Aaaah! The power of music to move people, to return us to ourselves, to act on young and old alike, to connect us to one another — family, friend, stranger, foe — to rearrange our precious plans by the maestro’s genius for arranging notes that lean against silence leaning against notes, to draw us into a circle neither confining nor of our own making, to remind our bodies of the melodic mystery of living, the sheer gratuitousness of breathing, smiling, bombinating, swaying, to widen the eyes, to evoke a wow, to introduce us to the ineffable surprise of being, to reintroduce us to beauty, to wonder, to laughter, to joy, to steal us away from self-absorption or complaint or words that wound or greed or indifference or meanness if only for an extended moment, to soften our rigid expectations, to stealthily reawaken us to what matters most, to validate and guide our yearning, to gather us in to something bigger or truer than any one of us alone, to stop us in our tracks, to hush our racing minds, to quell our cynicism, to direct our bodies and souls, hearts and ears to listen deeply, to teach our toes to tap, our arms and legs to shinny up lampposts, to hum or sing along you be the cello I’ll be the bassoon, to subvert our anger, to touch our sadness, to hold our grief, to let go our regret, to lance our bitterness, to step forth from despair, to help us forgive God or ourselves or those we love or our best laid plans of advice, amen. There is no safer sanctuary for pathos, no more exquisite sacrament of awe and delight, no stronger ligament between peoples, no greater matchmaker for humans and the divine, than music. Won’t you stop and ‘bide awhile? Drop a coin? Offer a deep bow? Wed yourself to surprise?

PHOTOGRAPH: Fireflies in the Backyard DILIAN ANIKOLOVA/GETTY IMAGES

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Grace upon grace be yours. ~ Dan