Music changes everything

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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Fleur Dorrell Good Morning. Wherever we are in the world, music is a powerful gift for expressing and elevating our emotions. Music can speak to us at any time and in any situation. It transcends language and culture as it touches our hearts. On this day four years ago, my Dad died of Covid during one of the worst periods of that pandemic. We weren’t allowed to visit him until the very last moment, and only six people could attend his short funeral. It was an icy January on the south coast, no café or hotel was permitted to open afterwards, and it felt utterly bleak. Yet we were walking this hard path of grief with many others. We were not alone. My Dad always wanted the Radetzky March by Johann Strauss Senior to be played at his funeral. It’s jubilant and energetic music was composed as a victory celebration and that is exactly what it is. Inevitably, hands clap and feet stamp as the rhythm develops. On this cold and cheerless morning, I saw a glimpse of this joy as the music played out - memories of my Dad listening to the piece every New Year’s Day and at other times, tapping his slender fingers to the beat, smiling at Strauss, and delighting in the melody of life all came flooding back. I pray that music will soothe and comfort all those who mourn, bring joy and delight to those who welcome hope, and unite us all in peace across time and space. Amen.