Ministering at the Assisted Living

There is something so joyous about blessing elderly people with the gift of music. Because they have seen so much, and experienced so many valleys and storms throughout their lives, they tend to have a keener appreciation for the smaller things...and the things that truly matter. 
A few days ago I took a few of my students to the assisted living, and we played some traditional Christmas carols for them. The response was wonderful. They repeatedly thanked us for playing, and expressed how blessed they were in listening to the songs.
That one small experience caused me to take a hard look at the impact that music has on people. Music is a language that speaks across so many of the boundaries between people. It goes beyond speech and letters. According to Aldrous Huxley, After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.
Some emotions are inexpressible. Some concepts are inexpressible. 
God is certainly inexpressible. And sometimes, what you cannot communicate about God through words, you can communicate more closely in music. 
That is one reason why I seldom find more fulfillment than by blessing other people with this art- specifically if it lifts their eyes upward to the One who created it. 


Every musician has been given his gift for a reason. And that reason extends beyond yourself. Use your talent and your passion to minister to others. Even if your audience is small, or considered insignificant by many, if that is the audience you have, it is the audience you have been given for the purpose of reaching out to them specifically. And for that reason it is worth everything. 


"Sing to the LORD, all the earth;
proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day."
1 Chronicles 16:23