The Power of Music

I'm regularly reminded of what a powerful influence music can be to human beings. I didn't go to church today. I'm still not feeling well after dealing with a mysterious illness this past week and I didn't want to risk being out in public or feeling suddenly worse in the middle of church. So I decided to watch “Music and the Spoken Word,” the weekly broadcast of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. They had The Orchestra at Temple Square accompanying them today and, as always, the music, performance, and message were inspired. It had been a while since I last watched the program live. I've usually been in church meetings of one sort or another. The piece that stood out to me today was a sublime arrangement of “Wayfarin' Stranger” arranged by Mack Wilberg, one of the choir's conductors. This very well-known tune was set to a lush orchestral background, the choir singing with a sense of wonder and wistfulness. A lone recorder playing the melody at times evoked an ancient feeling of…