Gaining A Thousand Years

April 9, 2014 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to A Thousand Years (title track from my album A Thousand Years) as you read. If you enjoy you can stream, download music, or find sheet music at the following links: A Thousand Years CD, MP3 Album, Piano Book, A Thousand Years PDF Sheet Music, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora.

Could you use a little more time, like me?

Recently I composed a new song in about one hour, which is not typical. It was as though time stood still, or at least slowed down. Can you find the bumble bee in the image below? As I observed, I noticed the bee was not in a hurry. What if “A thousand years in your sight are like a day or a watch in the night” is true, as written in Psalm 90:4? If this was taken literally, if 1 day (24 hours) was like 1,000 years of time, then…

Half a day (12 hours) = 500 years
6 hours = 250 years
3 hours = 125 years
1 hour = 42 years
1 minute = 8 months
1 second = 4 days

Which of those is your favorite? As you begin your next one-hour project, think about this being the same as forty-two years from God’s point of view. This helps me maintain a long-term perspective regarding my daily to do list, big projects, relationships, and more. It means sometimes a whole lot of progress can happen in much less time than I expect. It also helps me keep things in perspective when they don’t seem to be moving along as quickly as I would like. Have you ever had “a thousand years are like a day” experience?

Tenor Plah

April 7, 2014 By Stanton Lanier 2 Comments

Click above to listen to Quiet Place (from my album The Voice) as you read. If you enjoy you can stream, download music, or find sheet music at the following links: The Voice CD, MP3 Album, Piano Book, Quiet Place PDF Sheet Music, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora.

It’s a rainy day in Atlanta this morning as I write. This “Tenor Plah” idea is a good one for rainy days, but can be applied any time when your spirit needs a lift. Sometimes rainy days — or life — can bring me down, if I allow my thoughts to spiral down a negative path. Before I share what “Tenor Plah” helps me remember, here is a list of “rainy day” words for consideration — Faithless, unimpressive, inopportune, polluted, ugly, deplorable. How did those impact your outlook? They are the opposites of the words I am about to share.

The words “Tenor Plah” help me remember “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.” “Tenor Plah” represents the acronym “TNR PLA” from these six key words found in Philippians 4:8. Thinking about such things always helps me have a better perspective on rainy days, and life. So, whether it’s rainy, cloudy, snowy or sunny as you read this, consider filing “Tenor Plah” in your memory bank, so you can apply this whenever needed. What is something true, noble, right, pure, lovely, or admirable you have noticed today?

A New Way to Listen to Love Songs

April 4, 2014 By Stanton Lanier 6 Comments

Click above to listen to Pure Fountain (from my 8th album Open Spaces) as you read. If you enjoy you can stream, download music, or find sheet music at the following links: Open Spaces CD, MP3 Album, Piano Book, Pure Fountain PDF Sheet Music, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora.

Do you know those “Aha” moments? When a “light bulb” goes on in your brain about something?

Here is one regarding an interesting way to listen to love songs. This may not apply to every love song, but I think it applies to most. I believe love songs can be instrumental music inspired by romancing words, such as Pure Fountain, but for purposes of this idea, let’s define “love song” as lyrics searching for or affirming redeeming, romantic love, combined with a beautiful melody that sings to the heart. So, play your favorite love song and listen like this… If the music and words are affirming love, pretend the words are being sung by God to you. Receive the love song as written personally for you, and sung to you, by God. If the music and words are searching for love, pretend the words are being sung by you to God. Listen to the love song as written personally by you, and sung by you, to God. Do you get the idea? It may take a little practice, but it is worth a try. For me it gave some of my favorite love songs a deeper meaning and life application. What did you experience when you listened this way to one of your favorite love songs? Below I am including the music video for Pure Fountain so you can receive this as an example affirming love, where God is singing to you. I hope you enjoy!