In the December 2009 issue of the Ensign (a magazine for adult Mormons), Russell M. Nelson writes of the power and protection of music. Elder Nelson is an apostle, a high-ranking Mormon leader and, prior to full-time church leadership, was a doctor. He recently spoke to young single adults on music, and how it can protect us and about the power it can have for either good or evil.
Music is an important part of Mormon life. From the much loved sounds of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to the sweet voices of young children singing in their Primary Program, music fills the worship and the lives of Mormons. They are taught from an early age that music can both protect them and teach them. It has the power to build testimonies, as it seems somehow to reach deep into the hearts of those who listen or sing.
A few years ago, I attended a stake conference. A stake conference is a meeting of a number of different Mormon congregations in a geographic area. The children throughout the church had been learning a song that year about the power of reading scripture. The stake president asked all the children to stand wherever they were and sing the song for the adults. To help them, a music leader stood in the front holding up pictures representing the meaning of each part of the song. In one part of the song, the children sing that if they read the scriptures and obey the teachings found therein, they will receive a great reward. The music leader, on the words great reward, held up a picture of Jesus Christ. A child standing in front of me suddenly lit up and said excitedly, “Oh, that’s the reward!”
This story illustrates the importance of making certain our children—and we ourselves—understand and think about the words we sing each Sunday in our worship services. Unless we know what we’re singing, and think about the meaning of those words, the songs cannot reach our souls.
Music can serve as a protection for us as we attempt to live our lives according to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Mormon children learn a song in which they sing that if they’re tempted to say a bad word, they can hum a hymn, allowing them to fill their minds and hearts with the gospel of Jesus Christ instead of inappropriate thoughts. Often, as we’re tempted to do something wrong, a hymn we’ve spent a great deal of time with will suddenly come into our minds and remind us that life is more than brief moments of worldly pleasure. We can train ourselves to have these thoughts come to mind by choosing to sing them in moments of weakness.
When we surround ourselves with quiet appropriate music, whether it is spiritual or simply quiet and uplifting, we are better able to feel the Spirit and to receive promptings and inspiration. A home that is playing soft, spiritual music invites the Holy Ghost to be present and minimizes fighting and poor choices.
Elder Nelson warns young people to be careful about the type of music they select:
Wherever we are we should carefully choose what we see and hear. We would not knowingly tolerate pornography in our homes, but if we are not careful, we may allow music into our lives that can be just as devastating.
Many youth listen to music that can be described as loud and fast, becoming louder and faster. It aims to agitate, not to pacify; to excite more than to calm. Beware of that kind of music.
As you know, continued exposure to loud sounds will, in time, damage delicate organs of hearing. In like manner, if you overindulge in loud music, you will more likely become spiritually deaf, unable to hear the still, small voice. A scripture states, “The Lord your God … hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words” (1 Nephi 17:45).
Do not degrade yourself with the numbing shabbiness and irreverence of music that is not worthy of you. Delete the rubbish from your minds and your MP3 players. Protect your personal standards! Be selective! Be wise!
Do not allow unworthy, raucous music to enter your life. It is not harmless. It can weaken your defense and allow unworthy thoughts into your mind and pave the way to unworthy acts. Please remember:
“That which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness.
That which is of God is light” (D&C 50:23–24).
Fill your minds with worthy sights and sounds. Cultivate your precious gift of the Holy Ghost. Protect it as the priceless gift that it is. Carefully listen for its quiet communication. You will be spiritually stronger if you do.
You know the proverb, “As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). As you control your thoughts, you control your actions. Indeed, worthy music can provide power and protection for the soul.” (See Russell M. Nelson, “The Power and Protection of Worthy Music,” Ensign, Dec 2009, 13–17)
Children will learn to love quality music if they hear it from the time they are small. We can help them learn to love it by using hymns as lullabies, singing it as we work, having family singing, and by playing it periodically throughout the day. They will learn to value its power if we demonstrate how it can help. A frightened child can be encouraged to join a parent in singing a comforting hymn. When a child is facing a problem, a parent can ask, “Do you know a hymn that answers that question? Let’s sing it together.” By referring to hymns when we’re facing trials, or including them in our celebrations, children will learn how to make the hymns more than just a break in the sermons, but will see them as an essential tool for a Christ-like life.
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