David Wesley

It's hard to believe that 10 years have passed since I released my Christmas album in 2015. As you turn your thoughts towards another Christmas, be reminded that our true hope lies in the coming of Emmanuel!

1 week ago | [YT] | 85

David Wesley

I read a fascinating article today about the neuropsychology of revenge. Long story short: Grievances, both real and imagined, activate the neural circuitry of pain, and revenge activates the dopaminergic reward system. But the pleasure and relief don’t last. It’s a cycle that bears a striking resemblance to addiction - a void, a craving, and a temporary fix.

Politics today seem to have descended into this trap: the endless pursuit of “gotcha” moments and delight in the fall of adversaries. But those victories, those moments of so-called comeuppance, provide only momentary satisfaction.

It turns out that forgiveness offers more lasting relief. Even working through an imaginary scenario of accountability and forgiveness can be a physical healing experience for our brains. Forgiveness is, more often than not, of greater benefit to the victim than the perpetrator - partly because the perpetrator may not have meant offense, or is perhaps too callous to care.

So when Jesus says to forgive our brother 70 x 7 times, He is offering not just external peace (escaping a cycle of revenge), but a true balm for the soul.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 163

David Wesley

If only all interactions between Christians could be so warm and constructive.😉 Here is the comment on Evolution of Worship Music and my response. I’ve heard this complaint many times, but never so obtusely:

Comment: “This is pathetic! There is no such thing as ‘worship music’ really! Worship is the highest response we ever have to present unto God. Singing is praise unto God, and is very important, but it is not worship! If you want to know more about worship of God look up the first time worship is stated in the bible and learn from there.”

Response: “Worship is more than music, but it’s not accurate to say singing isn’t worship. Praise is actually one form of worship — a subset of it.
Scripture shows many sung acts of worship that aren’t strictly praise: laments (Psalm 13), confessions (Psalm 51), and songs of remembrance (Deut. 32).
The first mention of worship in Genesis 22 shows obedience as worship, but later the Psalms and the early church include music as a worship expression too. So while all praise is worship, not all worship is praise — and worship music is a real, biblical concept.”

We can’t read hearts, but I feel my edification and growth in understanding was not the goal of this comment. Thoughts?

1 month ago | [YT] | 97

David Wesley

Thanks to little Malachi for the flattering portrait. I've never looked so trim! He and his big brother Gabriel have been fans for years, so it was a treat to meet them this morning.

2 months ago | [YT] | 174

David Wesley

Today I’m leading worship at Westdale Park Church, celebrating their 100th anniversary. I’ve been told there will be pulled pork and brisket, so how could I say no??

2 months ago | [YT] | 109

David Wesley

Next month I'll be the musical guest for the 100th anniversary of Westdale Park Church in Napanee, Ontario. As part of the celebration, I'll be pulling one song from each decade since 1925. Do you have a favorite decade for music? Mind you, many of the songs you liked during a particular decade might have been written long before!

3 months ago | [YT] | 102

David Wesley

Plenty of interesting comments on The Love of God (Virtual Virtual Choir) about the use of AI. Everything from "super creepy" to "Wow! putting AI into good and elevating use!" But one was a real head scratcher.

I responded to a comment lamenting the lack of real singers, mentioning the extreme time commitment of a real virtual choir. The answer: "Not really a good excuse. You were able to do it many times before. This video is very unsettling. Not a fan at all."

Times change. The biggest virtual choir was #6 in 2020, and interest in doing them waned continually over the years. I always fretted getting enough voices for each part. It's not just the hours required, but the emotional roller coaster each project put me through. Each time I would work up the courage to have high expectations, but could never please anyone - even participants that would complain about the parts written.

Using AI to bring an arrangement to life is just a reflection of the current reality. I'm a student, a professional, and a father, with no time, resources, or emotional bandwidth to do things the old way.

But most importantly, I wanted to get an AI choir project out quickly so I could be the first to achieve this technical milestone. In a year or two, maybe every 5-year-old will be able to generate something like this with a simple text prompt - who knows? But in the meantime, I'm glad that I could push through many technical hurdles to produce something true and uplifting. AI is being used for some truly terrible things these days. I'm doing my part to shine a bit of light into the darkness.

3 months ago | [YT] | 137

David Wesley

It’s maybe a bit ironic, but this good news about the performance of my YouTube channel helps confirm that retiring was the right move. I haven’t uploaded anything new and I’ve done absolutely nothing to promote my videos. There’s no high profile person sharing my content. Yet the YouTube algorithm decided to like me again, leading to 1700 new subscribers and a sustained increase in views and comments. Sure, I’m glad that my back catalog can be a blessing. However, this blip is a good reminder that much of the success I had was just from the inscrutable caprices of an impersonal algorithm. Likewise, the “failures” I had along the way were also largely out of my control! So - for any aspiring YouTubers out there - do it because you enjoy the process and value (as I do) the friends you make along the way!

5 months ago | [YT] | 234

David Wesley

Hi all! One year ago today was the release of my final virtual choir project. I just wanted to let you know about the most important development in my life since my YouTube retirement last October.

Pulling away from creating music gave me more time to evaluate where my life and career were heading. I enjoy my current position in Endoscopy, especially with no nights/weekends/holidays. However, there is zero prospect of a full-time job for me there in the foreseeable future. That means scraping together hours in multiple departments to make ends meet, or taking a full-time job elsewhere in a less desirable role. I interviewed for a nurse educator position, but the internal hiring process ended up being a little song and dance to allow the director the external hire she had in mind from the outset. Le sigh...

So, after a lot of pondering, praying, and researching, I returned to an idea I had abandoned years ago because the time and resources required always seemed impractical. Well, apparently the right time is now!

I've been accepted into a Master of Nursing program in the nurse practitioner stream! I started courses this month, and I should be finished in just over two years. There are fewer than 10,000 nurse practitioners in Canada, out of 450,000 nurses of all stripes. So I'll be joining a relatively exclusive club. When I'm done I will be able to work autonomously as a primary care provider, and the shortage for those roles has never been greater.

As you can imagine, my studies are already swallowing up a lot of time, so you probably won't be hearing much from me. In the meantime, feel free to enjoy my back catalogue of videos if you need a little pick-me-up and some reinforcement of the gospel message. Take care!

6 months ago | [YT] | 673

David Wesley

This Virtual Choir Hall of Fame would be incomplete without Daniel Meek. I reached out to Daniel in early 2020 to see if we could incorporate ASL into the next virtual choir project. With a bit of hard work, we were able to create a workflow for creating ASL guide videos. I can't imagine the choir without including this beautiful form of communication, which reaches an under-served people group in the church and the wider world.

Please give your thanks to Daniel for his amazing contribution over the last 5 years!

1 year ago | [YT] | 173