Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

All the Hits, All the Time?

Our beloved Subaru Outback gave up the ghost a couple of weeks ago. And after much discussion about replacing it, my wife and I decided to lease a new car (something I’ve never done before).

In addition to that addictive new-car smell, a digital odometer reading in the single digits and a whole bunch of cool 21st century bells and whistles, my new ride (another Subaru, if you must know) came with three free months of Sirius XM satellite radio.

Satellite radio’s been around a while now. It’s hardly the next big thing. Still, compared to the broken radio in my old Subbie, it’s been something of a revelation. No longer am I limited to the five or six radio stations (mostly music-oriented) I tend to listen to in my car. Now, pretty much anything I want is available.

I’m a sucker for stuff from the ’70s and ’80s, so I quickly programmed in several of those channels into the infotainment system in my car (so much more than “just” a radio). Since then, something I suppose shouldn’t be that surprising has happened: I’m listening to satellite radio a lot more. Like, well, almost all the time.

Why, you ask? Because they keep playing stuff I haven’t heard in 25 or 30 or 35 years, songs I’d forgotten that I’d forgotten, deep tracks on albums I was pretty sure that I alone knew existed.

I guess not.

Scientists say that when we hear music from our youth, it floods our brains with pleasure-inducing chemicals (dopamine, I think), a euphoric wave of nostalgia for the best parts of a time long gone. (Because, really, was junior high and high school really that great a time for me? Umm, no, it wasn’t.) I keep coming across songs that make me squeal out loud in delight: “No WAY!”

Not surprisingly, I’ve had a harder time than normal the last ten days or so turning off the radio. It’s such an easy, feel-good escape, and one that might surprise me at any moment with a dopamine-inducing hit I haven’t thought about since Reagan was in office. (“99 Luftballoons,” anyone?)

It’s not all bad of course. But in just a few days, I’ve realized that I’ve become accustomed to having those feel good moments. Dependent on them? Well, maybe not quite yet. But I could see how I might get there.

There’s probably nothing wrong with enjoying some of the lost treasures of my youth (the ones that don’t have big content issues, anyway). But even as I’ve done my bit of binge listening the last few weeks courtesy of a free service that’ll soon expire, I’m reckoning with the reality that my little ’80s-fueled dopamine habit when I’m my car might not always be the best thing for me—even if it does indeed feel pretty good in the moment.

I need boundaries to help me enjoy what’s there to be freely enjoyed (at least until my free subscription runs out) without letting it exert undue influence over me. I think that’s what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he said to the Corinthian Church, “You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though ‘I am allowed to do anything,’ I must not become a slave to anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12).

Paul understood that the Christian life is one of freedom in Christ, but a freedom that comes with the responsibility to pay attention to our choices, values and actions, so that we don’t end up entangled in things that ultimately undermine our faith … even in something as seemingly insignificant as the really cool new channels I’ve got temporarily available in my new car.