Today was our last Sunday with the Elyria ward, after several trial runs of the “goodbye” Sunday. We have decided this will be the last one. If we don’t get into the house this week, Tom will just go to our new ward anyway (I’ll be in Utah). As a thoughtful send off we were both asked to give talks. I was asked to speak on how music brings reverence into our lives, and Tom was asked to speak on how the Temple brings reverence into our lives. It was a great experience for both of us to have a more specific subject to study this week, and we were both impressed to study more and to commit ourselves more fully to a lifestyle of reverence. I had never studied or even really thought about reverence before and I was greatly impressed by what I read.
Reverence is a state of being, it is a way of living. When we are reverent, our priorities are naturally in the proper place, we don’t struggle with sin and temptation as much because we have laid our lives in the hands of the Lord and have learned to rely on his guidance. I was touched this week with many spiritual experiences as I sought to make reverence a part of my week. Past events were brought to my memory, of times when I had used music, not just to praise, or proclaim the joy of the gospel, but when I had used it as a tool to bring the spirit. I was impressed with the thought that much of what makes my Father the amazing disciple that he is, is reverence. My father has never taken the church lightly. He lives his life with a beautiful and consistent reverence that is never discarded for worldly pleasures. I admire him.
I was touched by the thought that the singular time in which music is mentioned in reverence to the Savior during his mortal ministry was on the evening before the Atonement. The realization that the Savior prepared for the crowning event of all world’s history with music was overwhelming to me. How do I use music in my life? I certainly perform a lot, but rarely do I use music as a tool of spiritual elevation. It occurred to me that today, we too prepare for thinking about the Atonement with a hymn. The Sacrament hymn is the only hymn that always to be sung by the congregation, never a choir, as it is of the utmost importance in preparing us to truly revere the Savior in his act of redemption.
Today in Sacrament meeting, after a week of preparation, I approached the sacrament hymn in an entirely new way. I didn’t think about if I was breathing correctly, or criticize my tone, rather I focused entirely on the words. I was overcome with feelings of gratitude and devotion for my Savior as we sang the words to “Reverently and Meekly now.” I have sang that song a hundred times, but I had never realized that the last two verses are in the voice of the Savior. After the first two verses communicate the importance and sacrifice of the Lord’s Atonement, the last two are his requests for us. He asks that we live at peace with our neighbors, that we pray to him for assistance, and then promises to pour out his spirit as a fountain. The Lord suffered and died for us, so that we could be forgiven of our daily sins, and all he asks of us is to live at peace, to seek his aid, to be a witness of him, to keep his commandments. It is a simple doctrine, and yet too often I shirk my duty. I spend my morning surfing the internet rather then reading my scriptures and taking time for prayer and thoughtful communion.
I want to commit my life more fully to the Savior. The spirit that I felt today while giving my talk was powerful, it was enriching, it was purifying. I know God lives. I know He takes part in each of our lives everyday. I know he has a plan for each of us, and that he wants us to be happy. When I think back on the times in my life when I was living the most inline with his teachings, I realize those were also the times of the greatest contentment and happiness in my life. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. The Lord still has prophets on the earth today through which He directs His people in a changing world. For this knowledge I am truly grateful.