I have gone most of my life avoiding participating in Special Musical Numbers at church. This all changed this last Sunday. My wife and the ward music director finally figured it out and asked me to do a "Music and the Spoken Word" number. I had to find the text and the C would play the piano. In essence, I'd get up and just talk - and I got real nervous before hand. I couldn't understand why since I talk in front of groups all the time. So I got up, introduced the special manner in which my wife and I would do the Special Musical Number. It was a big hit. The young men even gave me a thumbs up. Who knows, maybe I'll inspire others to explore their non-musical, musical talents. I really like the text. It is from the program "Music and the Spoken Word" as found at this website - http://www.musicandthespokenword.com. I read this while Christine played "I Need Thee Every Hour."
Pruning Season
Gardeners know that pruning is one of the best things you can do for your plants, if it’s done the right way. Plants and trees may need to be pruned to remove diseased or damaged branches or to ensure that nutrients from the roots go to producing fruit. Too much pruning, however, can harm or even kill a plant. The gardener must use care and caution to get it just right.
If trees could speak, perhaps they would wonder why it is necessary to prune their branches. They may even complain that pruning is painful or that it stunts their growth. Why not just leave them alone? But eventually it becomes clear that the pruning has made the plant stronger, healthier, and more productive.
In a way, people are like trees. We too can benefit from occasionally examining ourselves and pruning a few things from our lives. Are we holding on to a grudge or resentments that need to be taken out of our soul? Do we think some things about ourselves or others that are negative or limiting that could be removed? Do we harbor in our heart some habits or feelings that we would be better off pruning from our lives?
We resist pruning, at times, because it can be painful. It’s not always easy to look deeply at our lives and question who we really are and what our life is really about. But we begin to feel the benefits almost immediately. When we shed our burdens through appropriate pruning, we actually feel lighter and freer, and we allow life’s sunlight to shine on us more fully. Over time, we find we are more able to give and receive love, more compassionate toward ourselves and others, and we see for ourselves that this pruning, this refining, really is one of the best things we can do.
