I want to give you a challenge. Find me a country that does not have music of some kind. Search anywhere you like. Explore the jungles of South America, make your way through African tribes, or discover the peoples of South Asia. No matter where you visit I guarentee you this: every country will, without doubt, have some form of music. Their people will make music, play music, and move to music.

From California to China, people love music. There is something about music that is core to humanity. What makes a little baby respond to the soft humming of its mother? Or what makes an old woman on the streets of India turn to the sound of a drum? Music is truly a language that is spoken by every person on the earth.

There are many reasons that people love the sound of good music. Music moves us. There is something about the beat of a drum or the rhythm of an orchestra that can cause people of all ages to stand to their feet and move. We are so affected by sound, and when that sound is pleasing to us it forces a response. That response can be the simple clapping of hands or it can be the dancing of our entire bodies.

People all around the world also love music because it is beautiful. There is nothing more amazing then going to an opera or than seeing a symphony orchestra perform. Even the sounds of our favorite album playing in our car remind us that when we hear music, we are encountering some element of sheer beauty. We cannot quite define why music sounds beautiful to our ears, but I have yet to meet a person who does not like one kind of music or another.

That is another great thing about music: it is diverse. You can love classical music, country music, or rock and roll music. Some people prefer music with only a simple melody while others enjoy music with many complicated notes and sounds. What is beautiful to one person may not be called beautiful to another. And that is a beautiful thing.

Music connects people to events and helps them to remember some of life's most significant events. I'll bet you remember the first song you and your spouse danced to, and I bet you can name the song that played the first time you drove a car by yourself. Music is great that way. We can define entire seasons of our life based on the kind of music that we enjoyed during that time. Every one has been with a parent when an "oldies" song comes on the radio and the parent begins singing out the lines of the song, remembering with fondess their younger years.

From Africa to Alabama to Argentina, music is an important element of culture. By it we define people and countries. Sometimes we enjoy the style, sometimes we would rather not hear it, but most of the time we all agree that music is a wonderful thing. Our lives would be very different and our world a less unified place if we didn't have music.