my soul delighteth

My father is a music lover with amazing stereo equipment to maximize his experience. As a little girl, I learned to abhor music played loudly. After I was sent to bed, the house would vibrate with the volume. I learned to sleep with a pillow wrapped around my head. Coming home from school sometimes, I was afraid the light fixture outside the front door would shake loose. However, I also grew to love the old masters of 'classical' that he played. But I like the pieces meant to be played softly and quietly. (There are many periods of music called classical, but Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and early 20th century make up this genre.)


Years ago, I found a series of 'classical' music cassettes from the Phillips label to accompany our Music Master's Series from the Vox label. Our introduction to 'classical' music taught us the Story of Bach, Mendelssohn, Beethovan, Handel, Mozart, Chopin, and more in 18 cassette tapes. But none of the other tapes I got to supplement these studies were lovely. Most the time the contained all the dramatic, loud music that I am not fond of. Bach at Bedtime, Mozart for Meditation, and so on were the answer. As the years went by, I lent out my tapes and never saw them again. Sniff....But now they are all on CD, and I'm collecting them again.


This inspired music brings the kind of peace into my home and my head that welcomes the Holy Spirit. Each morning I spend several minutes meditating or clearing my mind before prayer. Deep breathing and Mozart or Bach calm and focus  me to the point that I can pray without my mind wandering. I play them, when I'm in the kitchen cooking or exercising in front of the TV. 


"Like cleanliness, order, and decor, music can color the mood in our homes...As we enhance our home atmosphere with music, we are making memories of happy times of togetherness in a gospel-centered home...There is a world of beauty available to us through music." Micheal F. Moody, Ensign, Dec 1992, 22


"Music is an important and powerful part of life. It can be an influence for good that helps you draw closer to Heavenly Father. However, it can also be used for wicked purposes. Unworthy music may seem harmless, but it can have evil effects on your mind and spirit. Choose carefully the music you listen to. Pay attention to how you feel when you are listening. Don’t listen to music that drives away the Spirit, encourages immorality, glorifies violence, uses foul or offensive language, or promotes Satanism or other evil practices" For the Strength of Youth


"For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads." Doctrine and Covenants 25:12


"Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him, talk ye of all His wondrous works." 1 Chronicles 16:9


"Sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the Earth." Psalms 96:1


"Inspiration comes more easily in peaceful settings. Such words as quiet, still, peaceable, Comforter abound in the scriptures: 'Be still, and know that I am God.' Psalms 46:10. And the promise, 'You shall receive my Spirit, the Holy Ghost, even the Comforter, which shall teach you the peaceable things of the kingdom' Doctrine and Covenants 36:2." Boyd K. Packer, October 5, 1991