No matter that you may sing poorly, and fumble around with the hymnal, and sing the wrong words, the hymn expands to make room for all the voices, even yours.What a beautiful message, and I believe it is true. I'm also a firm believer in the fact that music can open us to new ideas, and a new approach to old music can open windows of revelation.
Several years ago, I was listening to LDS General Conference online and heard them announce that the choir would sing, "Come Let us Anew". A little part of me groaned. I've always hated that song. But the arrangement by Mack Wilberg made me listen in a new way, and by the end of the song, I felt as if I had been hearing it, really hearing it, for the first time. It has now become one of my favorites.
I had a similar experience this year with "You Can Make the Pathway Bright". I've always found it to be a little cheesy, but this time around it spoke to me.
A year or so ago, I had a beautiful dream that brought new meaning to an old hymn. I've never been a huge fan of "Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd", but the context from the dream changed everything for me. It was no longer just a song about going out and bringing those sinners back, it became a song that truly helped me to understand the love that God has for each of us. It became for me a song about reaching out to people as children of God, seeing them and treating them as God would, not judging them and calling them to repentance. Today in church, this was supposed to be the intermediate hymn, but we had a special musical number instead. The music was good, but part of me was disappointed that I didn't get to sing this hymn.
Our closing hymn today was "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go", which I've always heard as a big missionary song, or a "do what you are told" kind of thing. But today I heard something different. I could really say the words "I'll go where you want me to go", because now, for me, it means being open to the experiences that God wants me to have. And it's not about someone else telling me what to do, but about me making personal choices based on personal revelation.
A hymn, like the Gospel itself, can "make room for all the voices". And there is room in each hymn for each person to find what they need to hear, if they listen and sing with not just their voices, but their hearts as well.
