Meditations on God

The other morning on our walk to school, my daughter asked me, “Daddy, do you ever feel melancholy?”

“Yes, sweetheart,” I replied. “I suppose I do feel melancholy from time to time.”

“When you feel melancholy,” she continued, “do you listen to happy music or sad music?”

“That’s a good question, dear. It depends. Sometimes I like to listen to happy music to lift my spirits when I’m feeling down, but other times I prefer to listen to sad music,” I explained.

Puzzled, she asked, “Why would you want to listen to sad music when you are already sad?”

I paused for a moment to reflect and answered, “I guess sometimes listening to sad music when I’m feeling melancholy helps me feel better.”

“How?” she asked.

“I think sad music helps me to know that I am not alone in my sadness,” I explained. “When I hear a sad song, it is telling me that this other person has felt this feeling also. So I am not the only one who has ever felt this way. That gives me some comfort, I suppose, some hope.”

“Like empathy?” she asked.

“Yes, dear. Like empathy,” I responded with a smile. “Empathy has the power to heal.”