Music warms and lights
The sun is the most predominate feature in the sky. Standing at the center of the solar system, it is approximately 93 million miles from Earth. One hundred and nine Earths would be required to fit across the sun's disk, and its interior could hold more than 1.3 million Earths.Energy from the sun in the form of sunlight supports almost all life on our planet via photosynthesis and drives its climate and weather.
In essence, it lights and warms our life. Our planet could not exist without the sun, yet most of us think little about it. We may notice it only in its absence or in its excess.
So it is with music in our Church meetings.
Music warms and lights our meetings. It is an important vehicle through which the Spirit can be felt. Yet, like the sun, many Church members pay attention to music in Church meetings only in its absence or excess.
"Music is such an important part of our service," President Ezra Taft Benson said in 1978.
In fact, music is so important that just three months after the Church was organized, the Lord instructed Emma Smith to make a collection of hymns. In connection with that call, the Lord made a remarkable declaration to the Prophet Joseph Smith: "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads" (Doctrine and Covenants 25:12).
Modern-day prophets have also proclaimed the importance of music in our worship services.
In the preface to the current edition of the Church's hymnal published in 1985, the First Presidency wrote: "Inspirational music is an essential part of our Church meetings. The hymns invite the Spirit of the Lord, create a feeling of reverence, unify us as members, and provide a way for us to offer praises to the Lord.
"Some of the greatest sermons are preached by the singing of hymns. Hymns move us to repentance and good works, build testimony and faith, comfort the weary, console the mourning, and inspire us to endure to the end."
The message continues with the First Presidency urging "an increase of hymn singing in our congregations." Further, they asked leaders, teachers and members to turn to the hymn book "to find sermons presented powerfully and beautifully in verse."
Church members across the world have answered this call, preparing beautiful and appropriate music that offers praises to the Lord.
Yet sometimes as Church members we don't fully appreciate the faithful members who share their talents and provide our music. Often, pianists or organists are asked to play moments before the meeting starts, leaving them little or no time to prepare or practice. Other times, when they have prepared, hymns are changed at the last minute with little thought to their effort. And when meetings go long, sometimes the closing hymn is eliminated — even if the pianist or organist had spent hours that week learning to play it.
"People assume that the music just happens," said one ward organist. "That is not the case."
Like any other person participating in the meeting, a pianist or organist needs time to warm up, think about rhythm, tempo and key. They might want to approach the Lord in prayer and ask for His guidance.
Interestingly enough, their efforts are most often noticed by members when they make mistakes or play too loudly or softly or too fast or too slow — just as we notice the sun when it is too hot or too dim or too bright.
President Spencer W. Kimball said Latter-day Saint musicians hold a "gift in trust."
"The responsibility for producing, selecting and performing music for the Church requires discrimination, taste, knowledge and the proper spirit; in short, it requires the best efforts that our best musicians can give inasmuch as we are using gifts which the Lord has given us for the purpose of building up His kingdom and as a demonstration of our faith and love for Him. We are in a position, as musicians, to touch the souls of those who listen" (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 519-520).
Because the job of musicians in the Church is so important — so vital — they deserve our respect and gratitude.
Many of us often seek out those who have given talks or testimonies in a meeting. But when was the last time we thanked the ward organist for his or her musical effort?
Often, members acknowledge those who have performed a special musical number in sacrament meeting. Do we ever think, however, to thank their accompanist?
Do we make a conscious effort to give our organist or pianist adequate time to prepare for Church services? Do we remember that they come early and stay late to provide prelude and postlude music?
Let's make sure our pianists and organists feel our appreciation for the important role they play in our worship. For sacred music is as vital to our Church services as the sun's warmth and light are to Earth.