I’ve been thinking about music lately. On a recent solo road trip, I pulled out an old ipod and let it run through the playlist. I listened to a wide variety of songs from various chapters of my life. I found songs that make me happy with memories fun times and moments filled with opportunity. I listened to songs that remind me of painful times that were terribly difficult, yet have helped to shape me. These songs made the long miles fly by, distracting me through hours of driving, reconnecting me with people and places and moments in my life in powerful ways.
When I reached home, I noticed the bird song that fills our yard in the summer. From early in the morning until late in the evening as the sun sets, there are birds singing all around my home. I hear them from my bed at first light, all through the day whether I am working or reading or washing dishes, while I walk dogs around the block, then as night falls as I share dinner with my family on the deck.
My two daughters, both now grown, were talking this week about the lullaby I always sang to them. It is a fairly obscure Christmas song that I found soothing and started to sing to my crying baby one evening. It stuck and I sang it for years and years. Now, though they are far past the time when I sang them to sleep, we all sang it together for a bit, and I found it soothing again.
There are countless kinds of music in our lives. Each song grows from the creativity and expressiveness of a creature that wants to share its music with the world around it. May the music in your life fill you with memories and courage. May that music help you see where you have come, how you have grown, where you are headed next. May the beauty of song touch your spirit and give you hope.
Peace,