Music, Songs, and Dances

Yes, dances. A new trendy subject after the Conference

"And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?" - Alma 5:26

We all have heard that expression one time or another. The word "song", whether metaphorically or literally, has appeared many times throughout the standard works. What does that entail? Even today, I am still trying to figure out the many expressions found in the scriptures.

For those of you who attend church, LDS or not, I'm sure you all have heard poetic expressions from the scriptures being used in discussions in Sunday School. They sound wonderful and all, but has anyone actually contemplated what they mean? It is easy to say The Lord is my strength and my song (Isaiah 12:2), but is it easy to understand what parallels we are drawing when we say it?

Throughout my YSA experience, one of the major topics among the leadership has been young persons going inactive after the mission, or stop believing altogether. Lamentable! But, is there some other underlying issue that is not being addressed or assumed to have been understood before the 180-degree turn?

These are all questions I don't think I can answer. All I can say is I have been and am still digging around in order to comprehend what's already been taught through the ages. What I can do is go on and on about random musings I have had with other people.

In the recent LDS General Conference, I believe it was a talk by Wilford W. Andersen, mentioned about a tribal medicine man's exchange with a medical doctor about songs and dances. The doctor asked if the old man could teach him how to dance. The key point the medicine man conveyed was that it was difficult to dance without the music.

Suppose we put things into metaphors. The dance is the outward expression of the rhythms we were supposed to move with based on the music. The lyrics are be the messages of which the composition is carrying. The music, then, is the word, the knowledge, the truth we have obtained through scriptures or realizations. More importantly, the WHY to the said actions. Sounds confusing? You bet. Writing is not easy business for the likes of me.

In my opinion, the greatest tragedy within the LDS culture (and perhaps across all cultures) is the fact that many youths are taught to dance and memorize the lyrics without knowing the music for themselves. Is it a wonder that some strayed and no longer sing the songs of redeeming love? Is it possible that they never sang at all?

The song, in its metaphoric sense, is a package. There are those who think going through the motion alone would justify them (Romans 4). There are those who understand, but chose not to perform and believe that is sufficient (James 2). There is a reason why it is written "it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" (2 Nephi 25:23). For the Lord declares, "my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt 11:30). It is an unfortunate human tendency to seek the lowest common denominator in an attempt to further simplify His work. What's my point? It's like understanding the theory and practice of the Gospel. We can't succeed without one or the other.

Back to the initial topic. Perhaps the biggest issue for the youth is not continuing the quest to understand the music, or knowing that it existed in the first place. Knowing facts is great, but meaningless without context. That can be said for any professional field. I do believe the same applies to spirituality. One can only dance without music for so long before it is forgotten in the distant past.

Does this answer any question? Probably not. Some things need to be experienced rather than put into words. The weakness of the written word is real.