We serve others.

We love.

There is refinement.

There is reverence.

There is dependability.

There is zest for life.

There is uprightness.

There is care and concern for others.

There is strength.

We make each other feel comfortable.

There is peace.

It is safe.

I think this is the most beautiful scripture, for a million reasons, but I’d like to point out just one.  It is that it describes for me how I feel when I’m in love with someone. I hear people talk all the time about the list or picture they have when they describe their ideal. This has always confused me because my mind doesn’t work  that way. Rather, what I see as preeminent in a romantic relationship is someone with whom I don’t feel alone in their presence. It might sound simple, but I think it’s really rare. And since I’ve never been in a situation, romantically, where there aren’t several things to look past in order to move forward, I like how the above states that mercy claimeth her own. Bruce C. Hafen has said that as we serve, love and honor our commitments to one another we come to belong to one another. I believe that as mercy claimeth her own -our sense of belonging is established and therefore life and liberation are found.

• On any given day of practice or a performance, I always feel better when I leave then when I came.
• I’m exposed to great talent; I wonder if there will ever be another ward anywhere in the world with so much genius. I believe this is to the point that after practice I sometimes take notes on the terms used or how the music was discussed.
• Even though we stand in front of the chapel when we perform, I somehow feel more apart of the congregation.
• The last few years some of the more treasured words that showed up on Christmas cards I received came from the choir director/music coordinator, this is despite not only a lack of talent, but I may actually hinder the collective sound of the choir. Yet, they speak as if they miss me when I’m not there.