Singing In Key

¹“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19). I know that generally the metaphor used for the “keys of the kingdom” has to do with locks and keys, but metal keys inserted into locks are hardly the only kind of keys. In music, for example, keys represent the series of tones or pitches that cluster naturally together. The key of G Major has a different set of tones than the key of B Flat Minor. When a melody is crafted around a particular key, it is going to try to keep the notes in line with the notes that generally belong to that key. If we were to attempt to sing a song in a particular key and started singing notes that didn't belong, the harmonious effect of the music would be interrupted by the jangling dissonance of those off-key notes. We read in many places in the scriptures about faithful followers, even the very heavens and earth, singing songs of salvation and redeeming love. Thanks to the keys of the Priesthood given long ago to Peter but still with us today, we can know what notes to sing to join the heavenly choirs in their songs of salvation. We no longer have to be lost in a cacophony of wrong notes with no clue on how to rejoin the melody. Thanks to the keys of the kingdom that have been shared with us, we can sing in key. We can start to recognize when we have gotten off track and even more importantly we can have a roadmap to get back to singing harmoniously with our Savior. The more we stay in key, the more tightly bound we become to these celestial harmonies. Our ear and our voice will be more finely tuned and we will stay less often as we become more and more familiar with the keys of the kingdom.