Let me come and dwell with you.
Today, I think that I had the most spiritual experience that I have ever had as a choir director. Today we sang, with young men and women singing, a mother daughter duet, with a powerful testimony from the choir throughout. As the duet was being sung, I was crying. I credit all of those singing, as well as the pianist. Mostly I thank our Father in Heaven for providing the testifying witness to the words.
I suspect that all who read this already know what music can do to me. Every hymn, every song of praise is a prayer to God. Every one. Some have more impact on me than others. Many times, I can simply look at the author of the song. I have two favorites. I won't pick which is best, each can decide for themselves.
W.W. Phelps has written masterpieces, that are found throughout the LDS hymnbook. Songs like Praise to the Man, Adam-Ondi-Ahman, If you could hie unto Kolob are just a few. A very close associate of the prophet Joseph Smith,
If I HAD to pick, it would be Eliza R. Snow. One of the early pioneers, she served as the General President of the Relief Society for decades. In our Lovely Deseret, and many others.
These two have written some of the deepest doctrine songs in the hymnal. Some of them make people feel very uncomfortable. Which leads to the song we sang today.
We sang it with the youth singing the first verse, with the adults in the choir oohhing. all the second verse, the duet for the third verse, and all the fourth. In no song was Sister Snow more eloquent.
1. Oh My Father, thou that dwellest in the high and glorious place
When shall I regain thy presence and again behold thy face?
In thy holy habitation, did my spirit once reside?
In my first primeval childhood, was I nurtured near thy side?
2. For a wise and glorious purpose Thou hast placed me here on earth
And withheld my recollection of my former friends and birth
Yet oft times, a secret something whispered "You're a stranger here"
And I felt that I had wandered from a more exalted sphere
3. I had learned to call thee Father, through thy Spirit from on high
But until the key of knowledge was restored, I knew not why.
In the heav'ns are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare
Truth is reason, truth eternal tells me I've a mother there
4. When I leave this frail existence, when I lay this mortal by
Father, Mother, may I meet you in your royal courts on high?
Then at length, when I've completed all you sent me forth to do
With your mutual approbation let me come and dwell with you.
The song introduces a lot of doctrine that if examined openly feels good. We call our Father, Father, and that makes sense. He is the Father of our spirits, he created this world for us to live on. It seems logical that our families on earth are patterned after our spiritual family. Maybe this is where people start to feel uncomfortable. I don't. It feels right and completely natural to me.
I suspect that all who read this already know what music can do to me. Every hymn, every song of praise is a prayer to God. Every one. Some have more impact on me than others. Many times, I can simply look at the author of the song. I have two favorites. I won't pick which is best, each can decide for themselves.
W.W. Phelps has written masterpieces, that are found throughout the LDS hymnbook. Songs like Praise to the Man, Adam-Ondi-Ahman, If you could hie unto Kolob are just a few. A very close associate of the prophet Joseph Smith,
If I HAD to pick, it would be Eliza R. Snow. One of the early pioneers, she served as the General President of the Relief Society for decades. In our Lovely Deseret, and many others.
These two have written some of the deepest doctrine songs in the hymnal. Some of them make people feel very uncomfortable. Which leads to the song we sang today.
We sang it with the youth singing the first verse, with the adults in the choir oohhing. all the second verse, the duet for the third verse, and all the fourth. In no song was Sister Snow more eloquent.
1. Oh My Father, thou that dwellest in the high and glorious place
When shall I regain thy presence and again behold thy face?
In thy holy habitation, did my spirit once reside?
In my first primeval childhood, was I nurtured near thy side?
2. For a wise and glorious purpose Thou hast placed me here on earth
And withheld my recollection of my former friends and birth
Yet oft times, a secret something whispered "You're a stranger here"
And I felt that I had wandered from a more exalted sphere
3. I had learned to call thee Father, through thy Spirit from on high
But until the key of knowledge was restored, I knew not why.
In the heav'ns are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare
Truth is reason, truth eternal tells me I've a mother there
4. When I leave this frail existence, when I lay this mortal by
Father, Mother, may I meet you in your royal courts on high?
Then at length, when I've completed all you sent me forth to do
With your mutual approbation let me come and dwell with you.
The song introduces a lot of doctrine that if examined openly feels good. We call our Father, Father, and that makes sense. He is the Father of our spirits, he created this world for us to live on. It seems logical that our families on earth are patterned after our spiritual family. Maybe this is where people start to feel uncomfortable. I don't. It feels right and completely natural to me.
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