| Response |
Regarding your first question as to whether one has to be in a building to proclaim his or her faith in God, the answer is
no, you do not. However, one of the reasons my family and I attend church regularly on Sunday is that the worship service
there lifts me and strengthens my belief and testimony in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and continually reminds me of
the rich blessings that we receive at His hand. It is there that we join with the other members of our congregation,
singing hymns which praise Him and listening to inspiring talks and other music
which further lifts and tends to improve our spirituality. If I relied on a more solitary worship pattern, I would be
missing a lot, and, therefore, always look forward to it.
As far as what you said about your music and how much you love to sing, naturally, I couldn't agree more with what you have
said. Llike you, singing is a great outlet for me and I am appreciative of this God given talent. And with this
talent, I hope I can provide pleasure to those who listen.
The one thing that I cannot help provide any helpful suggestion on, is how to get past feeling guilty when listening to song
or singing. In fact, there is a scripture which we believe in our religion which says, "The song of the righteous is a prayer unto me."* Consequently, I believe that all
music, as long as it is uplifting, beautiful, inspiring, and especially
worthwhile, provides peace, inspiration, and direction in people's lives. I cannot tell you how to stop feeling guilty. I
can only tell you that I do not understand why you do. As long as your music is not degrading or filled with socially
degrading
messages or words, you should feel peaceful about what you do.
The thought occurs to me that it might be important for you to meet a couple of representatives from our Church to explain
to you in detail exactly what it is that we believe and why. It might be a very important thing for you to examine at this
point in your life. Once you have had an opportunity to hear that message, you can determine for yourself whether it would
be worth pursuing. If you would like me to send those representatives, please email me back and tell me your address and
phone number and I'll have them call on you.
(* “For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it
shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:11-12)
Sincerely,
Donny Osmond
See related multimedia presentations
|
