The Sound of Music
1965 - G
While this timeless classic is set to the backdrop of war, it is about much more than a family fleeing to safety. It is about the family itself—the many different dynamics are an intricate and intimate dance between discipline and devotion, livelihood and love, fear and faith. I hope these thoughts chosen from this movie will help you fill your heart, home and even the hills with the sound of music from your light and life!
It is no coincidence that the movie begins with the wind howling through the mountains. For each day in our lives, we must face many formidable forms of adversity. Yes, we may feel too weak to climb those mountains, to unworthy of the calling, but God did not place mountains in our paths to mock us, but to motivate us and to encourage us to come unto Christ…
…so that we may receive that strength and wisdom which will come, not as we complain, but as we begin to climb.
In medieval times, castles were protected by more than mortar. Moats helped demote the danger of an attack. With the drawbridge being the only way to enter the castle, it was more protected. So it is with our minds and hearts. We must build a moat of morality, and let no one or nothing enter the castles of our minds and hearts without our permission and invitation.
For our greatest treasures are found within and must be protected at all costs by the mortar and moat of morality.
Some are content to live in a convent, but if one’s intent it to truly change the world, then make sure that whatever walls you find yourself behind are protecting you, but not preventing you from reaching beyond them to those who need the spiritual strength you are storing up.
For prayer without action, is like faith without works.
It may feel good, but is it truly doing good? Sometimes when we pray for answers, we must get off our knees so we may become the answer.
Yes, you may always be late; feel like you don’t always do great. Yes, the litany of your lousiness and weaknesses may be long, but God’s love is greater than your despair, disrepair.
Sometimes you may feel like a darling, demon, headache, heartache, but no matter what, you are still a lamb of the Lord, a child of the Most High God. With Deity’s divine DNA within you, you can do and overcome all things (Philippians 4:13) if you invite and allow Him to help you do so.
Can you imagine if there were laws against singing, dancing, or even praying?
True, some countries to regulate righteousness, and some countries consider immoral music and dancing the definition of and expression of freedom. However, just because something feels good, does not make it so. Just because something beautiful beckons, beware for the devil knows how to deceive with beauty. That is why we must have the (constant) companionship of the Holy Ghost. For without its guiding light, we can become lost in the even the most familiar of places. Thus, while we must pray always, we must also learn to listen always, lest we be detoured, deceived.
No matter where you are in life, don’t lose the ability to wonder!
You may not be able to predict the predicaments of the day, or completely choose every chapter, but that’s the adventure of life! Not knowing isn’t always, or even often, a bad thing. Learn to enjoy the journey, even if you don’t know all the obstacles, twists and turns along the way.
How to become a good parent is rarely apparent.
We try to learn the best we can from our parents (good or bad) and from other people’s parents, but ultimately, we must become our own parent. Unfortunately, so many are seeking to become so without the wisdom of our Heavenly Parents. It’s not even that they believe/want to become the best parent they can be by themselves, but often because they don’t even know about (or trust, rely on) a Higher Powered Parent’s help.
What does it mean to be “confident”?
Does it mean to have unlimited wealth to take care of all your needs so you no longer need to worry? Does it mean to have the perfect job? The perfect marriage? And what does confidence do for you in your life? What if all your wealth, health and relationships were gone this very instance? Yes, it would be devastating, but would you still have the confidence to carry on and try again? That is what true confidence is and how it is born.
When was the last time you needed help with something?
Did you ask for help? Did someone see your distress and offer assistance, despite your persistence and perhaps potential resistance, before you even asked? We all need help sometimes and we can all give help, even if we’re not cordially asked and specifically tasked.
When God wants our attention He does not yell, or use whistles. He calls us by name and does so very softly, that if we are not listening for His voice, we will not hear Him.
This may sound cruel, but God doesn’t demand our desires. He wants us to want to hear His voice in all things. True, sometimes He has to be more forceful to get or attention—perhaps with Mother Nature, or personal tragedy, an illness or even fear of death—but the “shove” is out of love, not loathing. He would rather us suffer occasionally, temporarily, to reprimand as to remind us that we are loved and if we continue down a certain path, we will incur far greater despair and damage.
And what shall we do when we want God’s attention?
Does He have a special name, or signal, that we must use before He will acknowledge our desire to talk, walk with Him? There are many special names, signs and signals! The most special is Father, spoken in love from our hearts.
If you’ve ever been called a bad name, or given an unjust nickname, you know that the pain of being called such a name remains with you long after it’s done echoing in your ears and heart.
Today, it’s time for a new name, a better name. Let go of the names of the past and let the Lord provide you with a better name. Stop calling yourself bad names, or listening to others who do. Always remember who and Whose you are. God loves you! So, when you hear any other names besides Child of God, Blessed and Loved, ignore them and press forward.
The devil loves to sneak toads of temptation and snakes of sin into the pockets of our minds and hearts.
Not just to scare us, but to distract us away from the good and Godly things the Lord wants to fill our minds, hearts and lives with. If you find a toad, snake or rat, get rid of it, now.
It’s ironic that we pray over every meal that it will nourish and strengthen our bodies, but then we don’t use that strength wisely.
We merely checking the box of “Blessing the Food” thinking that’s all we need to do. After the amen, we must also receive and safeguard the blessing and get to work.
Isn’t it such a blessing that prayer is not confined by technology, time, or the economy!
We can pray anytime, anywhere and for as long as we need to! And yet, with all the hours spent on billions of text messages and emails, why does it seem there is not as much effort (sense of urgency) or time taken to pray to Father?
Each day we are given a blank page to write the story of our lives upon.
And yet, we seem content with the content that the world wants to write on it more than what the Lord wants to write upon it. We let the world yell and swear, rip and tear the pages of our minds, hearts and think that’s the only time we can go to the Lord—when we’re in despair, need repair. What if we could go to Father sooner? What if we could prevent so much pain and sorrow by giving Him our pen first?
It’s sad that so many believe that the magic of a first kiss, or the bliss of the honeymoon are the only moments in a relationship and marriage that cannot be repeated—
Instead they believe such marital “magic” is resigned to echoes of the past as the world tells the once happy couple that the reality is that romance is a ruse. Not so! When God gave Adam and Eve to each other—not just Eve to Adam (Genesis 2:1)—He didn’t mean it was not good for man (or woman) to be alone only in certain situations, but to be there for each other always and in all ways (Genesis 2:24). Why is this so difficult to do in today’s world? Because some have gotten too used to being alone, or choose to be alone because they’re afraid of being hurt again, or won’t feel independent. Ah yes, another fruitful fib of the fiend.
No one sneaks into Heaven or Hell, or arrives by accident.
Arrival, or departure from either destination is a matter of choice(s) we make each day. Even with course corrections and re-calculations, one cannot accidentally arrive at the wrong destination. Whether grace or chains, we choose our eternal wardrobes stitch by stitch, or link by link. Thankfully, we need not wait until the end to make or change that choice. If you are headed someplace you don’t wish to be, change course at once.
One may also wonder how in the world does the devil sneak into so many hearts and homes.
It’s because we leave things that should remain closed open, things that should be locked unlocked, and unclean things that should untouched, touched, but uncleaned (2nd Corinthians 6:17). The devil will sneak in anywhere we allow him to. Meaning that anywhere we do not invite and allow the Lord into, the devil will gladly fill up that space. Is there room in the inn of your heart? Who is filling it?
What’s the secret to enjoying life every day?
While the levels of enjoyment may vary, it’s very important to remember one thing, it’s not about what we possess, but what are possessed by. Not so much what we consume as what we are consumed by. When you have true gratitude to God for a person, place or object, you can love them forever. Gratitude is the grease the helps keep the wheels of wonder working. This is how we can have one God, one spouse, one mortal life.
Whether you’re learning how to pray, or prance, compose, decorate and finance, you will need to begin at the beginning and make sure you practice.
Once you learn the foundation of beginning, persistence and patience, along with also taking and completing the small steps of work, you will realize that your dreams are achievable and within reach. The more you practice, the better you become and then you will realize even greater uses to utilize, develop and distribute your gifts and talents to make a difference in your life and the lives of those around you. Try it. It’s an amazing thing.
Yes, activity suggests a life filled with purpose, but upon closer inspection…
…activity does not always equal purpose. Motion does not always equal action. Unless your heart is seeking the betterment of yourself and others, then the purpose proposed through the actions involved seems only to simply waste one’s life away. Moving, but never getting anywhere. Never making progress. Never truly becoming. Like a robotic rocking chair. Leaving to deference that of making a true difference. Making a commotion without devotion to the evolution of self.
Remember the days when one would have to borrow someone else’s cellphone to make a long-distance call because they were out of minutes, didn’t upgrade their plan, or couldn’t afford it themselves?
Not so with prayer. The majesty and miracle of prayer it’s price is something everyone can pay. There’s not time limit, waiting line, voicemail or even to be put on hold. You always get through! The question is, once you do get through, do you spend the whole time and dime talking, or do you take time to also let the Lord speak and listen to what He has to say to you? After all, one of the most important parts of prayer isn’t just the phrasing and posture, but the listening.
Sometimes the trials and tragedies of life stifle the strains of praise within our hearts.
Opposition suffocates our faith, our hopes, our dreams. Nevertheless, through the Spirit of God the strings of our heart’s harp can be restrung and we can learn to sing the sacred songs of love and joy again.
Just as much as God wants to know us, to be a part of our lives (every up and down), He wants us to want to get to know Him.
Not just about Him from scriptures and stories shared from pulpit to pew, but to truly have a relationship with Him—from His heart to yours. There’s still time.
For every good and great thing the Lord wants you to have in your mind, body, heart and home…
…the devil has a great evil to evict every good thing from your life and replace it with disgrace and despair. And if he already has, then the Lord will help you illuminate and eliminate all evils.
Saying goodbye can be very difficult, especially when one feels there is still so much left to do, to enjoy and to create!
And yet, sometimes in order to enjoy and create even greater things than your current career, to find an even more choice chapter and adventure, you must say goodbye.
Yes, there is something even more important and valuable than the valiant voices of our precious posterity…
…protecting that posterity from the perils and evils of this that would steal their voices, choke their choices and enslave them in a thousand wicked ways so they could not be vessels for the virtues of the Lord to inspire this world, one voice at a time, or like a choir of angels, and a thousand suns, deliver the light and love of the Lord to every single shadowy corner in existence.
True men will notice and nurture a woman’s heart, not just complement what she’s wearing.
As will a true woman not shy away from chivalry, but allow it as to respect the man seeking only to respect her. The sooner we stop competing and start completing each other, the better for us all.
The devil’s influence progresses like an influenza.
The infection begins unnoticeable; a subtle lie here and there, a compromise or two. The demise increases. Before we know it, we feel too weak to seek out the strength and protection form the inoculation of inspiration. Nevertheless, there is a complete cure secured through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. When applied deliberately and daily, it helps improve our spiritual immune system to protect us from a whole host of evil ills.
Make no mistake, mortality is not a boarding school that God sent us to because He couldn’t handle all of us.
While mortality is to help us gain an education—in a different classroom, and many teachers (good and bad)—and also to help prove and improve our love for the Him and our Savior.
We were sent here with the ultimate goal of going home!
And not just returning home, but doing so being able to experience greater joy and happiness because we experienced their opposites—sorrow and sadness.
Thus, mortality is to teach, not torture us.
Let us trust in God’s plan, in our Savior to help us fulfill it, despite detours, that we may truly live with Him again!
One of the saddest ways to live is in seclusion, on the well-worn and well-paved path of delusion, that they are not worthy and have no worth to be around other people, or even to try and make a difference in this world.
This lie has dowsed their light and they believe that only darkness exists, at least for them. These are those who need their ministering angels to not only find them, but help bring them back to the light and to life. No one is forgotten or forsaken. No one is beyond hope and help.
Sometimes God puts you where you are capable, but uncomfortable.
Sometimes He places, leaves you in situations not always immediately known how to proceed or survive and thrive, to bless the lives of others who would otherwise not have exposure to your spirit, experiences or convictions. Keep looking, you will see God’s hand and heart in your life.
There are times in life when we wish we could go back in time and fix something, change something, avoid something.
But we cannot, for we would lose so much more in the process. That doesn’t mean we can’t prepare for and protect our future by learning how to avoid similar situations and mistakes. Nevertheless, there are times in life where we have time and opportunity to go back, to make amends and/or acquire the necessary closure so we can fully move forward.
When you find your dream, give it all you have!
Don’t feed it fear or compete with it with doubts. Nourish it, love it, protect it, invest in it. Your dream needs you now more than ever! This is your time. It’s alright to be afraid and unsure, but starve your fears with faith. Set sail!
When we willingly appease our spiritual appetites with the devil’s junk food, we discover we’re no longer hungry for the Lord’s bounteous banquet.
And yet, He still sets a place just for you, hoping that you’ll at least come sit next to Him and tell Him about your day. And, if you’d like to have even one bite, He’ll oblige your starving decision. And you will come to remember how delicious divinity is and soon you'll change your appetite for junk food and come back to Father’s feast of faith.
No matter the reason, or the celebration in store afterwards…
…break-ups, divorces, romantic and emotional losses of any kind are difficult waters to navigate without drowning in them. You’ve got to be sure to stay true to you. To continue (or begin again) nourishing your own heart, soul.
There are experiences in life that make us feel like we have to run away, especially from the people who love us and even from God.
Why does running away always seem to be at the top of our choices for solving problems? Because we don’t think there’s a way to solve them? Or because we tried, but couldn’t solve them? Yes, some situations require leaving, while others require believing—that there is way to solve the problem, to fix what was broken. However, when we or someone else try to repair broken hearts and emotions, but do not include the One who blesses us in all things in the diagnosis, then the treatment would not be as complete and even unfair to our hearts and to Heavenly Father’s heart.
SPOILER ALERT:
He’s kissing her in a beautiful moment but she decides to start singing instead of kissing him back?
This is a beautiful moment, a miracle even! And while singing isn’t sinning (in most cases), when we are blessed with such beautiful experiences, make the most of the moment and make them special. Wait… now he’s singing back? Alright, I guess they feel this is the best way to express their love for each other. And they are finally singing together, a divine duet, that ends in a kiss and a proposal!
Ironically, the wedding scene begins with the song “How do you solve a problem like Maria?”
Well, marrying her off is the best way to solve the “problem.” However, it’s still rude they called her a problem. She’s not a problem now, she’s a princess! And the nuns are grateful for her new life (away from them) for their own reasons. One thing is certain, marriage is not how you solve or escape problems. Marriage is how you take two imperfect people and create a union that will bless this world, generations yet to come!
The greatest part of a trip/vacation should be the memories not the souvenirs.
The greatest part of a marriage should not be the ring, but the unity—the companionship and caring, not the karats. The greatest part of owning a business is not the profits, but improving the community. The greatest part about life is not our birth, or our death, but the beautiful moments in-between.
The world has its own definitions and regulations of when “life” starts.
When you’re sixteen you can drive. When you’re 18 you can do even more and at 21 you can pretty do whatever you want because now your age automatically make you an “adult.” After that, people think life goes downhill, but not because of age, but rather because of the poor choices one is “legally” allowed to make regardless of their wisdom. With God’s guidance and guardianship you can make better choices at any age, wage, stage and your life can continue and even start again!
It’s time to leave and live. Keep going. Trust the Lord!
The devil will miss the misery he could have made with and within you. But you’ve got greater things to do for God’s kingdom. This is your time. One song, chapter, and journey has ended, but there is so much more for you to do and experience! The adventure continues and you shall now go and do God’s wonders. The borders are not closed. His strength will attend you from the hills.