Monday, June 4, 2012

Food for the Soul

I have watched this music video on youtube dozens of times (along with all the other videos by The Piano Guys. Every single one of them is worth watching and re-watching). My children love it. I love it. Sometimes I turn it on just to listen to it while I work and find myself drawn back to the video. The combination of spectacular scenery and beautiful music is, well, soul healing. I can't get enough of it. It's the sort of video that makes you grateful to be alive, awestruck by the beauty of the world around you, and certain that there must be a loving God who created it all.

This morning, at Matthew's request, I turned on "Peponi". He is two-years-old and yet he will sit, totally mesmerized, watching it over and over again. I can't help but think that, in some ways, it affects him much the same way it affects me. It calms him. It comforts him. I have to wonder if, sometimes, it makes heaven feel very close for him.

So it was rather jarring this morning to see, sitting atop the comment section, that somebody had written, "You could feed more than a houndred (sic) starving African children with the money that you paid for this video..." Now, this statement in and of itself is not what bothers me (though I could do without the self-righteous tone). After all, feeding starving African children is a noble thing to do. But I resent the implication that something so beautiful and so powerful is somehow unworthy because it is not the most noble thing that these men can do with their time or money.

Surely it is worthwhile to be the means of giving thousands upon thousands of people a taste of true beauty and joy.  Surely it is noble to use one's God-given talent to bring a feeling of peace to the restless, to remind the downtrodden of their own value.  Surely it is important to instill gratitude in others, to provide a chance for reflection, and to celebrate the gifts that God has given us.

Certainly money is well spent when it is used to feed starving bodies, but isn't it just as worthy to feed starving souls?

Thank you, Piano Guys, for feeding mine.

3 comments:

Suzanne Lucas said...

Not to mention this is how they make their living and if they didn't do this then someone else would have to pay to feed their starving children.

I think the Piano Guys are absolutely phenomenal.

Twinkies said...

I love the comment someone wrote after that one. "You could be feeding them with your bare hands instead of using them to whine behind a monitor on your keyboard.
Just enjoy the music please, its a work of artistry and it broke through their writers block."
I always get goosebumps and teary eyed when the African guy sings. It is just so beautiful and soulful.

kws said...

Just watched "Me and My Cello" with my boys and they were laughing their heads off. There aren't too many sources of truly good, clean, uplifting fun. Go Piano Guys!