Article November 20, 1926 Issue

Having Melody in Our Hearts

GLADYS B. TURNER

In olden Biblical times it was frequently the custom for the people to express their praise and thanks to God through music, the hosts desirous of expressing their individual joy gathering together in one divine purpose with love and humility in their hearts. And Paul writes in Colossians, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Just so, to-day, we accept the same privilege of offering praise to God with melody in our hearts.

How often inspiration comes through, and gratitude is felt for, a simple message received from the solo sung at the Sunday service, or from the words of comfort and assurance revealed in our hymns! How grateful we are for the many healings of sickness, fear, and discouragement that take place in this manner! No healing balm is so powerful as spiritually uplifted thought. During a Sunday morning service the words of the solo once brought to one listener such a compassionate appeal of brotherly love that, for months afterwards, the incentive to give more of substantive good to one's neighbor was helpful in overcoming numerous problems.

Once when the temptation came to give up work on a problem that seemed to be slow in yielding, a thought from the solo sung at a service was the means of eliminating an evil suggestion of doubt which, had it been indulged at the time, would have brought unhappiness to many concerned. At another time, the truth in a few words of a song threw so much light on a particular situation that it was instrumental in gently dissipating bitter opposition to the progress of good. Many human traits, such as impatience, selfishness, and condemnation, have been brought to attention through remembering the solo sung at our service, and with such marked emphasis that there was formed the continuous desire to be rid of these unwholesome qualities. Sometimes just an echo of the melody in consciousness has brought inspiration for more faithful love and gratitude. On page 107 of "Miscellaneous Writings" Mrs. Eddy says: "More love is the great need of mankind. A pure affection, concentric, forgetting self, forgiving wrongs and forestalling them, should swell the lyre of human love."

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