Happiness is...singing!

Yesterday evening I had the opportunity to join a small group to record bits of a musical allegory, The Garden.

Here's a brief description:
A group of objects in a garden struggle with various trials and difficulties (a seedling who cannot grow, a tree that bears no fruit, a millstone who wishes to be something more valuable like a statue, and a ram caught in a thicket.) Their garden is run down and neglected until a man comes along (representative of either missionaries or religious leaders) to tend it. They begin to find hope in their existences but the landlord (Satan or the natural man) returns to the garden and confronts the man, telling him he has no business being there on property that doesn't belong to him. The two leave but soon another man comes and the objects watch as he prays and suffers. The marvel at his love and perserverence and gain insight into their own trials by observing him. This is the Savior, suffering the Atonement for the sins of the world, the Garden representing (among other things) the Garden of Gethsemane.  It's a beautiful portrayal of that sacred event as well as a synopsis of our earthly existence in general.

I'd first performed it years ago with a large choir group but last night there were only 10 of us. There's a small cast of soloists as well as various choral accompaniments. The soloists had all performed the program for audiences recently and wanted to have a recorded copy of their efforts so myself and a few others were invited to step in to add our voices to fleshing out the choral pieces. I haven't had to sing that intensely since college and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it! I was defnitely the least talented of the bunch but it was so enjoyable to work with such amazing people, blending our voices together over and over for both fun and worship.

I was up way too late (not helpful to my still iffy sleeping schedule I'm afraid) and this morning my voice was hashed, but it was worth it!  I may have to look into finding a group to sing with or taking a music class in the near future.

Here's a clip of my favorite song, such a beautiful testimony of the Savior and His love for us.  Enjoy!