Fast forward to me age 35, a lifelong atheist who felt something wasn’t right somehow, who knew something was very wrong with her life. I had a dear friend who played guitar for her church, and who was saving up to buy my guitar from me, a Fender Telecaster which I didn’t play often anymore. She had almost saved up the price to which we’d agreed, then her alcoholic mom stole all the money from her account, so she explained to me that it would be longer than we’d thought. She’d have to start over saving.

That just seemed wrong to me, so I made her a gift of the guitar, and she was so happy and grateful that she invited me to come hear her play. She went to a small Pentacostal church with a mostly African American congregation. I began attending that church and felt the spirit powerfully through the humble testimonies the people gave, but mostly through the amazing music they sang and played. The choir sounded like 20 Aretha Franklins. They raised the roof on that little church each week and the spirit of the Lord was made manifest. I continued to attend, and I was eventually even baptized in that little church.

Following the promptings of the spirit, I was drawn to the Latter-day Saints. Our musical experience has thus far been far less powerful at the wards that I’ve attended. Sometimes it seems like we sing hymns verse by verse as though we’re sawing through a log, yet still hymns are some of the most powerful manifestations of the spirit that I feel in our worship services. I love “Love at Home”, especially as sung so reverently by the Tabernacle choir, and “Love one Another” which I always wish had 17 verses instead of just one. =) I love “How Gentle God’s Commands” and “The Spirit of God” and “Come, Come, Ye Saints”. “All Creatures of our God and King” gives me thrills, celebrating nature as it does, hearkening back to that hillside over the waterfall at dusk. So music has always spoken very directly to me of the spirit. It’s a huge part of my spiritual life.

But I also feel the spirit very powerfully in a lot of music that would be off limits for missionaries, like Tool, Radiohead, or Nine Inch Nails, The Smashing Pumpkins, etc. Sometimes it might be a tortured soul calling out for some saving grace, or perhaps an angry voice crying repentance unto the world. There is agony and desperation in the music sometimes, as well as beaty, hope, and transcendance. I feel no reluctance to “bathe in the fountain” of this sort of music, though, be it any day of the week. We seek after truth and beauty wherever it may be found.

I don’t think you need worry about leading folks astray. It’s just as much a mistake (or sin) to judge something good to be evil as it is to judge evil to be good. We have to walk the razor’s edge, the strait and narrow path, using our judgement and discernment, with the spirit to guide us, all the way.

That was the scripture we referenced on the pinto bean filled styrophome plates we colored and stapled together last week in my Sunbeam class.

Being able to teach the 3 and 4 yr-old “Sunbeams” and being the music leader for all the children is the best double-calling that I’ve ever had!
In our Sunbeam class last Sunday, (besides making our own musical instruments) we talked about how music is the most powerful language of all, since it can dramatically change the way we feel.

It is a gift to us, but the joy of it is that it is also a gift we give back over and over again to everyone who will listen. This scripture tells us that when we give it back to God he promises us more blessings! I think the blessings we receive when we give it to others is the mystery of how it affects them. Hopefully it teaches, inspires and opens a door to the Spirit manifesting truth.

This line is from the hymn “There is Sunshine In My Soul Today”.
~And Jesus listening can hear the song I cannot sing!~
To all the children with special needs, particularly Autism, I dedicate that song.

I love listening to U2′s music, especially OCTOBER, for the same reason. Live’s music is also drenched in spirituality, although more of an Eastern vibe.

I am even more restrictive in my music consumption than the most prudish, orthodox Mormons. I generally only listen to western music composed before 1800. That being said, i’ve also experienced great spirit at times while listening to loud, modern, seemingly decadent music. Sometimes the insight is in the contrast.

I ran into Ty Tabor while tracting on my mission. We talked for about half an hour about various things… building on a common belief in the infallibility of Alex Lifeson. Anyway, he was a bit bemused that I declined to listen to some new songs he’d been working on because of some mission “rules”… and then he went off about “organized religion” a bit. Someone gave him a Book of Mormon when he was on tour through Salt Lake City, and he said he’d read part of it and thought it was interesting. Anyway, he agreed to have us come back and participate in the discussions, but I don’t think it ever happened. (I was on splits, it wasn’t my area…) Super nice guy. After my mission I became a big King’s X fan for a while, their sound was right up my alley until my tastes changed… I don’t think they’ve done anything too compelling in quite a while, but I still like to listen to Gretchen or Dogman every once now and then.

A colleague at my graduate school once mentioned, upon me explaining how I view my faith, that Mormonism seemed more like general spiritualism (in the ecumentical sense…not in the seance sense). And perhaps it is.

There are reasons why LDS missionaries don’t listen to certain music, but they aren’t because “heathen” music has any less revelatory potential.