Songs and the Spirit

I'm teaching the lesson in Primary this week, and the lesson is on Emma Smith compiling the first hymnbook. This is an interesting topic for me because I love hymns and the singing of hymns. What I love most the hymns is how well they invite the Spirit. Singing hymns is much like saying prayers. In fact, some hymns, like How Great Thou Art, literally are prayers. In addition, most hymns, if not all, have doctrinal messages in them, of which the Holy Spirit can testify. Hymns also invite the Spirit through the music itself. I don't know what it is about music, even secular, instrumental music, but it touches the soul in a very special way, often inspiring the same feelings and attitudes that attract the Spirit.

What makes this lesson challenging for me is its emphasis on Emma Smith. I don't know much about her, and some of what I've heard, I don't think I'd share in a Primary lesson (even though some of the kids have already heard it, too). I don't think I'll talk about Emma except to say that God asked her to make a hymnbook and then ask why He would want her to do that. Hopefully, one of the kids will answer that hymns are important, and then we can go from there.

Of the many good lessons we can learn from and about hymns, it'll be tough to decide which ones to prioritize. Is it important, for example, to share that sacred hymns and Primary songs can crowd out unworthy thoughts, but depending on how many students are listening at that point, it may be more productive to have a hymn-related activity first, like singing one hymn to the tune of another. That may help the youngsters to focus and thus actually get something out of the lesson. But I don't want to spend all our times on activities, unless those activities also teach important lessons, so I'll probably need to find some balance between the two.

This might be a tricky lesson. Fortunately, the testimony part should be fairly easy. I love hymns because the hymns can help us attract the Spirit. Come to think of it, maybe it'd make sense to sing an opening hymn to attract the Spirit before the lesson. For this lesson, I think I'm going to need it.