Make Us One

As a missionary in Arizona, I served with a remarkable ward missionary named Billy Snead. There are a lot of reasons to remember Billy. He was one of the few black members I met on my mission. In spite of a pretty severe stutter, he was fearless in speaking to investigators, members, and missionaries alike. He was genuinely friendly to everyone. His sense of humor was delightful. He made the world's best homemade macaroni and cheese, and he knew it.

He also sang like an angel. I don't know how to describe his voice. It was gentle, but powerful. It had an almost raspy edge to it, but didn't grate the ears. Instead, it felt like the words he sang were simultaneously being trumpeted across a majestic landscape and whispered into the heart of a child. When he sang, his stutter disappeared. He told every missionary he served with that upon their return home, he would fly to their ward, wherever that may be, and sing in their sacrament meeting.

Billy loved to tell the story of how he once sang at a meeting where the prophet was in attendance. Afterwards, the prophet told him he had a wonderful voice, and that it would take him places. Billy took that as a prophecy, and cited the many, many places he'd been to sing for his missionaries as evidence of its fulfillment. 

The man could probably have had a professional career as a singer, but that's not how he defined success. 

Billy was the one who introduced me to a song called Make Us One, by Sally DeFord. Nobody will ever sing it like Billy, but here's a good enough version.

This song is perfect. I don't care what anyone says. It's perfect because whenever I hear it, I hear it in Billy's voice, so imperfections in the performance don't matter. It's also perfect because the lyrics are perfect. They speak the deepest prayers of my heart. Technical considerations don't matter. No song I know has ever encapsulated the longing for unity, for peace, for strength in adversity in this way, while at the same time expressing so purely the purposes of these things, and the utter need to rely on the Lord for them, because they are so clearly beyond our human power to achieve. 

It's a perfect song. 

Billy, I remember you. I don't know if you're still around, but thank you for your service, thank you for your voice, and thank you for giving me the gift of this music.