A Song to Lean On – April 11, 1999
It was Thomas Carlyle who penned the words: “Music is well said to be the speech of angels.”1 One important duty of angels is to watch over us. Interestingly, music at times has assumed that divine duty. When part of our lives, music can help us in time of need. Parents who teach their children songs that lift their souls and fill them with joy and comfort may not realize the literal saving power of such a song.
One set of parents became acutely aware of this when they were on a family outing, exploring the natural beauties of Canada as they climbed a huge glacier. Their young son, attempted to jump across a crevasse, missed and fell into a deep chasm. His parents did everything in their power to rescue the boy, but to no avail. He was beyond their reach and tightly wedged. Help was summoned. The frigid temperatures were life threatening.
Hypothermia was setting in. The parents fervently prayed for his safety and shouted to him to sing his favorite songs. The boy began to sing a song he and his family had often sung together?a song that gave him hope and comfort: “I am a child of God…Lead me, guide me, walk beside me.” He sang it over and over. When his little voice began to fade, his parents called down to him, “Keep singing; keep singing.” And as he did, it seemed to strengthen him. Finally the rescue was made and the boy survived.”2
When we gather as families, friends, or in congregations and sing hymns of praise, we feel united, encouraged, and closer to understanding our purpose in life. Music can be our mentor our healer, our comforter. At certain points in life, it might even be an angel in our time of need.
Program #3634
1 Thomas Carlyle, in The Harper Book of Quotations (New York: HarperCollins, 1993). 312.
2 See David B. Haight, in Conference Report, Oct. 1986, 46-47; or “Spiritual Crevasses,” Ensign, Nov. 1986. 36; see also “I Am a Child of God,” Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1985), no. 301.