While I don't agree with the notion that all of the wars and conflicts the United States has been involved in have been absolutely necessary (particularly within the past 15-20 years), I do agree that some have. And for those, I know it was important for the brave men and women of our military to fight in defense of our freedoms. So for all of those who gave their time, their skills, their devotion, and particularly their very lives to defend that freedom, I give my heartfelt thanks to you.
I felt a lot of gratitude as I sang on today's broadcast titled "Remember and Give Thanks." In regards to patriotic music in general, there are definitely some that fall into the category of light-hearted and somewhat cheesy. But all the ones we sang today were reflective, inspiring, and spiritual--which I really appreciated. They were like prayers of remembering and prayers of hope.
I don't normally include the text of the Spoken Word portion of the broadcast, here in my blog, but I wanted to include today's because of how moving it was. I can't imagine being the parents of these four boys spoken of, but their unwavering devotion to their country and to God is very inspiring. When I go through my own trials, is my response like theirs?
I'll end with that text, but I just wanted to say how grateful I am for the knowledge that God loves everyone. His way is a way of peace, of unity, and living according to truth. It's designed to promote true happiness. While it's sad that today's world does not reflect that divine way of living, on a general level, and gives way to violence, hatred, and intolerance, I hope we can all do our best to be a little kinder, a little more appreciative, and a little more loving to all those around us.
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SPOKEN WORD MESSAGE, 5/27/18
"Remember and Give Thanks"
Every year on Memorial Day, a young woman visits the small community cemetery in her hometown. She is often drawn to four gravestones standing side by side. They mark the resting places of Clyde, LeRoy, Rolon, and Rulon Borgstrom. She never knew them, but she knows their story. Everyone in the small town of Tremonton, Utah, knows their story.
In 1944, the Borgstrom family sent five sons to war. And in less than six months, four of the five boys had perished. Clyde was killed in an accident while clearing an airstrip. LeRoy was shot caring for a wounded comrade in Italy. Rolon died in Germany after a bombing raid. His twin brother, Rulon, died in France. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt heard of these four tragedies all striking the same family, he ordered the military to send the fifth brother, Boyd, home from his assignment in the Pacific. Boyd did not want to leave, but he finally relented and came home.
When the bodies of the deceased brothers were laid to rest in that small cemetery, the whole community came together to mourn the Borgstrom family’s incredible loss.
Many years later, during one of her annual visits to the cemetery, the young woman met the wife of the surviving brother. She asked her, “How did the mother of the Borgstrom boys cope with such a loss?” The wife responded, “She turned to heaven.” In worship and prayer she found comfort and strength.
Of course, heavenly thoughts don’t remove us from life’s realities. But they do provide perspective. They help us remember and reflect. It’s good for the soul to pause and give thanks for the lives of those who have given so much. Would we have hope and freedom without them? Would we have a chance of peace and prosperity without the brave men and women who protect us still today?
Memorial Day is a day to decorate graves and remember those who went before us—especially those who died serving our country. We honor their valiant service and hold sacred their sacrifice. Each of them deserves to be remembered. Let us never forget.
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Until next time, God be with you.
Being in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir now for almost five years, I've been able to participate numerous times in recording projects. Each time there have been challenges and each time there have been rewards--which, if you'd like, you can read about HERE, HERE, and HERE (past blog entries).
This go around, things went pretty much as expected, including long hours, trying to perfect every note, having to go back, and back, and back to get it right, and learning lessons of humility and perseverance along the way. I was reminded, though, that there's nothing quite like the feeling you get when you've sang the last note of a piece--letting it fade away into the walls of the Tabernacle--and then hear the words of Mack or Ryan say from the recording booth "Sounded great! Thank you very much." (On to the next piece we go!)
As I thought about the recording process this time, I realized how hard it is to actually focus on the words and the message of the song when recording. This is mainly because recording involves being intently focused on musical perfection and making sure that music technicality is of the highest quality (intonation, blending, dynamics, etc). It's also because we start and stop so much. We take a few phrases or measures at a time, get it as perfect as we can get it, and then move onto the next section.
As a result, for me, the complete message and emotional depth of the song and its building and layering continuity, is a bit lost.
The message of the song though, and conveying that message to the millions who hear us, is one of the primary and most important responsibilities we have as musical missionaries. Countless times in singing with the choir, I've had sacred and spiritually uplifting moments pondering the song's message and the truth it contains. And it's at those moments, I hope with all of my heart, that such truth, coupled with the overwhelming feelings I'm feeling, will be carried to the hearts of those listening.
How great it would be to capture those moments, on a CD.
This, however, is where faith comes in. Faith that even though we, of necessity, and from a technical standpoint, need to focus on making the music itself sound perfect, God will take our consecrated start and stop, splice and dice efforts and help the listener capture the feelings and message portrayed as if we had sung and recorded the song in its entirety.
I don't know...maybe this doesn't make much sense. And maybe most choir members during recording sessions are able to focus both on music technicality aspects as well as the music's message and spiritual aspects, simultaneously, better than I can. If so, my hat is off to them! Until I can be like them, I exert my faith and hope my small and at times, unbalanced contribution, helps the overall recording project be a success
Until next time, God be with you.
PS: I was thankful to sit next to Farrell Poll during our recording sessions. Farrell just retired from the choir but was able to come back just for the recording. He was our trusted bass section leader for several years, and a good friend.Those around him, including me, appreciated all of the fanning he did to keep us cool!
PPS: During the last recording session on Saturday (which I was not able to attend), President Russell M. Nelson sat down on one of the Tabernacle benches to listen! He addressed the choir afterwards, thanking us for our service and consecration, and told us to thank our families as well.
PPPS: After the broadcast today, we sang an extra song for those in attendance, mainly directed to leaders and supporters of the NAACP. The song "Lift Every Voice and Sing" is the NAACP's official song. See a short write-up on this song, HERE. Those associated with the NAACP actually stood as we sang (followed by the rest of the audience) and I suddenly felt a great reverence for this song that I had never known about before. It was a great experience.
Today the whole choir family (Orchestra, Choir, & Bells) was grateful to help make some uplifting music that celebrated mothers everywhere. If I received the challenge to put all of the song titles we sang today into one tribute to mothers like mine, my composition would look like this:
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On this day of joy and gladness, we celebrate mothers and those who will one day be a mother. We recognize their nurturing spirit and how they have helped shape the lives of children who grow up to be responsible, kind, and loving adults. We remember back to that time when we were little and would often say before going to bed "Mother, tell me [a] story!" Mom would take a book off the shelf or would rely on her imagination to tell us adventure after adventure. She would also reach for another book--the scriptures--and teach us about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how important it was that we understood important truths to guide our lives by. Indeed, as we looked at our mothers, we came to see that our mother's eyes reflected the love of heaven along with the love of our heavenly parents. It reflected a deep hope that we would come to know, as she knew, how much we were loved and how many people both here and beyond the veil, were praying for us and our happiness. Our mothers helped us realize that the more we were found standing on the promises of Christ, the more ability and desire we'd have to do good. In fact, we'd make doing good the center of our lives by consciously praying for opportunities and asking throughout each day, "Have I done any good in the world today?"
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How grateful I am for my mom who not only fit this above description, but continues to shape my life today.
I also want to take this opportunity to say how thankful I am for my sister Mary who, because of mental and physical challenges, never got to be an official mother during this earth life. She wrote once, to a friend:
"...Because my health is so bad, the idea of having kids is unrealistic for me and one that I can even imagine. [But] a lot of soul searching has led me to know one thing about me--that hasn't and will never change--I definitely have a mother's heart. I hope that doesn't sound weird but I think you know what I mean. I've always loved motherly, nurturing type things and even though I don't have kids of my own right now, I can say that in my heart, I am a mother and I can't WAIT till Sam and I actually get to be parents."
Now that's she with Sam in heaven, I hope they get that opportunity to have children someday soon. And for all those women out there who can't have children for whatever reason, but who still have a "mother's heart", this celebratory day is to recognize and honor you, too.
Until next time, God be with you.
Each time the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings Sunday mornings, there's always something that moves me. It may be a certain lyric, someone in the audience, a spiritual remark made by a choir member, or simply feeling unified (in a world that is anything but). Today, though, two songs took the emotional spotlight for me and try as I might, the tears just wouldn't stay in my eyes.
The first was "Nella Fantasia"--a song sung in Italian based on the theme "Gabriel's Oboe" from the 1986 film, The Mission. Guest soloist Stanford Olsen did a fantastic job and as we all sang, I just thought about the men in the film who stood up to the military and ultimately gave their lives in trying to defend the cause of Christianity and the Guarani people (who were eventually killed). It also made me think of how strongly I try to believe in the cause of truth--and my goal of trying to live each day, according to that truth.
The second song was one of my favorites, "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling". The song speaks of being changed, of being made pure and spotless, of accepting our Savior and wanting to be like Him. I think this song impacts me so much because when I'm in the middle of singing it, and I'm thinking about the words and what they mean, I realize that I really do want this! I want to be changed into the person I need to become so I can make it back to live with a Heavenly Father and Mother who love me and who have promised that families can be together forever. Remembering all of this, though, in every day life, it not always the easiest thing to do. My faith wavers. Trials hit and I want to give up. And just when I begin to wonder what I really DO want, I have experiences like the one today that bring me back to the answer.
Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in Heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.
My soul just loves that verse.
Before ending today, I just wanted to say thanks to two new Choir friends. After almost five years of carpooling with just my good friend Ben, Alan and Willy (who just joined the choir this year) are now part of the carpool fun! What great guys they are. It will be fun to get to know them more as we ride to and from our weekly musical adventures.
Until next time, God be with you.
