"Service ever was their watch-cry; Love became their guiding star;
Courage, their unfailing beacon, Radiating near and far.
Every day some burden lifted, Every day some heart to cheer,
Every day some hope the brighter, Blessed, honored Pioneer!"
This song was sang tonight at a fireside that I had the opportunity to be at. After we sang the song, I looked back over the words and was quite touched by the simple message in this song. We often talk of the trials that the pioneers went through in their lives and we debate whether our not we could do the same thing. I think we could if we had a similar outlook on life as they did. This song tells us that through service, love, and courage we can help lift burdens, cheer hearts, and more importantly, our hope is brighter. When you stop and ask yourself who wouldn't want more hope in their life, and you answer honestly, I think we can agree that we could use more hope in our life. What a simple message from a powerful hymn. How grateful I am for the hymns of the gospel!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Andy, Sometimes I wish we would just sing hymns in church and skip the talks. Inspired hymns stir emotions and strengthen the spirit.
ReplyDeleteI have always believed, as this hymn affirms, that serving others lightens our load and lifts our spirits.
Bravone...can you imagine how that sacrament meeting would be? One of my favorite memories is from my mission when I was on the reservation in Arizona. Our branch president at the time was a native and he was the only speaker for the Christmas program. At the time, I was the piano player for the branch and would have liked a little advance notice of his plans but he proceeded after the sacrament was administered to teach us through the singing of every Christmas hymn in the hymn book. He shared a scripture or two in between each hymn but there was an amazing spirit in the chapel that day as we sang the hymns of zion. Thanks as always for your comments.
ReplyDeleteAndy, When I was bishop, our Sunday Christmas programs were sacrament, hymns, choir, special numbers and a five minute talk on things like "the reason we celebrate Christmas is because of Easter." I love those kind of meetings. Music resonates with the soul.
ReplyDeleteSeriously man, I love reading your stuff, talking with you, and hanging out with you. Your faith and hope feed me when I'm dry. Believe me on this, cause I mean it. Love you man.
ReplyDelete