Throw Down Your Heart

I'm not usually one to write reviews over movies that I have seen, but tonight I saw Bela Fleck's documentary "Throw Down Your Heart", and my mind is about to explode from how perfect the film was. The basis of the film was the journey of Bela Fleck, acclaimed banjo-player. He travelled to four African countries to trace the origins of the banjo and immerse himself in the culture of music that Africa is famous for.

Honestly, I couldn't stop smiling through the entire thing. The universiality of music, and the way that Fleck could so easily communicate with people via the language of music blew my mind, making me once again grateful that I am dedicating my life to a career that uses this universal language. The second thing that touched my heart while watching was seeing the beautiful people of these nations come together to interact through music in their daily lives. So often, we are afraid to even hum in front of people, but these people were unashamed to belt out their songs and join together with their villages in celebration of life on a daily basis. They have never had any formal training beyond the traditions of family members who hand down their instruments, yet their voices and musical abilities blow my mind in their simplistic beauty. Which also made me think about why I love African music in the first place. In Revelation 7:9, it says "I looked and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne...crying and singing "blessing and glory"!" When I hear this beautiful music, these songs that come as a result of cries from broken souls, I am positively heartbroken, yet thrilled at the same time, thinking of how they find reason to rejoice, even in their hardships, and how beautiful the sound will be when this continent known for oppression will be freed from their bondage and will take up the sound of rejoicing....even now, just thinking about it I am getting chills!

So, yes. I'm not sure where this ramble went. Go watch the documentary and allow your heart to be touched in a million ways as mine was touched tonight.