Topic of the day: Music and Church

Today I attended church in a ward I have never been to before, and hold no plan to attend again. I was there in capacity of supporting a friend who was speaking there. As I entered the chapel, I noticed that this building was equipped with an actual pipe organ. I counted a dozen large wooded pipes, six on either side of the center fixture, which featured, by my count, at least 75 steel pipes arranged in a typical fashion, smallest to largest. I looked forward to what I would hear from that organ, being an organist myself.

As the meeting commenced, we started, as we always do, with an opening hymn. On this day, the hymn was "Our Mountain Home so Dear." As we started to sing, we slipped into a steady, slow, dreary rhythm that has become the hallmark of LDS music today.

Folks who know how to read music understand that there is a designation on the top left of the sheet music indicating how the composer intended for the piece to be played/sung, and a suggested pace for the song. For this particular hymn, the notation indicated that the hymn should be played at 84-96 beats per minute. A decent, but not breathless, clip.

I pulled out my metronome app on my iPhone (yes, I know, stop playing with your phone in church!), and timed it out-- just under 60 beats per minute. Dreary.

The other hymns followed suit. "I Stand All Amazed" took about ten minutes to get through, as did the closing "We Will Sing of Zion."

Additionally, all three songs were "registered" the exact same way, which is to say, the organist opened the same few stops on the organ for all three songs, leaving out any expression, boldness or joy that should accompany hymns to the Lord.

Which is what hymns are, after all. The Lord said, in revelation to Emma Smith: "And it shall be given thee, also, to make a selection of sacred hymns, as it shall be given thee, which is pleasing unto me, to be had in my church. 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." (D & C 25: 11-12)

The song of the righteous is a prayer unto the Lord. So, when we pray, do we drone our many thanks and blessing requests and salutations as though we were reciting our times tables, or do we "cry" unto the Lord as we have been instructed to do? Nephi, the Brother of Jared, and many other prophets did set us an example of "crying" unto the Lord. We are instructed "Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support: yea, let all they doings be unto the Lord..." (Alma 37:36).

To me, "crying" unto the Lord indicates deep feeling, emotion and purpose. It indicates humility and a willingness to seek the counsel of the Lord, and abide by that counsel.

"Crying," when equated to church music, means that we need to infuse life into our hymns. Music in many of our wards, and in much of our worship, has come to such dreariness that it must offend the gods when we sing The Spirit of God as though we just woke from a Nyquil-induced three-hour afternoon nap.

Let us cry unto the Lord when we sing, or perform, music and hymns in our homes, in our meetings, and in our worship. Are the doctrines sacred? Absolutely. Are the messages spiritual? Yes. Is singing in church and in worship designed to teach lessons, help us grow, and to feel the teaching hand of the Spirit? Without question.

BUT, does it say anywhere, in any scripture or teaching, that it must be toned down to a point of inducing coma? NO. NO NO NO.

"...Praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving." (D & C 136:28).

Singing, music dance. Praise and Thanksgiving. We ought to be as the heavenly hosts, singing Hallelujas to the Most High. Raise our voices in joy and happiness. Raise the chapel roof, as it were, with exultant praise and thanksgiving to our Lord and Savior, and to our Father who gives us everything. That is what hymns and music should be.

"Cry" unto the Lord in song!