In Salt Lake City, the shopping area downtown across the street from the temple was starting to get run-down. So, there was a brand-new beautiful mall built, right across from Temple Square. But a less than ideal element started to congregate there, including gang members and druggies. There was drug dealing and people were accosted. What should they do? Leaders had so hoped to keep this downtown area beautiful and safe for all. Then someone had an idea. They simply piped classical music throughout the area. The shady characters left! Just like that. Good music was the “secret tool” for good to prevail. When Michael Balaam told this story, (“The Power to Lift and Teach.” BYU Education Week, 1998 on Youtube.) he affirmed that much classical music, which was usually written for the church or the Lord, carries with it the Spirit, and that evil cannot remain where there is the Spirit.
Each one of us has our very own secret tool for sending away evil and negative, and bringing the Spirit. Yes, God gave us the gift of music. He even created us with voices and vocal chords that can vibrate and sing! And He commanded us, “If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving” (D&C 136:28).
- A Tool for Peace. Just like classical music, the hymns and Primary songs we sing at church invite the Spirit. In the front of our hymnbook we read, “The hymns can bring families a spirit of beauty and peace and can inspire love and unity among family members. . .Sing as you work, as you play, as you travel together. Sing hymns as lullabies to build faith and testimony in your young ones.” (Hymns, 1995) Imagine the peace of a young child who goes to sleep hearing that “Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.” (Children’s Primary Songbook p. )
I truly believe that our hymns and primary songs are a wonderful tool for clearing our minds and homes of the negative and letting the Spirit enter in and stay. We can harness this for our families. When kids are fussy, or tension is rampant, we can turn on uplifting music, especially the hymns. Good music keeps our thoughts uplifted and makes evil leave. What is good music? That which uplifts and inspires goodness.
Cramped Quarters? Then Sing! I was thinking about Jared and his brother, who were instructed to build barges and cross the ocean, for almost an entire year they were enclosed in a rather tight quarters, with their animals in there too! What did they do? Sing! Day and night the singing brought gratitude and kept Spirits up. “And they did sing praises unto the Lord; yea, the brother of Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did thank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord” (Ether 6:9).
Long Journeys? Then Sing! What did the Saints do in their extremities crossing the plains? In the evenings when feet were sore, muscles were tired, and spirits were exhausted, but even still, they would build a campfire and around it they would dance and sing. Singing their anthem, “Come, Come ye Saints” gave them new resolve to face another day with hope and cheer. Music is indeed a secret tool for goodness.
Overwhelming Joy? Then Sing! “If thou art merry, praise the Lord with song and dance.” (Doctrine & Covenants 136:28) What happened when the greatest event on this earth occurred, the birth of the Son of God? Song! A whole multitude of angels across the sky praised the Lord with song. What a privilege for those angels to get to be in that heavenly choir! In our day, whenever we have a brand-new temple to dedicate to the Lord, what do we do? Sing a special anthem, “The Spirit of God like a Fire is Burning!”
Wiggly Babies? Then Sing! When my babies got to be about 18 months old, they simply would not stay put long enough for a diaper change. They twisted and turned bucked and scooted. But if I sang them a fun song, they stopped to listen, and I would be able to get that diaper fastened! An extra-long stretch in the carseat? Sing, and add actions. Sitting too long in study? Get up and sing. Turn on music and use your whole body to stretch and sing!
We also express our Joy with Dance. I would submit that those angels who were so overcome with joy at the prospects of a Savior come to earth the save us all, must have danced as well! Dancing too brings expression of our joy.
- A Tool for Learning. Dr. Balaam also tells about the power of music upon the mind. His 5th grade teacher quelled the tension that occurred during a math test, simply by stopping the kids and sang with them for a minute, thus quieting their minds and using more of their brains. A delinquent boy’s life totally changes when he learns to play the violin from the paper boy. (Education Week, 1998) Music is a powerful tool for learning.
- A Rhythmic Beat. I’ve heard of kids who are concerned about music with a beat. “That’s bad!” I heard a child say, in fact. My response was that when I was a girl, my sisters and I had the chance to learn to twirl the baton. It was a fun skill to develop. And as part of our class, we got to put on our costumes and twirl our batons in a parade! We marched down the street to the beat of the music. It was the beat that kept us in step and our routine together. Marching together is a great thing. Think of the excitement of a marching band, led by the beat of a baton and the drums. It was the drummer boys keeping the beat that kept soldiers marching together in formation. Besides being helpful, it is fun to have rhythm to dance and sing to. The ocean waves come in and out in a regular rhythm. Even our hearts pump in a regular beat for our whole lives. I think that a rhythmic beat is a great thing, as long as it is too not too hard. Hard beats, I understand, have been shown to interfere with our bodily functions (as well as too loud music affecting our hearing). Or too loud. That hurts our ears! As in all things, we don’t go overboard, we use moderation is required.
- Prayers and Testimonies. My favorite song includes these words: “Something happens in my soul when I sing. . . When I can’t express my joy, my song becomes my voice, to testify of what I believe. When I sing!” (Tyler Castleton, “When I Sing” from When I Can’t Speak). Testifying of what we believe. That’s what we are doing when we sing the Primary songs and hymns. We are bearing testimony of what we believe, embedding it in our souls through a different route, to help us be our very best selves, ready to live with our Heavenly Family one day. The Lord tells us, “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 25:12).