I wonder about the strangest stuff sometimes. But today, I was listening to my iPod at work while doing some routine file stuff. And for me, it's an effort NOT to sing when I'm listening to music. But I didn't sing. I focused on the words -- I even mouthed along with them, "singing" without any air. And while it's good to just listen every once in a while (I love the words -- and I noticed a spot where I'd consistently been singing the wrong note. It sounded okay, but it was wrong), I have to wonder: why is it that people would turn shades of fuschia heretofore unseen on earth if you caught them singing -- but these same people think nothing of walking around in public talking into "hands-free" headsets on their cell phones? Is it really any less embarrassing to look as though you're engrossed in a conversation with a particularly chatty imaginary friend? There are even people who gesticulate wildly while doing so -- something that not that many years ago would have found them straightjacketed and pumped full of thorazine before you can say "Can you hear me now?"

What is it about singing that mortifies people before they even open their mouths? One of the statements I hear most often when it comes up is, "Oh, I can't sing...."

So?

Singing isn't always about hitting the right notes. Sometimes it's just about being happy. Or sad. Or whatever. The Psalms, the book that best expresses not only God to man, but man to his Creator, is a bunch of songs -- and some of 'em aren't tunes I'd call "perky." And how did radio catch on? People like songs. Sometimes you sing just because you sing.

But beyond that, how do they know if they never sing? More often than not, I've found that most people just need a little encouragement. Yes, there are those who cannot carry a tune if I loaned them a forklift, but for the most part, people can sing. They just need someone to fail to laugh for once. And the most important part of singing is also the hardest -- but it's the most important part of life, too: LISTEN.

I think we need to listen, to stop laughing, and for cryin' out loud, just to SING.