Category Archives: Music

Inspirational music photo and writing collection relating to lifestyle themes.

Hold On to the Music

Hold On to the Music

Hold On to the Music – Photograph by Radek Grzybowski/Unsplash

Hold On to the Music – No matter what tempo the music of life is playing at any given moment…we can stay in harmony when we tune our ears, and our hearts, to the song God has composed for each of us.

”It’s easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.”  —Johann Sebastian Bach

Hold On to the Music

Hold on to the music,

Just let the lyrics sing.

For we never know what tempo

Each season of life will bring.

Hold on to the music,

Just let the instruments play.

When God is your conductor,

He’ll surely guide your way.

Hold on to the music,

Just let the melody hum.

Living surrendered to Him,

No matter what…blessings will come.

Felecia R. Weber 2019, www.OntheWingofaDove.com

Hold on to the music – Sometimes life can seem like a symphony being performed by an orchestra.  I often imagine myself as a musician playing a different instrument during each season of my life.  I visualize God as the conductor, with his baton leading me through the continuous rythym of each day.  I savor the tranquility of the calm melody that soothes my ears when things are going smoothly.  But before long, the steady beat of my drum gradually explodes into a crescendo of uncontrollable circumstances that throw me off-key.

 “No matter what tempo the music of life is playing at any given moment…we can stay in harmony when we tune our ears, and our hearts, to the song God has composed for each of us.”

Holding on to the music of life requires listening with our hearts, because when we live under God’s direction, it really is like hearing a love song.  Musically, nothing tugs at my emotions more than the long, rich strands of a bough gliding along the strings of a violin.  God’s love for us is like that, so deep and full, there is nothing that can separate us from him.  Whether life sings a joyous hallelujah or the most solemn of requiems, we need only hold on to the music of our composer’s voice.  For his love transcends anything we can possibly face.

”I am living my life to the beat of a different drum, and making my own beautiful music along the way.” —FRW

Peace and love,

Felecia

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I Matter

I Matter

“I Matter” Photograph property of OntheWingofaDove.com 2018

I matter, though the world may not see…gonna reveal to the world all the gifts God has given me…

“It’s not what has happened to you.  It’s who you become because of it.”  – Ria Story
 

I Matter

I matter, you must know…

Within me a seed was planted, so long ago.

Yeah, I’ve made mistakes; haven’t we all?

But something inside me picks me up when I fall.

I matter, can you tell? Can’t you see?

There’s this power that resides in the deepest part of me.

Oh, I know, I’m quiet, polite and shy…

But, I’ve grown my wings…now it’s time for me to fly.

I matter, though the world may not see…

Gonna reveal to all, the gifts God has given me.

A life well-lived is not to keep to oneself…

So I’m opening myself up, like taking a book off the shelf.

I matter, what I have is unique and worth sharing…

And to everyone in my life, thanks for all of your love and caring.

Felecia R. Weber

OntheWingofaDove.com 2018

I Matter – The truth is, everyone matters, but sometimes we are the last ones to realize it.  We all have been endowed with  gifts that are uniquely our own. Be they talents for music, art or writing, having an aptitude for working well with numbers, or being able to build or fix things with ease…we all have something to offer others…including our own life experiences.

My challenge to you is to determine what it is you do best…that thing that makes you matter…and share it with those around you.  Sharing a part of yourself with others is what makes you matter the most!

Peace and love,

Felecia

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Silent Night

silent night

“A Silent Night,” photograph by Felecia R. Weber 2015, OntheWingofaDove.com

Silent night so dark, yet so bright, oh the wonder the shepherds found in you…

“I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:2

Silent Night

Silent night so dark, yet so bright,

Oh the wonder the shepherds found in you.

Not a word spoken, Lord, could tell of your glory,

In the way that you’ve shown your love to be true.

Silent night so dark, yet so bright,

What treasure to the world laid there in that stall.

In you Lord, there is peace, triumph, joy and love.

May those who seek find in you their all.

Felecia R. Weber 2015, OntheWingofaDove.com

One of my fondest memories about the Christmas season is singing so many of the moving and heartwarming Christmas hymns and carols.  As young girls, my older sister Marjorie and I enjoyed that tradition almost every evening leading up to the holiday.  One of our daily chores while growing up was to wash the dinner dishes.  Although we took turns washing or drying the dishes, I think we’d both agree that it was certainly not our favorite thing to do…except during the weeks leading up to Christmas Day.

As the excitement of the season began to build, Marjorie and I would incorporate our holiday cheer into our dishwashing time by singing our favorite Christmas songs.  Between the traditional hymns that we sang in our church choir and the novel carols we’d learned in our music classes at school, we had quite a number of songs to choose from.  Even so, one of my favorite songs was, and still is “Silent Night, Holy Night,” (composed by Franz Xaver, lyrics by Joseph Mohr).  There is just something about the lyrics, “Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright,” that warms me up more than a  cozy fire, or a hot cup of cocoa ever can.  The scene that the words depicts is one that can brighten any darkened sky…for in the silence of that Christmas night, God bestowed upon us His one true and Holy light.

May the light of our Lord Jesus Christ whose birth we celebrate during this Holy season never cause you to be silent…but may you resonate His saving grace and love throughout the world!

Peace and love,

Felecia

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On Silence

On Silence

silenceA Quote to Carry You

November 30, 2015

“Often times, it is in the silence that I hear the most…”  Felecia R. Weber, OntheWingofaDove.com

On silence – I love listening to classical music.  Whether my heart is wooed by the sweet resonance of a violin or my undivided attention is beckoned by the starkness of a brass instrument, those melodious sounds have a way of captivating me.  It seems that my house comes alive when it is filled with such harmonious tones filtering through the speakers. Sometimes I can still hear the echoes of the last melody I’ve listened to before going to bed, even after I’ve turned the music off.  Silence doesn’t settle in until my mind has released its hold of the last lingering note.  Often times, however, it is in the silence that I hear the most.

For me, silence is not always void of sound.   When everything around me is quiet, as though overcome by sleep, my hearing seems to sharpen and my ears detect sounds that I’ve never realized existed.  As with the exquisitely beautiful melodies of classical music, silence has a way of filling me up also…but that type of hearing requires a deeper level of listening.

“Silence causes me to dig deeper and to pay closer attention for fear that I may miss what it is trying to convey to me…”

I experienced that deeper level of listening, and hearing this past weekend.  After spending a little bit of my Saturday morning doing a final tidying up of my garden, I decided to fill my bird feeder before heading into the house.  As I often do while tooling around in the yard, I had classical music playing in the garage.  While enjoying the music and pausing to see if any birds were attracted to the food I’d just set out, I was delighted to see two little birds flutter gracefully about the feeder.  As I watched my feathered friends peck their tiny beaks in and out of the feeder, the music playing in the background seemed to fade away on the light wind that carried it away.  Gradually, all I could hear was the delicate flitting of wings and barely audible chirping.  The more I strained to listen with my ears, the more I realized that I was beginning to hear with my heart.  For watching those tiny winged creatures feeding and being filled seemingly without a care in the world, illustrated to me the quiet beauty of trusting in our Lord and His provision.

No matter what goes on around us, the hustle and bustle of a busy day, the soothing melodic embrace of classical music, or the calming silence that nature surrounds us with, what we are capable of hearing has much to do with whom we put our trust in…the one who truly guides our hearts.  When you take the time  to listen to the silence, may you always hear with your heart.

Peace and love,

Felecia

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Shepherd – What’s in a word?

shepherdShepherd…I can think of nothing more comforting than the thought of me being a helpless sheep with Jesus as my Shepherd…

“The King of love my Shepherd is,

Whose goodness faileth never,

I nothing lack if I am His

And He is mine forever.”*

Protector, comforter, provider, friend, caregiver, gentle guide…the one I want to follow…

Shepherd…What’s in this word for you?  If you can tell me, please do!

“The Lord is my Shepherd,” (Psalm 23:1). I can think of nothing more comforting than the thought of me as a helpless sheep with Jesus as my Shepherd.  My late husband Stephen, without a doubt, also found great comfort in knowing that he needn’t fear anything, for under his Shepherd’s care, everything was complete.  This became more evident to me as I watched him live out his last day.  Although his body had deteriorated a great deal from the cancer that had spread so rapidly, he seemed to be adorned by a pensive strength that allowed him to walk through our home, room by room, seeming to take all of his fond memories into his heart for safekeeping.  He responded to my words and watchful care with a quiet, attentive grace, yet I knew that his mind was very far away.  At one point, as he rested a few hours before he passed, he stretched out his arm as though he was being gently led to a place that the serene expression on his face told me was where he was most willing to go…

“In death’s dark vale I feel no ill

With Thee, dear Lord, beside me;

Thy rod and staff my comfort still,

Thy cross before to guide me.”*

At that moment, the peacefulness that my dear one surely was experiencing made me pause and think of the green pastures and still waters that our Shepherd promises to lead us to and through.  When my Stephen passed, I know that our Shepherd, Jesus, restored his soul…

“And so through all the length of days

Thy goodness faileth never;

Good Shepherd, may I sing they praise

Within Thy house forever.”*

*All verses by Henry W.  Baker, “The King of Love My Shepherd Is.”

Peace and love,

Felecia

 

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I Got A Song

i got a song

Colored pencil drawing by Felecia R. Weber 1983, OntheWingofaDove.com

I got a song, you got a song, all God’s children got a song…

I Remember When

“I know why the caged bird sings.”  Maya Angelou

I was reminded of the old spiritual hymn “Going to Shout All Over God’s Heaven,” when it was referenced in a sermon given at my church a couple of Sunday’s ago.   As I heard the first few words of the song, “I got shoes, you got shoes, all God’s children got shoes” being sung to illustrate a point in the sermon, my mind was flooded with childhood memories of me singing that song in our church choir, oh so many years ago,  I remember clearly being so nervous singing my very first solo in front of the congregation.  I felt my voice quivering as I closed my eyes and vocalized the lyrics word by word.  It took all of the courage that I could muster to continue singing the soulful tune, but as I listened to the verses that came out of my mouth, somehow my confidence grew and a calm came over me.  As I got to the end of the song, I felt that I truly could “shout all over God’s heaven!”

Indeed, my favorite verse from that hymn is “I got a song, you got a song, all God’s children got a song…”  There is something about singing that places me into a different mindset; it stirs up a solitude within me.  To me, the smoothness of that elongated sound that seems to dance along the musical chords being played by an accompanying instrument mimics the way God guides his children harmoniously through life.  Even though there are times when tumultuous tunes clamor loudly and off key, his voice can be heard beyond the raucous…because he resides in our hearts.  That is where he composes the most beautiful music, and he creates each song uniquely for you and for me.

Yes, “all God’s children got a song,” but the best is yet to come.  Like the birds chirping their morning melodies at the dawn of each new day, those of us who put our hope and trust in God truly do have something to shout about.  For he has not only blessed us with the hope of a new day, he has also given us the promise of heaven.  When I think of heaven, and the glorious eternity that awaits me there, something wells up inside of me and it feels as though it leaps right out of my mouth.  The hope and anticipation of actually being with my Heavenly Father face to face is something that I cannot fully imagine.  It is however, the very thing that fills my heart with so much joy, so much peace, that when I get there, I am certain that “I’m going to  shout all over God’s heaven!”

Today, may you too be filled with the kind of hope that makes your heart sing…and shout!

Peace and love,

Felecia

 

 

 

 

 

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On Languages

On Languages

On LanguagesA Quote To Carry You

February 9, 2015

“Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.”  Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, Maxims and Reflections

On Languages…Languages have a way of connecting people like nothing else can.  To me, listening to foreign languages being spoken can sometimes sound like the most exquisite piece of music serenading my ears.  Words roll off the tongue in a way that is unfamiliar yet tantalizing.  They command my undivided attention so that my mind can absorb every syllable, every inflection, and interpret their meaning.  Similarly to the way music can evoke intense emotions, languages can do that and more.  Languages, through their words, have the ability to say, “I love you.”  To some degree or another, love is a language everybody understands.

May languages of love fill your heart today…so you fully know its meaning.

Peace and love,

Felecia

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His Eye Is On The Sparrow

His Eye Is On The Sparrow

“An Old Song,” 1874, William John Hennessy. Image from a page of the 2014 Desk Calendar, courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Store

“His Eye Is On The Sparrow” – That song brings back sweet memories for me…knowing that God cares so much, makes me feel light and happy and free!

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.”  Matthew 10:29

“His Eye Is On The Sparrow”

“His eye is on the sparrow,”

that song brings back sweet memories for me.

Knowing that God cares so much,

makes me feel light and happy and free!

During times when I tend to worry,

and the times when I tend to fret.

Those words remind me of His love,

and life’s troubles I soon forget.

“His eye is on the sparrow,”

as God ceaselessly watches over the earth.

He has never taken His eyes off me,

not ever, since the moment of my birth.

“His eye is on the sparrow,”

His faithful love always sees me through.

That assuredness can be yours as well.

Turn it over to Him; He’ll care for you too.

Felecia R. Weber 2015, OntheWingofaDove.com

Freedom from worry is a wonderful thing.  Knowing for certain that nothing can take place in your life apart from the loving and protecting arms of our Heavenly Father…priceless.  That’s the kind of wealth that I seek…what about you?

Peace and love,

Felecia

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