22 years ago, in September of 2001, I was sitting in my Solfege 101 class in my freshman year at Berklee College of Music. I was very comfortable with and familiar with reading music while playing the piano. Sight-singing, however, was a whole new world. I wondered if I would ever be able to pick up a piece of music and sing the line written on the page, just from reading the notes. We began singing, one section at a time, and while a little unsteady, we sung our separate parts.
Then, the teacher had us all sing our parts— Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass, our notes harmonizing and counterpoint to each other’s lines. At first, we got confused. We forgot our notes, started singing each other’s lines (whoever was the loudest usually was the one who was followed by everyone else- sound familiar??)
Some of us dropped off and just gave up until the song was over because we just couldn’t find our notes to sing again. Instead of a beautiful ending to the chord progression, the song became dissonant with no harmonic resolution.
It wasn't until the teacher said something so profound that we all finally “got it” and we could sing out parts confidently. I have applied this wisdom to SO many other aspects of my life, especially to my walk on the covenant path.
He said, “Students, you’ve got to find your inner voice. Your inner voice needs to be louder than the loudest person singing the harmony. Your inner voice needs to be the loudest voice of all. You have to get into that zone where you focus only on your own inner voice- and then be confident that you know the notes that need to be sung, and sing them.”
When I received the gift of the Holy Ghost and heard President Nelson’s invitation for us as Saints to “Hear Him”, the Holy Ghost brought this moment in this class to my remembrance.
The voices of the world are LOUD. Distractions are LOUD. Pain and trauma are LOUD. Church hurt is LOUD. Unrighteous dominion is LOUD. Having every comfort in life and resting in our own self reliance (feeling like we don’t need God) can also be LOUD.
His voice is the still, small voice, and it needs to be the loudest one. It needs to be the one we zero in on. We know the notes to sing, we know the steps to take and the path to follow. We need to ask Him what He says about our pain, about our hurts, about our choices, about the hurt caused by others and by unfairness. We need to ask Him to point to the line that only we can sing. We need to ask Him where we belong, where He wants us to be and sometimes we need Him right up close next to us in our ear to sing the line with us when we are having trouble finding our note. We will reach the point where His voice matches our own inner wisdom and inner voice that comes from our own soul. This can only come from being able to recognize when it’s really His voice- through diligent scripture study, prayer, and being perfected in Him, until we “no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.”1
In my scripture study this week I was struck by this line in Jeremiah 23 verse 23- “Am I a God at hand, and not a God afar off?”
He IS absolutely a God at hand. His voice is as soft and gentle as a whisper but it needs to be the loudest one. In the words of Paul from our Come Follow Me study last week, “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.”2
He will not fail us. He will not let us be confused about our part or what notes we should sing. The song of the human family and Zion will have a harmonious and celestial resolution.
Read Or watch President Russell M. Nelson’s April 2020 General Conference Talk, “Hear Him” , Doctrine & Covenants 1:1, 1 Nephi 22:23, Mosiah 5
Recall Was there a time in your life when you allowed the Lord’s voice to be the loudest one?
Reflect How did that change your path? Your story? How has it blessed your life?
Reclaim Pray for an increased capacity to feel the Spirit and to hear Him. Pray for the ability to hearken unto His words once you do hear Him, and follow through. Sing your song. Sing the part that only you can sing.
Mosiah 5:2
1 Corinthians 14:33