Thank you for the music...

Today I am thankful for music - all of it - classical, rock, gospel, folk, blues. Where would any of us be without it? With or without lyrics music can reach places in us that nothing else can. It allows us to express our happiness, grief, joy, loneliness, hope, fear and every other thing a human being can feel.

I'm grateful for every time I've fallen asleep to Frank Sinatra singing I'll Be Seeing You or The Beatles singing Hey Jude. Other times it's been Pavarotti, Barbra Streisand, the Bee Gees, Bob Seger, The Gaither Vocal Band, Simon and Garfunkle or Andy Williams. There's been music for every mood and every emotion I've ever experienced. It's always been there, running through my head for as long as I can remember, adding colour, texture and meaning to my days and helping me say what I couldn't say otherwise.

Graphic courtesy of Antique Images

In the words of Martin Luther: "Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us."  It has calmed my agitations thousands of times, but it has also given me energy when I couldn't muster any up on my own. There seems to be a song perfect for every situation.

I love music in every genre; a single playlist on my ipod might include John Denver, Adele, Ray Charles, Bon Jovi, Perry Como, Jefferson Airplane (oh please, look it up!) Kelly Clarkson and Celine Dion. I have singalong playlists and driving playlists, going to sleep playlists and worship playlists. I used to think it was weird to sometimes crave sad songs but then I came across these words from Reba McEntire: "For me, singing sad songs often has a way of healing a situation. It gets the hurt out in the open into the light, out of the darkness." I don't feel so bad now about my "Sad Songs" playlist.

I have never thought that my life would make for a very interesting movie, but it would have one heck of a sound track and for that, I'm thankful.