What was to be a smooth trip home turned out to be an all-night drive!  I flew to Nashville and caught the shuttle back to Chattanooga.  Having lived in Chicago for many years, I am accustomed to snow.  But Chattanooga and the South isn’t!  We were supposed to get a pretty good storm.  But I figured I’d get in before the snow began to accumulate.  30 minutes into our 2 hour shuttle ride, it began to snow.  30 minutes later, we had a few inches.  I could tell that the driver of our shuttle wasn’t accustomed to these conditions.  He made the mistake of pulling over and calling base to tell them he was going to wait and see what was going to happen.

WAIT AND SEE?  I though to myself- LET ME DRIVE!  I can get us back to Chattanooga.  Time spent sitting around was wasted time.  The shuttle that left an hour behind us caught up to us.  The driver of that shuttle convinced our driver to follow him.  But as soon as we got on I-24, our van fell back.  Not long after, the other driver convinced our driver to pull over, leave his van, and put all the passengers in one van.  By this time, there were probably 6 inches of snow on the ground.  We were in Monteagle, and I was afraid they might close the freeway.  It was probably 3:30 AM by now.  A few minutes after passing Monteagle, we got word that the TNDOT had closed the freeway.

We arrived at the shuttle facility at 6 AM.  We SHOULD have arrived at 1:30.  By the time I cleared nearly 9 inches of snow on my vehicle and made my way home, SLOWLY, it was 7 AM.  What a night!  I got home exhausted and went to bed.  But I praised the Lord for getting home safely.

When I woke up, Chattanooga and where I live was a winter wonderland.  Needless to say, I didn’t leave the front door for a couple of days!  People often tell me:  ”traveling must be so exciting”.  After weekends like this, I think to myself “you have NO idea just how exciting it is!”

I was in downtown Portland yesterday with a friend, headed to a store to do some shopping, when, across the street, in a corner, were two guys playing guitars and singing.  One of them was without a shirt.  It wasn’t a particularly busy time of day, and so few people were walking by.  And yet, these two guys were singing their hearts out, sometimes singing at the top of their lungs.  I asked myself- “what would possess someone to come out in breezy weather without a shirt and much of an audience to sing in a street corner?”

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about music.  Why is music so powerful?  I’ve come up with some plausible explanations.  First of all,  music was created by God so that 1- we could worship Him through it, and 2- we could fellowship and communicate with others.  Once we understand why music was created, we can use deductive reasoning to arrive at the answer.  Music is powerful because just about EVERYONE can understand it, feel it, and use it to express oneself.  If you think about it, we are all musicians, to one degree or another.

Now, having said that, there are some people that have NO business singing or playing an instrument publicly!  But because everyone has a bit of music in their heart and brain, we can ALL relate to it, understand it, and use it as a way to express ourselves.  Obviously, there are some that are more talented than others.  MUCH more.  Classical composers such as Beethoven, Wagner and Tchaikovsky are some that rush to my mind when I think of über-talented musicians.  Geniuses, really!  And regardless of how you feel about pop music, artists such as The Beatles, Nat King Cole, Elton John, Jimi Hendrix, Sting were/are incredibly talented as well.  I personally know artists such as John Stoddart, David Foster, Nolan Williams, Jr., Sam Ocampo, Naomi Striemer, to name a few, that are amazingly talented.

But we don’t all have to have a high level of music training or knowledge to appreciate and enjoy music!  Why is it that a guy like Elton John can have a career spanning 5 decades?  There’s something about his musical talents and abilities, that allows many to continue to feel, appreciate and enjoy his music.  And while many can do just that, many others have enough talent/desire to go out there, like these two guys in downtown Portland, to go out and sing as if they were singing in a stadium full of people.

Because I understand why music is so powerful (because everyone can relate to it, and is a musician, to some level), I strive to share what’s in my heart when I play the violin and give a concert.  My greatest desire, artistically speaking, is to play in such a way that people are moved by and spoken to through music.  I love it when people tell me “you played the words to that song”.  I find SO MUCH joy in being able to communicate and speak through music, that I know of nothing else I’d rather be doing!