Come, We That Love the Lord

There is a sweet custom here that really touches my heart.  Hymns and hymn singing are very important to the Japanese branch members.  Each Sunday, the organ is played during the hymns in sacrament meeting (I share the playing with another sister.)  But each of the other meetings are also started with a hymn:  Sunday school, Relief Society, Priesthood, missionary lessons, etc.  In those meetings, there is no accompaniment.  They are sung a Capella.  The teacher or leader posts the number of the hymn to be sung on the white board.  Then he or she points at a branch member.  It doesn’t seem to matter who, they just point to someone.  That person then looks at the hymn and sings the whole first line as a solo.  The purpose is to give the pitch, but it becomes this sweet little solo.  They don’t just sing the first line, they sing the whole first phrase.  For instance, they would sing, “We thank thee, O God, for a prophet, to guide us in these latter days.”  Then, the leader or teacher says, “San, Hai (which means 3, yes!  So it’s like they are saying 1, 2, 3, yes, but they just skip the 1 and 2)” then everyone comes in on the pitch chosen by that person and everyone sings the whole hymn together a Capella.  Now think of that happening in America.  My guess is the majority of the people would refuse the opportunity to start the song.  The difference?  Japanese people are not afraid of sharing their singing voices any more than they are afraid of sharing their speaking voices.  It’s just part of who they are.  I’ve yet to meet anyone who was afraid of singing.  Oh, we could take a lesson from the Japanese people on this one!