Have you ever been in a Kohl’s or Target that is closing in 10 minutes and you’re one of 3 customers left in the store? You know it’s closing soon even without the intercom reminding you to head to the checkout lanes because that’s when the smooth jazz or Bruno Mars comes on. Sometimes, you wonder if you’ve heard the song before but don’t remember where from.
Well, I can now say I have entered into new territory when it
comes to niche places to have music enter your brain and get stuck in the
depths of it.
It was June 1st, 2026, and my brain was playing this
faint melody was doing that “smooth jazz when Target is closing” again. Only
this time, I was at home and realizing there’s no way to look up the song when
all that’s playing is the beat in my mind. Even as I write, I have drawn the
conclusion that I can’t even write the beat down without the lyrics helping
that beat come to life.
Though we usually remember him as helping toddlers with the ABCs,
teaching us about how bees protect their queen, and interacting with other
puppets on the famous Sesame Street, Elmo helped me in an unusual way:
remembering the song that was stuck in my head.
Aside from changing poopy diapers, cutting up sweet potatoes into
chewable sizes for a baby’s mouth, and playing Bluey on repeat for several
hours, having Elmo’s “Letter of the Day: A!” song stuck in my head rather than
any song an adult would hear on the radio is the ultimate indicator parenting
season is here and there’s no turning back.
The point is, God designed the brain this way on purpose. What our
senses capture – whether it’s hearing, tasting, feeling, sight, or smelling,
our brain reminds us what we sensed. It’s why people who see something they
wish they didn’t say, “I can’t unsee that,” or they cringe when an unwanted
song comes on because they’re bound to spend the rest of the day trying to
dislodge it from their brain – but too late, it’s stuck there.
By now, it sounds like God is using the brain to torture us, but here’s
the truth:
It’s about what we choose to put
inside our brain that counts.
According to WebMD.com, “[The Hippocampus’] largest job is to hold
short-term memories and transfer them to long-term storage in our brains.”
Outside of memory, the Hippocampus is also responsible for learning and
emotion. WebMD also points out that since the Hippocampus of the brain deals
with memories, and memories are involved with every day life, it plays an
important, complex role. Therefore, it can “talk” to other parts of the brain,
and it needs to if it deals with such a vital part survival. For example, we
need to rely on what we remember about cooking if we want to feed ourselves. If
we get a deep cut in our arm, we need to rely on memory and learned behavior to
provide aid to the cut so it doesn’t become an infection. Or, in the corporate
world, we need to rely on not only what we recall from memory, but our ability
to adapt and learn better ways of doing the same thing if we are to remain
effective in the work place.
One example from my own life of my senses developing a short-term
memory into a long term one is when I bought the Newsboys album, Thrive (this
was the Peter Furler Newsboys that I grew up listening to 20+ years ago) right
before Spring break around 2002. I was in eight grade, and my family and I were
headed to Gulf Shores, Alabama from Michigan in our little minivan, and that
entire trip and this album will have an eternal bond that no one can break.
When I hear “Million Pieces,” “Live in Stereo,” and “The Fad of the Land,” I am
immediately transported back to the 2002 on 21st floor of our condo overlooking
the Gulf of Mexico. The sound of the album creates the long-term memory I had
of Alabama and the fun times created there. It brings the memories from 25
years ago to the front of my mind like I went there just last month.
Back to Elmo, if I spend enough time with him through watching
Netflix episodes, or listening to his music on Spotify, then his voice is going
to play a big role in my brain and his catchy tune will transport me back to
the many other times I listened and/or experienced Elmo.
When Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, his desire was for the
people to focus on good things; in so many words, to fill the Hippocampus with
things of God: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right,
and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and
worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8-9, NLT) But then, he adds this zinger: “Keep
putting to practice all you learned and received from me – everything you
heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
I believe this: to allow Elmo to truly invade the Hippocampus of
my brain, I need to listen and put his words to practice. More fitting would be
if my toddler listened to Elmo’s catchy song, then practiced what the little
red puppet monster sang in the song. Next thing you know, Calvin is speaking in
full sentences by two years old because of Elmo’s hit song.
Or, in my case, put people like Paul in my life and fill my day the
words of God on a daily basis that draws me closer to the Truth and what God says
about me. The Hippocampus wants and “thrives” off of connection with God. Why
wouldn’t it? If Paul is as connected to Christ as he says in all of his letters
– in Acts 20:24, he says, “None of these things move me…so that I finish my
course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus”) –
then if the church in Philippi would be wise to practice all they “learned and
received from [him].”
Choose today to fill your brain with Paul’s words, Jesus’ words,
and the words of God. Choose today to surround yourself with people who love God
deeply. Fuel your Hippocampus with memories with the Lord, and let it transfer
those short-term memories to long-term.
“…Then the God of peace will be with you.”
According to Paul
“What’s the letter? Clap, clap. What’s the Letter? Clap, clap.”
According to Elmo.
This was a great post! I remember that Spring Break trip! 😊
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