"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

If you think about it, it's one of the most powerful and magical phenomenons in our world today. It's one of the only subjects left in this society that no one has been able to come up with accurate definition for. It is undefinable and untouchable, although it does a tremendous job of touching us even in the most shadowed corners of our souls. Music is the only thing on this earth that never fails to reach people, no matter their culture, religion, race, personality, or present circumstance.

If you haven't noticed already, this is one of my weird thoughts that I think about whenever I have a little quiet moment to myself. Everyone might not want to admit it, but I think we all have those kinds of thoughts. The ones that you think about for a little while when your mind isn't otherwise occupied, and when it does become occupied, you store it away to ponder about again when you next get the chance. Don't lie, you know you've done it at one time or another.

But going back to the whole music thing, I wanted to write about it because in my opinion it is one of the most precious things in the world. We use it to better describe ourselves and to tell stories about pieces of our lives that were particularly enjoyable or even devastating. I remember one of our choral directors at school telling us that "Music is what feelings sound like". I don't think anyone could sum it up any better than that. And you know, people are all about telling how they feel, sometimes regardless of whether we want to listen or not!

So yes, it paints a picture of our lives, but it can also be used for communication. If you've ever been in a church (which I really hope all of you have) then you know that usually before the preacher preaches his message, the congregation sings, because it says that the "voices of God's people singing His praises are pleasing to His ear". Hey, if the Big Man Upstairs loves music, it must be pretty amazing to say the least. It can also be used to communicate and reach people who speak different languages, those that are mentally disabled, and those that suffer from sicknesses like depression.

Songs can be life-changing. I heard a story not long ago that proves this. A new song was played on the radio by some new music group, and not long after it played the station got a phone call from a man who said that he wanted to know the name of the song that they just played, because he had been contemplating suicide and the song had changed his mind and therefore his whole life. Like I said, it touches people like nothing else can. We will probably never fully be able to understand it, but then again, I don't know if I would ever really WANT to figure it out. Secrets are more captivating than common knowledge.

It can make us laugh, make us cry, comfort us, empower, enlighten, and encourage us, and tell the truth when nothing/no one else will. What else can do all of that in as little as two and a half minutes? (Even though there are those rare 5+ minute songs too.) It is also in the earth itself when we care to take notice. The birds, bugs, wind, trees, streams, and storms seem to sing their own songs as well. Guess its just another one of those puzzling but lovely daily miracles that we get to enjoy.

"I have my own particular sorrows, loves, delights; and you have yours. But sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love, belong to all of us, in all times and in all places. Music is the only means whereby we feel these emotions in their universality." - H.A. Overstreet