Music... the message, the messenger, the mode

Life principles and teachable moments... that pretty much sums up the bulk of my motherhood journey these days...
Daniel's related post

As the realm of music, and really media in general, present themselves front and center in the life of an American teen (and parent!)... once again we are called to lead. As a parent do we avoid and ban? Or dialogue and discern? Well... as you can imagine, I would say each method should be appropriately employed!
Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.

In the arena of media, we have modeled for our kids the thinking through layers of communications... Layers like the message or meaning or purpose of a song, show, movie, etc... What effect, fruit and outcome does this message bring forth? Usually this area of a young teen's understanding is on a fast learning curve, but the teen should not rely solely upon their understanding, insight and wisdom to discern these dynamics. As the parent, we have more perspective, and hopefully wisdom, to offer our young teens - to mentor them along in "thinking" through ideas and messages that seek to implant themselves in our minds and hearts.
As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is...

Next, Ed and I work through educating our kids on messengers of the message... in this case the person behind the music. The message of and from a person is naturally and rationally connected with the nature of its creator. Music, art and other media are forms of expression... thus they flow out of the heart of a person. If I choose to cling to music that "sounds good to me", without examining the message and the messenger, I may often be lumped and eventually shaped into the same form as the messenger. So what clay am I being lumped with?
Do not be conformed to the world but be ye transformed...

Finally, the mode or the style of music. This is an area we are learning more about as a family. Music affects the soul. It bypasses the rational - which really makes music all the more potent in its effects upon the soul. For soothing and nurturing the soul or for confusing and atrophying the soul. So here, I pay closer attention to my child's musical creations, as well their consistent choices, dialoguing as needed along the way.
All things are lawful for me, but not all are profitable. All things are lawful, but I will not be mastered by anything. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.

So there you have it... the layers at which we as a family evaluate, dialogue, filter and choose our music selections.

Mentoring and modeling toward maturity...