Time for a little Advent confession here...
Around this time of the year I have a weakness for listening to music I know will lead me down a path to melancholy where everything is blue - except the sky...
Why do I listen to this music? Why do I walk that path?
I suppose now and then it's a matter of feeling sorry for myself, a curious thing because I don't have much to feel bad about and certainly have so much more to be grateful for... Of course, sometimes I miss the latter for the former... More often, I hope, I follow the music because I know it takes me to places I need to visit but often avoid...
The music becomes my companion along the way and proves itself a faithful guide... The melody knows our destination and the way there, showing no fear of the journey... I find strength in that...
The velvet sound beckons me to places I easily avoid or, worse, ignore... places to visit, understand, heal and befriend... The tunes give gentle voice to silenced places within, places to find, not hide from... places to approach and visit...
Like a pied piper, Kenny G's sweet sax seduces me to within touching distance of corners and crevices in my heart where dwell loves and losses, known and unknown, some as old as I can remember, some new this year...
If the child of Bethlehem will touch the "hopes and fears of all my years," I will know it in my heart of hearts where he lives and waits for me in the jumble of all that has been my life... in the places where the sad-sweet sounds draw me... places for healing and peace...
Perhaps that's why I listen to this music at this time of year... to know my heart and the One who lives there...
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Is there a musical sound, a song that leads you to the same places?
Here's a Kenny G piece from Miracles: The Holiday Album
Kenny G. is an artist that I can listen to everyday, no matter what my mood is. Andrea Bocelli, and Josh Groban are others. Music for me is a big part of my life. I like everything from Pop (some), to classical and everything in between except rap. There are so many songs in the different genre's to fit different moods, I can't even begin to name them all. the 3 above are all wonderful for every mood. Great choice of song. The sax is perfect!
ReplyDeleteAfter listening to Kenny G while watching the video that accompanied his rendition of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," I am sitting here in tears. And it is 10 AM! Wow, the combination is powerful. No wonder it makes you melancholy, Concord Pastor. I won't give the ending away, but it is worth the poignancy that leads up to it. Just a bit of trivia...I think the little girl with Santa in the first part of video is Natalie Wood. I don't know if I am going to thank you for this entry or not. You've hit a nerve.
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