Music - it's the only thing that can enter your system, your

The voice of the survivor and the singer, Emmanuel Jal, carries with it the weight of pain transformed into light when he proclaims: “Music – it’s the only thing that can enter your system, your mind, your heart, without your permission.” These are not idle words, but the testimony of a man who was once a child soldier, who saw the horrors of war, and who found in music the one power strong enough to break through walls of despair and remind him of his humanity. In his truth, we hear an ancient lesson: that sound, when shaped into song, is more than vibration. It is spirit, it is fire, it is the breath of life entering places even the self cannot guard.

To say that music enters without permission is to speak of its mystery. Unlike speech, which must be heard and understood, music flows directly into the soul. A melody slips past the gates of reason, past the fortress of logic, and stirs the heart before the mind even knows what has happened. A rhythm makes the body move though no command was given. A song awakens old memories long buried, or plants new visions in the silence of the soul. Thus, music is a power beyond human will—gentle as the rain, fierce as the thunder, it claims its place within us without knocking at the door.

Consider the testimony of the enslaved people in America’s South, who sang spirituals in the fields of bondage. Their songs were not merely expressions of sorrow; they were secret codes of hope, prayers woven into melody. Those who sought to silence them could not stop the songs, for the songs had already entered the minds and hearts of all who heard them. Even today, those spirituals live, whispering resilience and faith into new generations. Music transcended the chains of the body to awaken freedom in the soul.

Jal himself embodies this truth. As a boy forced into war, he was stripped of innocence, burdened with violence no child should carry. Yet, when he escaped and later embraced music, it healed him where reason and words could not. Through rhythm and song, he transformed trauma into testimony, pain into peace. His life bears witness that music does not need permission to reach the broken parts of us, for it is the one medicine that can slip through even the hardest scars.

The ancients, too, knew this. In the time of King Saul, when his heart was darkened by torment, young David took up the harp and played. The music calmed the king’s spirit, lifted the shadow from his mind. No physician, no warrior could do this—only music, sliding past his defenses, entered his heart unbidden and restored him. So it is across cultures and centuries: when speech fails, when power fails, when reason fails, music remains.

What lesson shall we take from this? That we must respect the sacred power of music, for it shapes us even when we are unaware. If we surround ourselves with songs of despair, anger, or emptiness, they will seep into our being, molding our thoughts and moods. If we fill our ears and hearts with songs of hope, courage, and compassion, they too will shape us, lifting us into light. Music is not harmless—it is transformative. And because it enters without permission, we must choose wisely what songs we allow to dwell within us.

Practically, this means: listen with intention. Do not consume songs thoughtlessly, as though they were mere noise. Let your playlists be your teachers, your healers, your companions. Sing when you are weary, for the song will carry you further than silence. Share music with others, for in sharing, you plant seeds in their souls. And when you hear a melody stir your heart unexpectedly, do not resist it—let it guide you, for it may be the voice of healing or wisdom knocking softly within.

Thus, let Jal’s words echo through the ages: music is the only power that enters unbidden, yet blesses those who receive it. Treasure it, wield it wisely, and let it be a force of light in your life. For when the mind resists, music enters; when the heart is locked, music flows in; when the soul is weary, music rises like a dawn that cannot be denied.