Feeding the Heart...

     

     
              After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing
                           the inexpressible is MUSIC.
A small plastic sign bearing these words has stood on a shelf in my
living room for a couple of decades. Indeed, the paint is beginning 
to peel, to chip away, showing the wear-and-tear of time. Yet it 
continues to have pride of place because of the truth it expresses 
about my life.

For me, music is and has always been the source of inexpressible 
joy...especially when I am singing. And today...this very afternoon...
I was filled to overflowing with the joy of choral singing, as our High 
Point Community Chorus presented our spring concert. To call the 
afternoon glorious barely scratches the surface of what I was feeling 
as the music transported me to a place I cannot find words to 
describe.

And so it has been since I was a small child, listening to the music 
of the piano in my grandparents' home, hearing the voices of my
Aunt Anna and my Uncle John and my mother singing the popular 
songs of the day...listening to the Metropolitan Opera on the radio
each Saturday...being surrounded by and nurtured by and cradled 
in the voices of the congregation singing hymns in church each 
Sunday. Music filled my life...seeped into my pores...has perhaps 
been part of my very DNA from the beginning of beginning.

But sometimes I forget...letting the routines of everyday life crowd 
out this life-giving force. I forget how energizing and uplifting and 
healing it is to lift my voice in song...whether it is a little ditty like 
"You are My Sunshine" or a favorite hymn like "Beautiful Savior" or 
a Beatles classic like "Let It Be" or the hauntingly lovely "Bring Him 
Home" from Les Miserables or the old Gospel hymn "I'll Fly Away". 
Music heals me...fills me with joy...feeds my soul. 

And so this evening, as I sit here writing, though tired from head 
to toe, every cell of my body is resonating with the melodies of 
today, and my heart is filled with joy. Thanks be to God!