I have always enjoyed the music of James Taylor. Here are some of  my favorites…YOU GOT A FRIEND.This has always been my most favorite James Taylor song for many reasons. The music and lyrics are simple yet very powerful. It describes the very best qualities of friendship that I value and treasure, such as “when you are down and troubled and need a helping hand, you just call out my name and I will be there.” That also describes how I feel about the Lord, when I call out His name, He is always there.

Other friendships too, I really feel are a gift that God gives us and it is also a gift that we can give to others. The very famous Bear, Winnie the Pooh described friendship this way: “A good friend will stick by you until you are unstuck.” That is so true. This is also the way, wise King Solomon describes it…“Friends love through all kinds of weather and families stick together in all kinds of trouble.” – Proverbs 17:17 (MSG)

CAROLINA IN MY MIND. Because I’m originally from North Carolina this song reminds me of some of the happy times growing up there. It is looking back that we realize how much our our childhood shapes us into we have become who we are now.

WALKING MAN. I like this song a lot. Maybe because I’m a “walking man” and I love to take walks in the mountains or by the sea shore. I also desire to be a person that walks with God. I like to be like the man Enoch described in Genesis 5…”Enoch walked with God.”  To walk with someone you spend time with them, you have to be going in the same direction, and you keep in step with them. Each day that is my goal to take time to talk with God in prayer and let Him guide me through whatever I am doing throughout the day.

SHOWER THE PEOPLE WITH LOVE. One of the most regretful comments I hear at funeral services is that “I wish I had told them I love them more, I wish I had spent more time with them, I wish I had told them how much they meant to me”… The lyrics to this song encourages us to do just that …”just shower the people you love with love, show them the way you feel.” Let people know that you love and appreciate them. Don’t wait until it is too late. Everybody needs to feel loved and appreciated. I like what Mark Twain said: ” I can live two months off a good compliment.” 

FIRE AND RAIN has a catchy tune and the words describe the extremes of life, the good and the bad. I often marvel how life can be happy and sad all at the same time. One of my heroes is Tiffany, she was a member of our church who valiantly fought serious illness but yet had the best attitude about life. She said “Enjoy life. Take it all in, the good and the bad. Don’t look back. Just live.” That is the attitude we all should have as we live life day by day.

YOUR SMILING FACE. This song is upbeat and cheerful. I smile a lot and I like to see others smile too. To cheer someone up and help them laugh a little and smile…I think that is so important. There is enough “gloom,despair, and agony” in this old world. Why not be a “You Got A Friend” kind of person? It will put a smile on your face and others today…