Peace Comes When the Beat of the Music and the Beats of My Heart Become One

I spent many a day trying to find peace in a chaotic world. The way it was described to me was that peace was the absence of noise, a quiet time of contemplation and reflection. But I found that not to be so. Peace is like beauty, in the eye of the beholder, meaning it is defined differently by each individual. For me, peace seeps into my spirit when I hear a great beat, and it seems as if my heart has been waiting for just that chord.

It doesn’t matter what type of music. The soothing beats of a jazz trumpet played by the genius of Winton Marsalis or Miles Davis send me into a near swoon, and stop me in my tracks. I cease whatever I am doing to listen and be entertained. The world goes away with all of its trials and troubles, and I am alone on my own planet. That’s peace.

It may be the sounds of the music I listened to as a teenager, the golden oldies of the 1960s and 1970s. No matter how life is treating me, when I hear Percy Sledge sing “When a Man Loves a Woman,” I forget everything that is stressing me, and the words and music bring a smile to my face that transports me back to my times that were less hectic for me. That’s peace.

It can be a gospel song that reminds me that I am not alone in the world. Songs like John P. Kee’s “Strength” or Vickie Winans’ “Shake Yourself Loose” cause my body to rise and my feet to dance. No matter if it is one of my dark days, when depression has me bound, joy, like a river, floods my soul, and light shines in the darkness. That’s peace.

Peace is priceless. However you define the word or whatever means you use to have peace in your life, each of us treasures moments of peace away from our anxieties, stressors, and work. I don’t wait for it to come to me; I seek it in the beats of the music that make my heart swoon in pure joy. There is no substitute for peace.