Music. It is something that I think most if not all of us love. William Congreve said that music calms the savage breast. Music gets our toes tapping. Music makes us sing and dance. Music makes us happy.
Last evening I was at a club where they played all of my favourite songs. It was impossible to resist the urge to sing along as I heard music from the 70's and 80's . Those songs are hard wired in my soul I guess. They bring back memories of high school and university days. They fill me with joy.
Others would not like those songs. Their hearts are lifted by other music. But that's ok. I don't like heavy metal music for instance. To me it sounds like incessant noise. And I don't like rap music. So much of it is about violence and anger that I can't relate. But to others these songs bring back good memories or express their outrage in the world. This "music" speaks to them just like ABBA speaks to me. That's the great thing about music. There are so many different types to speak to all different audiences.
As I said before, music's magical. It touches our memories like nothing else. For instance, I was quite amazed when I did my first service at an aged care facility. Some residents brought to the service were in advanced stages of dementia and alzheimer's disease. I was told that several of them had very few moments of lucidity. But during the worship service, as we sang a few old favourite hymns, I was shocked to see many of these residents singing along. In many sad cases, these residents could not remember their spouse and their children, yet they could sing Amazing Grace or Down by the Riverside with fervour. Truly that demonstrates the magic of song.
Sometimes we say that life is harmonious. Sometimes we say that there is much discord. We talk about the rhythm of our lives. These musical terms just demonstrate how much music fills our lives. So lets give thanks for the gift of music. Blessings.
