What will I choose today?

My daughter has been raving about Lois Lowry's book "The Giver" so I decided to read it today.  It's no wonder that this book won the Newberry Award.  Written in 1993, it predates many of the distopian books that are popular at present (Hunger Games, Matched, etc.) but offers a unique take in the form of the wise title character.  Without giving too much away, this man shows great compassion in the way that he teaches young Jonas and carries the burdens for others.

The one thing that struck me is how glorious it is to have variety because that allows for choices and agency.  The society in this book had chosen to standardize everything and create a very predictable and safe existence.  While there was no hunger or contention, there also was no beauty or color, joy in families or opportunities to think for one's self.  12-year old Jonas says, "If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices!  I want to wake up in the morning and decide things!  A blue tunic, or a red one?"  We have an inherent need to choose.  Choice allows for a variety of experiences and those experiences serve to teach us, even as they sometimes teach us pain and less pleasant emotions.  While no one wants to experience pain, feelings are a great privilege.  Feelings, emotions and senses offer richness to life and give the difficult moments purpose.

I am really grateful to have the freedom to make choices for myself.  There are good choices and not so good choices but they are mine to make.  I can not choose the consequences for my choices though and am grateful that consequences help me understand the best choices for my life.  Bad choices help me understand why I want to make better ones in the future.  And likewise, the most joyful moments of my life have not been a result of happenstance but as a wonderful consequence of good choices.

So the question becomes, what will I do today to really value this privilege to choose?

"As for me and my house, we will choose the Lord." - Joshua 24:15

Music in my soul today...Entering the realm of blogger

 A few months ago I was in a meeting where the instructor shared a message about how we can learn through the writing process.  That class was profound to me as I felt truth in the message.  Though not a daily journal writer, I have long found writing my thoughts down to be therapeutic and instructive.  Writing down my thoughts has led me to aspire for the best version of myself and helped me to see God's plan for me.  When writing about a discouragement, I often have seen the blessings in being led down a different path.  When processing heartbreaking loss, I have felt enveloped with love and compassion.  When writing about being overwhelmed, simply detailing the work to be done has helped me see how the various tasks can coordinate together or made me realize that something needs to change and be dropped to restore balance to my life.

For the past few months, I've had frequent thoughts about blogging my thoughts and experiences.  This thought has actually been around for a couple of years but has intensified of late.  I would witness something thought-provoking and make a mental note that I should write it down and share it but inevitably life would get busy and the thought was soon lost.  My hope is that perhaps this blog will help me capture more of those moments and that maybe someone will read it and be edified.  Even more than that, I hope this blog helps me recognize the many tender mercies in my life.

The title of this blog is "Music in my soul today" and comes from a hymn titled "There is Sunshine in my Soul Today." (If you don't know this hymn, you can find it at: http://www.lds.org/music/library/hymns/there-is-sunshine-in-my-soul-today?lang=eng or listen to a lovely rendition by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPuLP6KFvFA).  I've always loved this hymn as it details the joy that I so often feel in my life.  Living in the Pacific Northwest, we are not often blessed with natural sunshine and yet I feel so much light in my life from following Jesus Christ.  The second verse is particularly a favorite because it states, "There is music in my soul today, A carol to my King."  A carol is defined as "a song of joy", "a hymn of praise" and "singing in a cheerful manner."  As a working musician and teacher, my life is literally filled with music from morning to night and it brings me great joy.  But even greater joy has come to me as I've followed Christ and his teachings.  My hope is that everything I do and say serves as a carol to express my gratitude for the joy His gospel brings me.