To paraphrase a popular adage, the way to a teenager's heart is probably not via the stomach but through the music he or she hears.

Popular music today has taken on many forms. Some of it lifts our spirits or even inspires us; some invokes memories of bygone times. But much of "modern-day music" is harsh and degrading and even unfit as mere background noise. Yet the music industry continues to produce millions of compact discs and tapes each year that find their way to stores and eventually into homes around the world. Some of this material is "pirated" for resale in some countries - copied without regard to artist or producers and sold well below the manufacturer's prices. Thousands of tickets are sold each year to concerts; many musicians and artists command multimillion-dollar contracts, all reinforcing the image that any music sells.We delight in the forms of music that promote spirituality and even patriotism, that preserve cultural heritages, that inspire us or ennoble us to greater purposes. We also echo others who condemn lyrics that urge violence against individuals or certain segments of society, that degrade the human condition or spirit, that profane Deity and sacred things or promote only evil.

President Ezra Taft Benson counseled: "Rock music, with its instant physical appeal, is an ideal door-crasher, for the devil knows that music has the power to ennoble or corrupt, to purify or pollute. He will not forget to use its subtle power against you. His sounds come from the dark world of drugs, immorality, obscenity and anarchy. His sounds are flooding the earth. It is his day - a day that is to become as the days of Noah before the Second Coming, for the prophets have so predicted. The signs are clear. The signs are here in this blessed land. You cannot escape this mass media environment which is controlled by financial censorship. Records, radio, television, movies magazines - all are monopolized by the money managers who are guided by one ethic, the words wealth and power." (BYU 10-stake fireside, May 7, 1972.)

Some of this music cited by President Benson a mere two decades ago has now found its way to "acceptability" in some circles, being used in commercials or linked to various products. Will today's music now being loudly criticized by religious and political leaders alike produce the advertising jingles of the 21st century? One can only wonder. If the value of music is only considered by the dollars - or francs, pounds, pesos, marks or whatever - it generates, what does that tell us about ourselves?

The music Latter-day Saints choose to listen to should promote virtuous thoughts and actions; it should do more than merely fill the air - and air waves - with so much noise. Worthy music, like great books, should be savored and enjoyed, not merely preserved for casual listening. We need to go beyond merely "liking" it, to become familiar with it and the artists, to replay it not for mere listening pleasure but to touch our minds as well as our hearts.

The Lord says, "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads." (D&C 25:12)

More than a decade ago, a new hymnal was published and placed in meetinghouses. A portion of the Sunday School hour was devoted to learning new hymns, their arrangements and to familiarize us with their message. This time was not merely "practice" time, it was hymn-singing - worshiping our Father in Heaven and His Son in song. How familiar are we with the hymnal today? Do we use it regularly in our home evenings or other gatherings? Do we join in singing the hymns in our Church meetings? Do we still stumble over some of the words or fall back on arrangements of the past? Do we sing the hymns of the Church at funerals or reflect on them during other challenging times?

In the preface to the hymnal, the First Presidency said: "Inspirational music is an essential part of our church meetings. The hymns invite the Spirit of the Lord, create a feeling of reverence, unify us as members and provide a way for us to offer praises to the Lord. Some of the greatest sermons are preached by the singing of hymns. Hymns move us to repentance and good works, build testimony and faith, comfort the weary, console the mourning, and inspire us to endure to the end."

The First Presidency urges us to sing the hymns with our families, to fill our homes with worthy music. By doing so, the hymns can give us courage or move us to righteous action. What other music today can claim to do that? The hymns of the Church then "can fill our souls with heavenly thoughts and bring us a spirit of peace." That is value indeed.