MTC Week #47 - Take and Seal It

By far, the most beloved hymn arranged by Mack Wilberg is Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. If you were to go on to YouTube and search for "mormon tabernacle choir", one of the first videos to display would be the one for this song (currently at close to 880,000 views). Aside from it being an incredible song to listen to, those who know its lyrics become emotionally tied to this song and its message. While all of the words are great, two phrases seem to stand out:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it;

Seal it for Thy courts above.

These words seem to perfectly describe what we all experience. We're prone to wander from God and His teachings; we're prone to leave the strait and narrow path from time to time. But despite our failings, we really do want to give God our heart and let Him seal it--let Him know that whatever happens, whatever heartache we go through, whatever soul-wrenching experiences we have, we'll still be true. We'll still love Him. We'll still choose Him no matter what.

As I was singing this today on our broadcast, I thought particularly about a good

friend my wife and I have named Melissa. This song helped her get through a very tough time in life and was instrumental in helping her faith remain strong amidst struggle and heartache. You can read her blog post on it HERE. For Melissa, and for thousands of others who have found solace from this song, I'm grateful for the message and testimony of righteous desire that this song conveys. 

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Following the broadcast today, we continued learning more Christmas songs for our upcoming concert. I think we're shooting for 12 songs (memorized) that the choir will sing (in conjunction with Santino Fantana and the Muppets) and there will be other performances as well by dancers and the orchestra and perhaps the Bells. I'm curious as to how everything will take shape when it's all said and done. 

A classic line from Bro. Wilberg today...  So he was reviewing notes with us and said that for one of the songs, we really needed to work on our intonation (singing in tune). Then he said, "You've got to fix it. I'd do it for you, but I can't. If I could, it'd be perfect every time!" Ha :)  That's probably true though.

Until next time, God be with you!

Thanks to Jeff and Siope on either side of me and my other fellow basses
for keeping me on track)