Music speaks louder than words

2009-09-10 / Columns

“Music is the universal lan guage, and love is the key “To peace, hope and under standing, and living in harmony” —Mac Davis

When Mac Davis penned the above lyrics for his 1970s classic pop song “I Believe In Music,” he was expressing in song what just about every musician feels when he or she sings or plays an instrument.

The spiritual significance of music lies in the fact that it literally brings people together at a level of vibration that transcends boundaries, culture, language, religion, gender, age, color and politics, a place where we can all experience our sameness.

When we can move beyond all of the aforementioned “labels,” our differences tend to dissolve into the Oneness from which we came.

How can the energy of music be this powerful? Music resonates with the heart, not just the head.

There is a mathematical element to music that requires the integration of the left brain with the right brain. When music flows it penetrates and permeates the heart and soul of every human being it touches.

For most of us, music is not an intellectual process; it is an emotional experience that is uniquely personal and yet, at the same time, interpersonal. It’s what connects us with others.

While we may need an interpreter to tell us what the lyrics of a song mean, no one needs an interpreter to tell them what the energy of music is saying—the heart knows. In the words of my singersongwriter friend Harold Payne, “Music speaks louder than words; it’s the only thing that the whole world listens to.”

From the day when humankind first discovered music by beating a stick on a hollow log to this moment in time, the “music” that flows through us is really the outer manifestation of an inner urge—to express life.

When music erupts from within us it is the desire of the soul to push out and “be.” When music becomes a shared experience with others, it is simply the soul seeking to push out and spill over into others in a creative process where their energies blend in amazing ways.

Music calls us home. It reminds us that beyond all the apparent differences we seem to have, we all come from the same place—our unity in Spirit.

That is the power and significance of music. Whether you create music or just enjoy listening to it, music brings us together to celebrate, co-create and express the joy we find in our oneness, while at the same time honoring how it is expressed through us as individuals in unique and creative ways.

So, the next time you turn on your TV, radio or iPod, or go to a movie or a concert, pay attention to the music and imagine what your world might be like without it. Then thank a musician for being the instrument through which it all flows.

Music is simply that which invites us to remember we are never separate or alone and that we have far more in common with our earth family than we have differences.

I agree with Harold Payne— music really does speak louder than words, and it’s a language we can all speak.

So turn up your CD player and sing along. Let the world know you believe in music; it just might catch on and, in the process, bring the people on this planet closer together.

Dennis Merritt Jones is a local spiritual mentor, keynote speaker and author of the book “The Art of Being: 101 Ways to Practice Pur pose in Your Life.” Contact him at www.DennisMerrittJones.com.

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