(He loves me not, he loves me...)
Does God love me?
I think that paramount to the belief of God, is knowing that he loves us. That the Earth and its inhabitants were made for a reason. As a child growing up in the LDS church, I learned a lot of songs that distilled the principles of the gospel and put them into words that children could understand and learn. My mother is a firm believer in the fact that information put to music is easiest to memorize, and it must be true because I can remember words to songs I barely thought I knew just by hearing the music.
Two songs I distinctly remember loving as a kid are "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" and "I Feel My Savior's Love." (You should also know that I love singing, and words, and playing with words to make jokes.) A year ago in the university female chorus that I'm a part of, we started learning arrangements of these two children's songs as part of our concert repertoire. Something that I love about this choir is that we always sing a few hymns along with our other concert music. Time always seems to move so fast in class, so our conductor tries to make the transitions very brisk, to focus on the important stuff. (The trick is to be able to recognize the important stuff when it happens)
Scene: A regular day in practice, probably about halfway through, and we are just finishing a piece.
Conductor: All right ladies, "I Feel My Savior's Love" . . . (pause, head tilt) Do you?
(Laughter from the choir) Rehearsal continues
Conductor: Now "My Heavenly Father Loves Me". . . Does he love you?
(More laughter) Rehearsal continues
Is it strange that such a simple exchange has stayed with me for the past year? These were words I sang almost every day until April (that's another story). That was the beginning of a running joke between me and my choir buddies every time we sang those songs. That was an opportunity for me to ask, and think about the answer. No pressure, no faith-threatening situation, no need for an immediate answer. And yet one came. Does God love me? Yes! The confirmation of my casual question came almost before I finished thinking it. And it felt so good. I got to enjoy that feeling every time I paused to remember what I knew was true. (also another story: Faith-confirming questions)
It was kind of easy to build my testimony of his love when it wasn't being challenged, but by those simple acts it also became easy to rely on it when I maybe wasn't doing so hot. Love is a two-way street. I try to do the things that I know will build love and please God, and his love is there to meet me. Always.
Comments
Post a Comment