Can you imagine our world without music? Talk radio twenty-four hours a day! No whistling while you work? Can you imagine sitting through a beautiful wedding or a romantic candlelight meal in silence?
Music sets the stage for our emotions to soar. Music is a vital part of our everyday lives, but do we really understand its power?
- Moses may have understood a little of the power when he led the Israelites from Egypt. I can see him now, leading them in chants as they stomped through the desert to the Promised Land. Some of those same chants became part of our Book of Psalms.
- David knew the power of music when he performed before King Saul. His music calmed the king when he was restless and out of sorts.
- Paul and Silas knew the power when they were singing in prison and the jailhouse rocked! God used their powerful testimony of praise in persecution to touch the heart of the Philippian jailer.
- Every mother knows a little of the power when she hums a soothing lullaby to her fussy baby.
- Most of us learned the power of music when we sang our way through the ABC’s in first grade. And most of us can still sing them!
- Researchers continue to learn of the power of music. Studies reveal the benefits of music instruction for brain enhancement. Some of their findings show that:
- Music gives premature babies the desire to live. Preemie wards all over the country are piping stimulating music into the nurseries and the tiny babies are responding.
- Keyboard music’s study enhances the brain function of preschoolers and later allows them to excel in science and engineering skills.
- Tests now prove that music students achieve higher scores on college entrance exams.
- The study of the keyboard accelerates learning processes for all ages of life.
- Adult women, who have studied piano sometime in their life, recover from strokes faster and further than adult women who have never studied piano.
- We have seen the power of music with my own mother, suffering from advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease. She doesn’t recognize family members and is unable to do the simplest tasks, yet sings as beautifully as ever, remembering the lyrics and melodies to her favorite songs. The power of music triggers her memory and calms her anxieties. That power works even better than drugs!
Music is power. Power is strength. Music is a powerful tool that we can give our children to strengthen them, spiritually and intellectually.
Come on kids… let's make music!