Discipline: an activity, exercise, or regimen that develops or improves a skill; training. (dictionary.com)
It was a bit of a rough morning for the Choir. The songs on today's broadcast were particularly susceptible to intonation issues (sounding in-tune) and I lost track of how many times we had to start and stop, and start and stop, again, because one or more of the sections of the choir couldn't sing the notes high enough. Add to that the fact that there was a little too much talking and some didn't have their music ready to go, and one can see why Bro. Wilberg took the opportunity to lovingly, but clearly, talk to us about discipline.
"Any choir can be a good choir, " he said, "but to be a great choir takes discipline." He went on to talk about the little things, that, if observed and put into action, can help us be great. Hard work, really thinking and focusing, marking our music, following those markings, listening to directions. These and many others are things that can help us be a great choir.
You might be thinking that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir IS great. Almost anyone you talk to who has heard the choir, would think so. But "great" is not a permanent label that, once achieved, is forever true. Being great is a status that takes discipline. It can be maintained or it can be temporarily lost. It's up to us to discipline ourselves so that greatness can be achieved every rehearsal and every performance.
On the drive home, my carpooling friend Ben likened this to personal greatness. We can be average people or we can be great people. We can be someone who is satisfied with status quo or we can be looking for ways to improve. We can act, or wait to be acted upon. We just need to pick something small in our lives that needs improving, and discipline ourselves to make that improvement. It's up to us. This incremental approach to overall improvement will allow us to be the great people we can be.
This reminds me of a scripture: "...a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm...therefore, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power." (Doctrine & Covenants 123:16-17)
Let us do what we can :)
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In other news, we began extra rehearsals today for our upcoming tour. While the thoughts of going on tour bring excitement, there is a lot of work to be done before day 1 of tour is upon us. This was no more evident then when we pulled
Rick Elliott, organist |
J. Spencer Kinard |
Until next time, God be with you!
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