This Sunday message comes from something I learned in my church music group. This weekend, I have the honor of singing with a special church choir I auditioned for a few months ago called "Chords of Faith". We'll be performing at the Festival of the Nativity. Last night we had an excellent practice in preparation for it, and something interesting happened that I'd like to share with you.
When we practiced the songs, it was clear that we were getting all of the notes right - but the conductors were still a little displeased. It sounded like we were going through the motions, and with no emotion. We agreed; we were so focused on getting the notes right that we forgot to sing with convention. We were able to refocused, we stopped trying to get notes right, and we started singing like we believed it. The difference was incredible, and we all saw the vision of how we should perform this weekend.
As I think about that experience, I can't help but wonder what other aspects of my life need the same fine tuning. Am I just going to church, or is there a purpose for me going to church. Anybody can dress up, drive to a chapel and sit for three hours, right? But what are we doing to make going to church an experience that makes a difference in our life.
If you're a boss, who do you give a promotion to; someone who just shows up, does his job and goes home ... or someone who you believe is going to offer something special to improve your department or company? Maybe I'm only "expected" to fix bugs in the software ... but is that where I stop, or can I dig deeper and really find solutions to help my clients? Anybody can give birth to a child, but what does it mean to be a real mother or father ... whatever it is, I'm sure it's more than just providing food and shelter?
In the LDS Church, we always say that you need to "magnify your calling", but I think it takes much more effort to do so. After learning a song, it doesn't take much more effort to sing it with feeling - in our choir's case, it was a simple reminder and decision to do. So whenever your caught going through the motions, think about something small you can do to refocus and make your music more beautiful ... whatever your music happens to be.