Music...

Isn't it amazing how certain songs can bring back so much emotion and thought? I am thankful for music, a gift from God that allows me to connect with the Divine. I am thankful for songs that bring me back to how I felt at the very moments that I used to listen to them. I was reminded of a certain song just this past week that I love. It is a song that I sang in High School that changed my life. Even though I had gone to church for the first sixteen years of my life nearly every Sunday this song spoke to me in a way that a Pastor had ever managed to.
Below are the lyrics AND a video of my Alma Mater, Northwest Missouri State University's Tower Choir singing this amazing song...

The Awakening
I dreamed a dream,
A silent dream--of a land not far away.
Where no bird sang, no steeples rang,
And teardrops fell like rain.

I dreamed a dream,
A silent dream,
Of a land so filled with pride
That every song, both weak and strong,
Withered and died.
I dreamed a dream.

No alleluia, not one hosanna,
No song of love--no lullaby.
And no choir sang to change the world.
I dreamed a dream.
No pipers played; no dancers twirled.
I dreamed a dream, a silent dream. Silent.

Awake, awake, my soul, and sing!
The time for praise has come.
The silence of the night has passed;
A new day has begun.
Let music never die in me!
Forever let my spirit sing!
Wherever emptiness is found,
Let there be joy and glorious sound.
Let music never die in me!
Forever let my spirit sing!
Let all our voices join as one to praise the Giver of the song.

Awake! Awake! Let music live!

Joseph Martin