Michael Ballam, Professor of Music and Opera at Utah State University and Founding General Director of the Utah Festival, spoke on seeking after and recognizing the spirit though wholesome music in his Devotional address Tuesday, April 23 – the first weekly Devotional of the Summer semester at BYU–Hawaii.
Drawing from several renowned musicians, Ballam opened his address by discussing the divine revelation in which some music is created, centered on the glory of God. “Most of what Bach wrote were prayers,” said Ballam. “He wrote more music than anyone in history and was never paid for any of it – he wrote it all for the glory of God. If you know his music it will be artillery for you in these challenging days.”
He shared an experience of performing at a concert dedicated to the late president of the Church, Gordon B. Hinckley. While being overwhelmed by nerves prior to his performance, Ballam recalled, “As I walked out I felt the greatest power in the universe, love. This was a special kind of love and it was filling the room, 22,000 people that loved President Hinckley so. It was also filled with love from a larger sphere. That kind of love is omnipotent, all powerful, and I calmed down because I was in the presence of such love.”
In recognizing the spirit of the Lord through music, Ballam taught, “The spirit of God comes in the form of a fire burning. Sometimes it comes in the form of a sweet whisper. We all are entitled to it, and music has the power to bring it to us.” However not all music has the ability to uplift, he warned. And it is important to avoid that type of music to maintain the companionship of the spirit.
“The last thing the Prophet Joseph Smith did was ask his friend John Taylor to sing A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. And during the recitation of the third verse, the first bullet came through that door in Carthage,” said Ballam. “Why did Jesus sing a hymn before he went out into the Mount of Olives to atone for our sins? Why is music that important? Because it comes from God – He invented it. He created it, He perfected it, and it is a place in which His spirit can speak to our hearts.”
See Brother Michael Ballam’s complete Devotional address from April 23, 2013.
University Devotionals are held each Tuesday at 11 AM in the Cannon Activities Center and are streamed live at http://tv.byuh.edu/livestream/livestream.php. Previous Devotionals can be viewed or read at http://devotional.byuh.edu/.