quote origin unknown; I found it on Google.

The girls’ watched the newest Elena of Avalor episode last week.  I caught a few minutes of it, and ya know what? It made me cry!  You might be thinking I’m crazy or a highly emotional woman (and I’m not going to say you’re wrong…), but hear me out.

The tears started to burn in my eyes when the town rallied together behind Elena and walked in unity toward the castle (which was being run by an evil sorceress). But they weren’t just walking, they were singing.  Singing with pride for their country and hope for the future.  “This is our time!” And that’s when the tears fell from my eyes and I was overcome with emotion.

WHY??  What about this rally had me emotional?  And why doesn’t every choral number do this to me?  Do I get all choked up when the townspeople storm the castle in song with vengeance on their hearts in Beauty and the Beast? Um…no. I do not.

So I thought about the times I’ve gotten emotional over music in the past.

• The end of Les Miserables, when the cast is raising their voices in hope and/or victory. “Do you hear the people sing?” and “One Day More!” (Les Miserables flash mob)
• Elena leading her people into battle (or what could’ve been battle).
• The Frankie’s Holiday Apple commercial.  Every. Single. Time.
• Quiet, acoustic songs packed with meaning. (Thinking of Andrew Peterson Music here.)
• Worshipping my God with other Christians, lifting our voices together in hope, thankfulness, and praise. I can hardly get through songs without choking up because of the magnitude of Who I’m singing to, and what He’s done for me. (Listen to In Christ Alone.) [Along those lines: there is so much power in Christians singing to God with their voices alone, the instrument He made for us. It’s beautiful, untainted by human hands, worship.

After thinking about why and how music stirs up my emotions, I came to the conclusion that it’s the hope offered in the song. The hope, which often is accompanied by pain, brings me to tears. And there is vulnerability when people are singing together through their pain for praise, thanksgiving, or a hope of victory. (I wonder if that’s what God hears in our songs of worship?  A willingness to be vulnerable….)

The morning I cried over my kids’ tv show, I also heard a brief encouragement from She Works His Way on making sure our life-song is harmonizing God’s melody.  Then, my dad and I had a wonderful discussion on music and it’s power to draw up emotion and feeling.  He showed me something he wrote a while back that popped up on his Facebook Time-hop:

Isn’t that beautiful?  As a music girl, the thought of my God, my Creator, singing over me?! That delights my soul more than words can express.

Do you hear what I hear? Does music take your emotions and heart to a place all its own? I’d love to know your thoughts!  Feel free to comment or send me an email.