I am not sure how many years ago it was. I know it was a while back because I still had a cassette player at the time. I had a lot of housework to do. I was tired of television and was in the mood for music. I pulled out one of my favorite cassettes then and put it in the player. It started to play but before long a loud squeal happened and the music stopped. I opened the player and saw the tape in the cassette was all pulled out and twisted. I tried the old pencil trick to get the tape back in place but it was already broken beyond repair. I frowned. I didn’t want to risk another of my cassettes with a tape eating machine, but I really wanted some music.

Then I noticed my ancient record player in the corner. I walked over and dusted off the top of it. I pulled out an old record of my Mom’s that my Dad had given me after she died. I turned on the record player and gently put the record on the turntable. “Pop!” “Crack!” went the record for a second as I put the needle down. Then a beautiful melody from my childhood started to play. I smiled and started to do my housework. The sweet songs I grew up on slowly started to stir my soul. I felt the music within coming out of me. My spirit felt like singing so I started to sing, letting my weak, raspy voice join in joyously with the songs. I even dared to dance a little while I did the dishes and didn’t drop a single dish. I smiled and laughed. My heart felt so happy. And in that moment I could feel the love of God and the joy of the universe all around me. It was like God was saying, “This is how life is supposed to be!”

These days all of my music is on CD’s. My daughter says I am behind the times. She says I should break down, buy a smart phone, and download all the music I want. But instead I think I will dust off those old records again, put them on that record player, and sing and dance along. I will remember Mom and thank God for the music inside us all.

We all have music within us just waiting to get out. God gives us all a life to live, a love to give, a light to shine, and a song to sing. Don’t let your music die within you then. Share your song with the world. And don’t forget to dance a little too.