Music is powerful. I’m amazed at how it can bring back experiences to memory with such vivid detail.

When I hear The Cardigans “Long Gone Before Daylight” my mind goes back to my trip to Australia this past summer. I can almost smell the inside of the airplane. (Fortunately, I don’t smell the guy with really bad body odor who sat beside me.)

When I hear Andrew Peterson’s “The Far Country” CD, I am taken back to when I was driving back from South Carolina after the funeral of my 98 year old great grandmother. It brought out so much emotion that I was weeping openly through most of the CD. I wanted to call Andrew and thank him for such a beautiful recording, but I wouldn’t have been able to say much, so I didn’t.

Arthur Alligood’s “Far From Today” takes me to that afternoon a couple of years ago when I got in my car after a long day at work and was ready to throw in the towel on my career and go get a job selling TVs at Circuit City (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Eric Peters’ song “I Know the Mountains” takes me back to several places in my life when I needed some encouragement from a friend.

My music collection is full of songs and albums that take me back and bring out memories.

Tonight my life will be changed by music once again. I’m going up to Nashville to see Andrew Peterson’s “Behold the Lamb of God” Christmas tour play at the Ryman Auditorium. If I could make it to only one concert per year, this would be the one. When I hear the Christmas story - the real Christmas story - told in such an amazing way, I’m left speechless every time.

If you want to ride along, there are still tickets available. You just have to be at my office and ready to go by 2:30 this afternoon. If you can’t go with us, you should listen to “Behold the Lamb of God” online.