Skip to main content

Inspiring Music

A few months ago, our Bishop in the Parleys 7th Ward introduced us all to a favorite group of his, The Lower Lights. They are a popular local group that sings Revival-Style versions of LDS and other gospel hymns. One of the sisters in the ward had a connection with them, and was able to book them for a special concert at our building, and it was a rollicking good time. Hands were clapping, people were praising, and a great spirit was present.



After the concert, I rushed out to Deseret Book, and bought one of their CD's for myself, and one for my Gram and my Aunt for Christmas gifts (I'm not sure how much Gram enjoys hers, but my Aunt is loving it). I had it on auto-play in the Monty for several days, and listened to it over and over again.

Well, December happened, and I got hooked on Christmas music. And after that, I didn't listen to anything for awhile. But as this week started out, and I was struggling to boost my spirits, I happened to be reading a message from President Ezra Taft Benson, where he recommended 12 things we could do to prevent despair from overtaking us, and one was good music:

"Inspiring music may fill the soul with heavenly thoughts, move one to righteous action, or speak peace to the soul. When Saul was troubled with an evil spirit, David played for him with his harp; Saul was refreshed and the evil spirit departed. (See 1 Sam. 16:23.) Elder Boyd K. Packer has wisely suggested memorizing some of the inspiring songs of Zion and then, when the mind is afflicted with temptations, singing aloud, to keep before your mind the inspiring words and crowd out the evil thoughts. (See Ensign, Jan. 1974, p. 28.) This could also be done to crowd out debilitating, depressive thoughts." (Ensign, October 1986)

Realizing that President Benson was right and that I needed to get rid of the bad feelings, I made sure to grab my Lower Lights CD and pop it in the car while I headed off to work. And I've pretty much had it on continuous play the entire week. It was a big help.

So yesterday, feeling a little more flush than normal due to my tax refund coming back, I took off to Deseret Book first thing in the morning, and picked up another one of their CD's. I'm probably going to eventually end up with the entire collection. I kind of can't get enough, and I highly recommend them.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hi, my name's Tracie and I'm a Mormon. That being said, I've provided enough context for the conversation I had with the receptionist at work today: Christy: (Showing me a photo) What picture is this movie from? Me: Mmmm, Serendipity maybe? Christy: No...you should know this. Me: I should? Christy: (Finally) It's from the movie "Charlie"! Me: How would I know that? I don't watch Mormon movies. They're dumb. Now that I've let the cat out of the bag, I guess I should also confess that I also don't listen to Mormon pop music (other than the original recording of The Forgotten Carols), or read Mormon fiction. So sue me. Let's face it, it's not like most of them are of real quality anyway. When it comes to Mormon music, I'll stick with my MoTab and the hymns of Zion.

New 'Do

For probably the last 10 years or so, I've had pretty much the same hairstyle. For the most part, it's been long, all one length, and I would eventually put it up in a ponytail almost every day, because I couldn't stand having it in my face. It drove me crazy, but I didn't know what to do with it, and at the same time, I liked that I could basically get up and go every day without a lot of effort. For the past several months now, I've been threatening to do something different and drastic, and finally, yesterday, I did. At the recommendation of Angel, I made an appointment with her stylist. It took several weeks to get in, but finally, the day arrived. Angel went with me, for moral support, and to be the photographer. I went in with some basic ideas, but after some consultation and looking at photos with Francine, this is what I ended up with. First, the "before" shot: In process: And finally, the finished product: I can't remember the last time...

Triple D Divas Do Northern Utah

Last Saturday, the Triple D Divas met for a day trip get-away to Northern Utah - specifically Logan and Brigham City (with a little touch of Idee-ho thrown in for good measure). We started our journey with lunch at the Bluebird Cafe. Everyone knows about the Bluebird - it's about the oldest place on main street, and is tradition for anyone whose ever done a Logan Temple Trip. We went in to see the Logan Tabernacle, and I snapped this cool picture of the oragn pipes. (Of course, now that we're all in our 40's and have shrinking bladders, the Tabernacle also made for a clean and convenient potty stop.) ...Also a view of the Logan Temple spires from outside the Tabernacle...    From there, it was off to Glossner's Cheese Factory for some squeaky cheese. After that, we went to the Pepperidge Farms Outlet, and the girls all found some cookies and stuff.  But nothing really excited me there.  However, the outlet is located...