The Power of Music

1 Nephi 15:11

"Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said? - If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you."

So, I have been pondering in my life for the last while about the power of music, and how it truly can influence a life.  I have, for the majority of my life, considered myself a connoisseur of music.  Selections from my favorite music over my lifetime have included Metallica, Eminem, Collective Soul, U2, Dashboard Confessional, Beatles, Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Yanni, Enya, Jack Johnson... as well as Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Bach, etc.  As you can see, I have been influenced (and I do not use that word lightly) by many different musical artists, some more talented, and some more meaningful than others.  

In my pondering, I decided to ask myself: "If I am trying to be like Christ (as we are all admonished to do), what music should I be listening to?"  I immediately thought of musical artists such as Slipknot, Eminem, Metallica, Rolling Stones - and my mind being drawn to those artists should come to no surprise.  Obviously He wouldn't listen to such music.  But then as I thought harder about it, I came to the realization that the church and the gospel are things of action and things of constant spiritual reminders, and that the music that should be associated with such an organization, such a faith, should mirror its design.  So I thought to myself: "Should I only be eradicating the music that drives away the spirit?  Or should I also concern myself with music that doesn't necessarily offend the spirit, but at the same time doesn't facilitate it and uplift me?"  My mind then thought of Pink Floyd, Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band, Dashboard Confessional, Collective Soul, and more.  Would He, given the choice of what to turn on in the car, EVER choose a song that talking about "nothing," or would He choose music that uplifted the soul each and every time, without exception?

Music is so so powerful.  If you question that for a moment, next time you think of a song that you haven't heard in years, but still for some reason remember every single word... that truly shows the indelible power that music has in our hearts and minds.  Why is it that we can remember such songs, but we can't remember conference talks or sunday school lessons with such clarity?  There is simply something different about music, about song, and especially about music that praises Him.  (As well as degrading music, for Satan truly does use that to "carefully lead us down to captivity.")

That really didn't leave me with much music in my library.  (Well, I didn't delete most of this category.. I simply began not listening to it.)  So for the last 2 months or so, I have (given control of the music choice, ie when I'm in someone else's car, the music choice is obviously theirs) listened to nothing but the following, without exception:

EFY Soundtracks

Hymns

Classical Music (Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart etc)

101.1 FM

94.9 FM

Janice Kapp Perry

Jeff Goodrich

4ordained (and other such music groups)

Musicals (sparsely)

And after 2+ months of listening to nothing but music that uplifts the soul and facilitates the spirit, I can honestly say that I do not miss the music that I used to listen to.  Yes I will probably never forget the tunes and words to the songs that I used to listen to on a frequent basis, but that doesn't mean I have to facilitate that phenomenon.  

This leads me to another testimony-building aspect of my life throughout the last few months.  Callings truly are inspired.  I have 2 callings in my ward:  Ward Pianist and Choir Director (even though I can NOT sing! haha).  The music that I have chosen for our choir to sing has brought so much joy to my soul and has helped me feel the spirit.  We hold choir after church and usually finish about an hour after church ends, but I feel the spirit so strongly during choir practices that it truly feels as though I'm learning as much during that time period as I do during the normal 3-hour block of church.  And when I play the hymns during sacrament meeting, I have the unique opportunity to hear my entire ward sing praises to God, uninterrupted by my own voice.  Hearing that brings me such joy.  I know the vast majority of my ward by this point, and hearing them all sing in unison praises to the Lord, I wish more people got that opportunity!  I can't imagine another calling that I would enjoy as much as I do these 2.  

So I am formally challenging all who read this blog to try this for just one week.  Seven days.  That's not even 1/50th of a year of your life.  That's no time at all.  Try giving up listening to any music that doesn't actively praise God, any song that isn't written for the sole purpose of facilitating the spirit.  EFY music, Hymns, LDS music-groups, etc.  I promise it will be one of the more amazing weeks of your life.