The Music Connection

I visited a wonderful dementia patient this week. She

has been minimally responsive for several months now, but I think we found a key to connect. She loves to sing. This week, we joined hands and sang everything from "You Are My Sunshine" to Sinatra tunes.

After each song, for which amazingly she remembered all the lyrics--some of which I had forgotten long ago--she'd look me in the eyes, squeeze my hands and say, "I LOVE you!"

She melted my heart.

This story reminds me of the importance of music as a means of connection. Studies have proven that my experience with this patient is not unique. Furthermore, there's no doubt that God our Creator has given us music as a means of connection with Him as well as others. This is why it's always so sad to see Christians standing (or sitting) and watching music on Sunday instead of singing along and letting the Holy Spirit use music to draw them to their Lord.

Just like my wonderful 91 year old patient--music helps us look God in the eye, so-to-speak, and say without hesitation, "I LOVE you!"

To that end,

Pastor Joel