Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Music

By Kathy Lipscomb

When I was a little girl, singing time was my favorite part of church. I sang my best, and I focused on learning each new song. I learned the hymns as we sang them, trying to pay attention to the words and learn what the notes did. I’m not some fantastic musician by any means, but I love, love, love music.

When my siblings were scared and my mom wasn’t home (we didn’t live with our dads), it was the primary songs that eased them. When my mom went through a manic phase, it was my voice ringing through the house “Love at Home” that calmed her down. When darkness took over my own thoughts, it was again, my favorite primary songs that gave me strength to resist temptations.

So when I heard that my oldest son, my sweet little sunbeam who loves to sing primary songs with me at home, doesn’t sing in primary, my heart broke. And then I paid attention to people in sacrament meeting, and noticed a lot of people don’t sing there either.

Why?

Our voices blend together. No one will hear someone who may not be confident in their singing ability. A new song makes singing difficult but not enough to leave the hymn book closed.


I’m not here to shame anyone. I genuinely wish that everyone would feel the strength from these songs that I do. Music, especially church music, has helped me, even saved me, so many times throughout all different stages of my life. And the music is meant to be a prayer to our Heavenly Father. He doesn’t care how we sing as long as we participate. Music is our plea to God, it is our prayer, and it is also an answer when we least expect it. It is our show of love to God and of God’s love to us.  

3 comments:

  1. Amen! One of my daughters went through a phase when she'd have night terrors- she would just be screaming and screaming, and even getting up and walking around, but she had this glazed look in her eyes and she wasn't really "there". We were advised not to try to wake her up- even if we could (which was very difficult) it just made it worse. I couldn't even touch or hug her- she would just fight me off.

    The one thing that helped? I Am a Child of God. When she'd start screaming and crying I would just sit next to her and start singing. Usually within the first verse or two she would quiet down and either wake up or fall back into a peaceful sleep.

    I agree with you, those Primary songs and the hymns are powerful. They speak to our souls in a way that nothing else can. Thanks for this beautiful reminder.

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    1. We are given the tools we need to get through our trials, and music is on the top of the list for my family and for many others. Thank you for sharing that personal and beautiful story. :)

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