The power of music

            It is easy to listen to music.  Between turning on the radio and listening to your favorite tunes on your phone, music is all around us.  Why are we drawn to music?  I think the answer lies in our hearts.  Music puts into a language what the heart is expressing.  From Mozart to Enya to Chris LeDoux, musicians touch on something that lies in the heart of each one of us.  Music puts the heart’s movements into words.  That is why we are drawn to music and find both healing power in music and ways to express what we are feeling.

            Saint Augustine is quoted as saying “When you sing, you pray twice.”  St. Augustine recognizes the importance of song and music.  Now I have never been the best singer, but I absolutely love music.  I find that both the rhythms and the lyrics of music very important.  Songs have a way of coming into your mind at the weirdest times of the day.  I find that when I am in adoration, I generally have a song in my heart.  In years past, I would try to push out those out because I was with Jesus in Adoration and needed to focus on him.  As I have continued to grow, I have learned to listen to those songs that are placed into my heart because I find that God is sending me a message of love through songs.  

            I heard it said that God speaks to us in a language that we can understand.  Music is a language that my heart understands and God uses it frequently to make sure I know I am loved.  There is a song by John Legend titled “All of Me” and a line in the song says “I love your perfect imperfections.”  I heard that song in my heart about a year and a half ago in Adoration and it hit me like a ton of bricks.  At that time, I was frustrated with some of my imperfections and when I heard that in my heart, it spoke volumes to me that God loves me unconditionally, especially in my imperfections.  That lesson that I learned a year and a half ago is not only with me, but has expanded to where I try to love others in their imperfections.  Jesus loves each one of us totally, and in the midst of our imperfections.  Jesus taught us each how to love, and we have to have the courage to do it, even when it is difficult.  "Do not be afraid, then, when love makes demands. Do not be afraid when love requires sacrifice." ~ St. John Paul II

            One artist that I particularly love to listen to is Enya.  Her melodies are simple, yet her harmonies are complex.  Enya sometimes sings in a foreign language and even a language that she made herself.  Her songs are soothing and relaxing.  Her voice is so pure that I imagine that is what the heavenly song sounds like.   Enya doesn’t even put herself in a genre of music, simply saying its “Enya.” 

One of her songs, Only Time, is my personal favorite as it has been a faithful companion to me as I have continued to grow in my faith and in my love.  The theme of that song is that time and love are companions with us.  “Who can say when the roads meet, that love might be in your heart?”  It’s an open question yet it challenges us to love.  When God presents us with the meeting of two roads, how should we respond?  With Love.  When the road becomes difficult, how are we called to respond?  With Love. 

Jesus is calling each one of us to embrace the road that is laid out before us, and we may never know where it is going yet be not afraid.  Jesus is our companion and our compass for the path of life.  Music helps us to see God’s love for us, and that nourishes our souls for the journey.  If you let God's love fill you, you will love others in a new and deeper way.  So the next time you find yourself signing a song for no particular reason, listen to it.  That song in your heart just may be your guardian angel sending you a message of God’s love for you.