You know, music is really interesting! It is a strange phenomenon if you really think about it. Music is literally just air hitting our bodies at different frequencies. It is incredible that these frequencies can have such an impact on us to make us want to move our body in different ways, cry, laugh, sing, dance, and change our mood! We pay money to hear music that we enjoy. The type of music we listen to also really affects our minds more than we realize for better or for worse. I hope that you can consider after today what kind of music you allow to enter your life and how music has influenced YOU!
Someone turns on a catchy song and suddenly you watch as those within hearing distance begin to move their body to the beat! Music is something so unique to each human experience and so universal in influence. We could be moved to tears, jump up and down, relax or workout hard. We crave to hear certain kinds of music so much that we pay a lot of money to hear a band, go to the opera, or attend an instrumental performance. I know that for my family music is one of the main ways that we relate to one another and bond with each other. My father writes pieces and when I come home to visit we sing
harmonies or play our instruments together.
Music truly can bring friends and family together.
Music also is pretty amazing in that it adds so much flavor to life. For example, have you ever seen an intense movie without music? When you take away the music, the magic and intensity of various scenes are greatly diminished. If there were no music on this earth, it is very likely that dancing would not exist. A dancer would look so strange were the music to be taken away from a dance performance. All of the different kinds of music also make cultural dances and cultures unique to countries around the world. Music enriches cultures and helps shape who people are as a society. Just by hearing the music of a particular culture, we can identify the country it originates from.
Music influences our actions and choices in life more than we realize. If we are listening to vulgar and inappropriate music, we are more likely to participate in the actions spoken of in the lyrics. If we are listening to hymns or songs that influence us to see the beauty in life or praise the Lord, then we feel closer to God. Have you ever paid close attention to the way different songs make you feel? If you are hearing music that condones behavior that is against your values, it is important to change the song unless we want it to influence us. If we hear bad language and decide that we like the beat too much to delete the song, we rationalize. Music truly has a great influence on our actions and we should be aware of that.
I hope that you have been able to reflect on the impact music has had on your life. I know that it is something that I take for granted and don't appreciate as much as I should. Music is a gift from God if we utilize it the right way!
Challenge: For each song you listen to this week (in the car, at a movie, church...)- acknowledge how it makes you feel and how it adds to your experiences in life.
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