the hosts seem to be attacking. I could go on for hours and hours.
So, this week, when I find myself in any automobile, I will only listen to CD’s or playlists of my choosing. Unfortunately, I often find the “secular” music I consume to be much more uplifting than any thing the Christian radio stations have to offer.