Music is one of the world's great ways to connect, to reach across barriers, to get to know people and place. In a time when division seems to be the order of the day in many aspects of life, music can offer ways to think about connecting. Perhaps going to hear a concert will lift your spirits and give you a break from thinking about such divisions. Then again, perhaps a bit of wisdom, an insight, an image you receive by way of a song or a tune will inspire you to carry on with ways to heal, to respect, to connect.

Maybe you have offered a hand to steady someone -- friend or stranger -- on an icy sidewalk.

Perhaps you've been the person who accepted that assistance.

There are surely times when you've confided in a friend, secure in the knowledge that what you talked of would be kept between the two of you. Could be you are the friend who has respected that confidence.

These and many other large and small acts are acts of trust. 

Community. The people who live on the same street, in the same neighborhood. People you see every week at the market. Those you know through your work. Your family. Friends of the heart. Passing acquaintances. The many communities of shared interests and shared histories to which each person belongs, in physical, geographical life and in the wide variety the internet offers help share and define identity. If things go well, community is a source of strength and support in hard times.

It is winter, just past the turning of the year. This is a time which in invites reflection, resolutions, thoughts of change, thoughts of what may come. Here is music which will be a good companion to you as you consider these things, in winter and at other times of year.

Winter is a season for gathering together, and for solitude, for savoring connection and dealing with distance, for, as the song says, greeting a friend and welcoming a stranger. Music can be both timely and timeless about all this.

Winter: one of the hallmarks of the season is that night comes early and sunrise comes late. The stars in winter skies seem to shine more brightly than they do in other seasons. This time of longer nights also invites us in, to communion, connection, fellowship, and quiet reflection -- and to music to accompany all these things.

The turn of seasons from autumn to winter brings gatherings, travels, time for reflection, and in the United States, the holiday of Thanksgiving. Wherever in the world you may find yourself, it has been and continues to be a challenging time, with upheavals and uncertainties in public life - and no doubt challenges changes in each of our personal lives, as well.

Autumn comes with harvest time, with gathering in, with thinking of home and sharing. There are people who may not be doing that this season. There are -- through the past and in the present time -- people who are immigrants or refugees by circumstances they control and ones they don't. Perhaps you know some of these people; perhaps immigration stories are embedded in your family history. Maybe not -- maybe you've seen images or read history books.

Fires and floods, wars and famines, political uncertainty all across the globe: it is a time of change. Within those shifting circumstances, it can be helpful to remember the power of connection, and the power of music to help make and renew connection. Connection can renew hope, too. Here are music ideas to explore with those thoughts in mind.

Unsettling times, times of uncertainty, times of change -- these can bring about fear, and fear's twin, anger. Such times may bring about despair, frustration, discouragement. It is also possible, though, to live in such times with hope, and with courage. The music I offer you in this series of posts is meant to help with that. Careful how you go, indeed. Take heart and take courage, and keep music as your good companion.