Thought for the Week

MUSIC has a special and often ethereal quality. It is mood sensitive and mood enhancing. It can lift our spirits and calm our souls. We can find empathy when we need it and it can be a friend when we’re lonely.

Last week at our Iona Family Group meeting, we were invited to bring a favourite piece of music to share with each other and explain why it meant something to us.

What a wonderful variety we enjoyed, from The Messiah to country and western, from the wonderful rhythm of South Africa to the early morning song of the Blackbird.

My own choice was the rousing song of revolution, ‘Do you hear the people sing’ from that great musical Les Miserables. Music can inspire and it can unite us. We can feel the tears well up when the anthem of our homeland is played, or when the sound of the pipes calls to us when we are in a foreign land.

The language of music is universal and transcends many barriers.

Think of the wonderful work of Daniel Barenboim when he unites Israeli and Palestinian children in beautiful harmony in his orchestra of peace.

We had a wonderful time sharing our music and we learned a bit more about each other too. It was a special time and a soothing time. But there was a very special moment for me that day when our hostess, Mary, sat at her piano and quietly and gently played ‘Stand on holy ground’.

That was, indeed, an ethereal moment. Mary shared that holy ground with us and I bless her for it.