The Music that Fights Fear

In the 1940's, Woodie Guthrie painted on his guitar "THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS." Other artists would follow suit, such as Pete Seeger, who put on his banjo "This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender."

Music has no powers to kill coronavirus, but right now, it's doing an admirable job helping us to fight fear and despair. Did you happen to see Andrea Bocelli's concert last Sunday, inside and on the steps of the Duomo cathedral of Milan? Just beautiful.

But it is the ordinary concerts, from people's living rooms or empty clubs, that has me encouraging people to get back on Facebook. I know, I know - there are ethical issues around privacy (and if that's your concern, I will not urge you to go against your conscience), there is an overabundance of anxiety-stoking articles, and some people never had any interest in the darn thing.

But this past week, I've listened to Melissa Etheridge every day, "attended" Dale Watson's Sunday concert, as well as a concert by our own assistant minister and professional musician Kiya Heartwood.

I'm so touched by all of the sharing I see happening. When people go through a crisis together, there is often a bonding that occurs. The whole world is going through this crisis together. Listening to the music, I have hope that something is permanently changing.

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