The Power of Music

Nothing gets me more ready for a day than to wake up to "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield. Before every Greek midterm and final I psyched myself to "Be a Man" from the Mulan soundtrack. Hearing Daniel Powter sing "Bad Day" was a regular occurance during finals week. Diana Ross' "You Can't Hurry Love" gives me hope. Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway" has been my theme song since I graduated college. The familar opening beats of Phantom Planets' "California" played on my cell phone months before moving to LA. I instantly am transported to the Duke quad with hundreds of Tipsters running in circles when I hear REM's "End of the World." And I still feel the pride of Moore Hall when the Jackson Five's "I Want You Back comes on. Celine Dion belting out "My Heart will Go On" floods my brain with memories of 8th grade sleepovers.

I could go on and on, my point is that music is powerful. I love how one song can get a person to run five more minutes on the treadmill. One song at a punk rock concert brings an entire club full of people to a higher energy level than I've ever seen in my entire life. One song can give words to the feeling of a couple hopelessly in love. One song brings thousands of people declaring their praise for God together. One song can bring a person to tears as they remember a loved one...

I have been around music all of my life. From my Dad singing "My Girl" when I was little to hearing painfully sung church hymns to practicing a Mozart Sonata over and over on the piano--I grew up with music. The meaning of songs changed as I got older for example I found those boring church hymns to be now filled with truth.

Recently I have seen a new way that music is powerful. After a rough couple of weeks a dear friend made me a CD of "love, comfort, and reminders." Each song spoke the truth of a God who loves me, a God who is constant, and a God who cares. My favorite song on the CD is "Held" by Natalie Grant...look at some of the lyrics:

"This is what it means to be held

How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life

And you survive

This is what it is to be loved

And to know that the promise was

When everything fell we’d be held"

As I first heard that song immediately I began to cry. What a beautiful image of God! I have played that song on repeat wherever I am--in my car, on my computer, on my ipod. Music can make us laugh, cry, and dream...and music can be healing!