Fort Worth Opera Singer Shares How Music Has Shaped Her Spiritual Life
Taffee BeckerWhat if our souls could experience the ebb and peaceful flow of internal stanzas of intertwining staffs, notes, and harmonies of life, uninhibited by our internal defects, as we attempt to be more Christlike?
Music has the power to soothe the soul. It also has the ability to teach us life lessons with its perfect notes and melodic prose. One can at times recall the very place, event, or moment in time when a particular song spoke truth to the heart, the associated feelings, insights revealed, and their lasting influence in life.
Having just finished her first season singing with the Fort Worth Opera in 2023, performing in a modern requiem and Verdi’s Aida, Jeanette Furgo has captured the joy of music in her life. A devoted musical artist, she has also sung with the Fort Worth Chorale and the Southwestern Masters Chorale for three years each with her musical pursuits requiring three-hour-long practices three times a week. Additionally, Furgo has been a private voice teacher for nine years in the Keller ISD and also works part-time at Timber Creek High School in Fort Worth. With such a busy musical life, Furgo is appreciative of the support she receives from her husband Jeff and their three children 18, 13, and 11 years old.
While talking with Jeanette one evening, her excitement grew as she shared something that had been on her mind for a couple of months. She had re-read an April 2019 General Conference address, The Atonement of Jesus Christ, given by Ted A Callister, former General Sunday School President for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jeanette’s interest in this brilliant lawyer was fueled by the memory of her own father, who works in the legal profession himself and holds a Juris Doctorate. She enjoys reading all that Brother Callister writes.
In this 11-minute talk, Brother Callister provided a summary of The Atonement of Jesus Christ and four things that it covers. First, the Lord redeems us from physical death through His resurrection. Second, he redeems us from spiritual death, which is separation from the Savior we experience because of our sins or mistakes. Third, the Savior helps us with our afflictions and trials, those things outside of us. And lastly, he helps us with our individual internal weaknesses and infirmities.
Jeanette teaches teens, ages 14 to 15, in Sunday School. This is her favorite age to teach. She lovingly says she tries to continually “pound into them” that Christ gives them power with their flaws on the inside and whatever comes to them on the outside. She asks them to “loan him your difficulties or let Him share with you the tough things.”
The Savior’s Atonement can provide comfort while one may experience afflictions. Cancer as an example is not a sin, but the Savior’s atonement also provides comfort. Jeanette then led into an epiphany she shared as she thought about her own sins, shortcomings, and basic character flaws. She spent some time thinking about the application of this talk she had read for several months. She was considering her inside character defects.
In talking to her friend about this, Jeanette mentioned she was critical of others at times. Her friend said, “Of course you are critical, you are a music teacher, and that is part of your correctional teaching.” Jeanette thought on this and said she realized “she tells a student a musical note should be Bb, not a B, or notes a student has come in a little early on their vocal passage.”
Thoughts are flowing from Jeanette as she shares, “The human race seems to be naturally born to push themselves to do better.” She is “fascinated with how human beings practice to do better continually to beat their personal best. A chef wants to make the perfect souffle and so he practices until it is perfect. Athletes continue to shave off time from their best marathon run, and musicians practice to become more accomplished at instruments or with their voice.”
As a teacher, one thing Jeanette has observed over the years with her vocal lesson students is that those who practice 20 minutes a day every day, “experience a greater personal impact,” and she sees a bigger difference, because of their practice consistency. There is much more growth over time for these students than for those who only practice one hour on the weekend.
The discipline of practice opened Jeanette’s mind to a different kind of message. It brought her back to thoughts about making Christlike adjustments – consistently looking at her own inside flaws. Some call these character flaws. One of her tendencies, she reminded herself, was a tendency to be critical of others at times. A thought suggests what if our souls could experience the ebb and peaceful flow of internal stanzas of intertwining staffs, notes, and harmonies of life, uninhibited by our internal defects, as we attempt to be more Christlike.
An idea was becoming a melodic crescendo in her head as she began to incorporate the idea of practicing a new focus on personal flaws 20 minutes a day, every day. She then looked up the opposite meaning of “critical” and found it to be “praise.” Jeanette says, “I have begun to practice telling my students what’s wonderful about their Mozart piece. I am practicing generosity a little more day by day. Character trait fixes require that I ask the Lord for His help.”
Even if a person does not believe in God, Jeanette believes if you want a character of goodness, you can obtain this goal by practicing 20 minutes a day, every day. She is committed to practicing a Christlike character. She says, “Surely if I can stick with this 20 minutes daily, taking the moments to reflect inwardly, I will be closer to becoming more Christlike over my lifetime.”
These small daily personal improvement attempts, coupled with prayer, help us all to perfect the melody of our own beautiful life stories. This is a powerful idea for self-improvement along life’s journey. Applied daily, certainly the years ahead will bless one’s own life as well as those around them.
[Jeanette Furgo is a member of the Saratoga congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.]
Taffee Becker is an executive assistant and communications office manager for a county hospital. She loves time with family, the arts, hiking, camping, and traveling.
