1 Chron. 15:16 “And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of musick, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.”
“This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.” ~ Pete Seeger
Have you ever listened to music that made you happy? Sad? Melancholy? Have you ever wondered why music does that to every single person alive on the planet, young and old? Growing up I always wanted to play an instrument but lacked any encouragement as my house was flooded with marijuana smoke (older brothers), cigarette smoke and beer cans. I feel it hindered any growth in the musical aspirations I might have had but one thing I DID have? My Holly Hobbie record player where I would sit in my room and sing my heart out listening to music of the day.
I trained my voice early on by listening to the likes of Barbara Streisand and Karen Carpenter, two of the greatest singing teachers I could ever ask for. My musical likes were influenced by my older brothers (Beatles, Clapton) not necessarily my parent's music (Sinatra, Patsy Kline) and my likes in later years would turn out to be a mix of them all. I have four brothers so the music spanned many generations from the early sixties until today where my tastes have grown like a vine climbing the tree.
It’s amazing how times have changed and technology allows you to teach yourself amazing things instrumentally. Grace Vanderwaal, twelve years old, taught herself (via YouTube) how to play the ukelele and if you don’t know who she is, now it is my turn to say, get your head out of the sand! She is the America’s Got Talent winner of one million dollars and a contract with a recording label.
As you all may or may not know, I don’t watch television so how I clicked this child from a rare visit to YouTube is beyond me but I connected with this little girl the moment I saw her cherubic face, seeing what happens when your family surrounds you with love and nurtures your blossoming talent.
I may have missed the mark on a singing and dancing career but music, was well absorbed into my soul from a very early age. I wonder if that is the reason I write poetry? Is it a form of music to my soul via words? Hmm now that’s interesting, isn’t it?
Music whether instrumental or filled with words touches the soul! I do believe since the beginning of time a simple hum filled the humans and they had to get it out of their system so they began designing instruments. While the age of a musical instrument may be off since some believe the earth to be 6,000 years old, either way, music has been around since the beginning of time.
Biblically we know as early as the book of Genesis the singing and instruments were alive and on the scene. Imagine that, we were created to bring forth music from the very beginning, I wonder if it was the first form of medicine, psychologically speaking.
Gen. 31:27 “Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?”
1 Sam. 18:6 “And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick.”
I can honestly say that had it not been for the healing properties that music has brought to my life, I would not be the woman I am before you today. Poetry, singing and writing, (I no longer dance because of my disability) are my outlets to the musical healing, while I have SEVERAL friends who play the guitar, piano, keyboard, drums, flute, violin, and a husband who plays the sax or they are avid singers professional or otherwise. Is it coincidence that God surrounded me with this palette of friends? I don’t believe in coincidence!
So let me tell you of healing that takes place via music. Whether praise music, hymns, rock, country, soul or jazz each avenue is an outlet if internal healing that you WILL carry with you AFTER death.
Music Divine
Divine is the dancing pirouette of sound.
Bathing in the luminosity of space.
A bastion of baubles blazing boldly.
Rhythm masking in the ticker-tape of time.
Reverberating in reverent chime.
Compliant to the composer of conceit.
Fastidious to the feasible feast.
Notorious notes nourish in sync.
Melody meets a measure combine...
Divine is the dancing ~~ pirouette of sound!
Copyright ©joni zipp
