These are the songs that remind us of who we are

My favorite thing about music is that it doesn't expect anything of you. You just let go; you get to be yourself.

Music is that thing that, no matter where you are, you can always count on. There are songs that reach across many spans of time; that apply across all sorts of situations and when you listen to them give you that feeling, the feeling that all will be well with the world. As long as that song is playing, you are at peace. For those few short minutes, in which everything you are feeling inside is made known through sound, you feel like someone out there finally understands.

My friend and I were talking about our love for music the other day and he said that without music he would probably be a basket case. Music is a form of release for so many people. It takes all the emotions that lie within us and just lets them out. And the best thing about music is that everyone understands it. Music is one of those things in life that is universal.

It is because of this that I believe that music is one of the most powerful tools we have. Music has the ability to heal and to build relationships. Music can become a place of common ground, a tool for peace and for understanding.

For the most part, I have never met the people that sing my favorite songs. I haven't talked to them, I don't know what they are like, who their family is, what they believe in or how life has treated them. But at the same time I feel like we have lived and walked together, through the music sharing our life experiences.

Music is a great tool for knowing one another. We don't even have to listen to someone sing. We can merely sit with them. listen to the song they have on and get a glimpse of what they may be feeling at that particular moment. There are songs that we listen to when we are in certain mood, when we have certain feelings and desires, and by listening to these songs together, we can slowly begin to understand.

Music tells a story. Even when it doesn't contain words it's narrative is present and, though interpretable, holds a common meaning for all of us. I believe that God created music so that we might better understand one another, that we might find something to bring us together during all seasons of life. Through all the good and all the bad, the melodies of life we'll sing.