Uplifting Music

I love music!  And I'm sure everyone can agree that there is uplifting music and not so uplifting music out there.  Music was once described by Addison as the "only sensual gratification in which mankind may indulge to excess without injury to their moral or religious feelings."  If only that were still true today, yet there is so much degrading music out there.  Music can make or break your mood; which is why it's best to listen to uplifting music.  Music that uplifts will enliven the soul and raise our spirits.  It can give us energy and motivation to keep going.  "Music can be used to exalt and inspire or to carry messages of degradation and destruction" (Priesthood Bulletin, August, 1973).

Some of the most uplifting music is spiritual music, music that invites the Spirit into our lives.  A lot of the music today "dulls the spiritual sensitivity of men" (Inspiring Music - Worthy Thoughts).  Having a dulled sensitivity causes us to be more prone to weakness and more apt to failure.  Even in small ways, like our thoughts.  We all have wandering thoughts, and we have been told from a young age to keep our thoughts controlled, but how?  President Boyd K. Packer shares a way how when he says, "It has to do with music."  He says to choose a favorite church hymn, one with uplifting lyrics, and to memorize it.  Then, when times where shady thoughts start to creep in, you can sing that hymn, and use it as a place for your thoughts to go.  "As the music begins and as the words form in your thoughts, the unworthy ones will slip shamefully away...If you can control your thoughts, you can overcome habits, even degrading personal habits.  If you can learn to master them you will have a happy life."  And Gladstone said, "Music is one of the most forceful instruments for governing the mind and spirit of man."

That is why we must keep ourselves surrounded by uplifting music!  Good music is to our advantage because it improves us and promotes good thoughts and character.  "Our people ought to be surrounded by good music of all kinds.  Parents ought to foster good music in the home and cultivate a desire to have their children learn the hymns of inspiration...including the music of worship.  To have such music as a part of one's life is a great blessing" (Boyd K. Packer).  Uplifting music truly is a blessing.  We could be especially angry but when we listen to inspiring music, it can soften our hearts and change our attitudes.  We must always surround ourselves with this kind of music!  Play it in your homes.  It will bring a spirit of peace into your homes that will dismiss unworthy thoughts, withhold angry words, and bring your family closer to each other and to our God above.

President J. Reuben Clark Jr. shares that, "We get nearer to the Lord through [uplifting] music than perhaps through any other thing except prayer."

Give, Said the Little Stream - Mormon Tabernacle Choir

To listen to more beautiful, spiritual, uplifting music, check out The Mormon Tabernacle Choir here or search Mormon Tabernacle Choir on YouTube.