Yesterday I heard my son humming in the back of the van. He wasn’t very loud, and I have no idea what the melody was meant to be. What really snagged my attention, other than the fact that no one behind me was picking on anyone else, was that he seemed to be humming the same line over and over. And over. Finally he looked up and, catching my eye in the rearview mirror, said, “Mommy! I just can’t get my head out of this song!”

Later on, recalling this little anecdote and rating it on the “how cute is that scale” all mothers use to prove the wit and worth of their offspring, the thought occurred to me: maybe the little genius had a good point.

What would happen if our lead worshippers got their head out of the song? What if every guitar picker, every soloist, every team member from the lead vocalist for this morning’s choir number to the guy on the far left surrounded by triangles and cowbells stopped stressing each mistake and just gloried in the music? What if, after the hours have been put in at home and the early morning rehearsal has been counterbalanced by three cups of coffee—followed by an emergency bathroom run while you pray that your mic pack really is off—What if we just let go and really worshipped?

You know, if God wants perfection, He can just order up some Mozart over the heavenly PA system. He’s got David and Gabriel and Rich Mullins up there with Him if He’s in the mood for a harp and trumpet duet or some really great lyrics. He certainly doesn’t need to listen to us just for the sake of our pretty noise. What He really wants, what He craves, is our unfettered, unworried, unhampered worship. He created each of us, knowing we would become who we are. He gave us our gifts and our talents, some in limited quantities and others in abundance. He desires our excellence, absolutely. But much like my son, humming away at a tune no one could identify other than himself, how much more joy would there be if we could allow ourselves to truly worship: flat notes, missed cues, broken strings included. How beautiful would that music be to an adoring God who would much prefer that we have our soul in our song, rather than our head.