I have a dear friend who is a gifted musical-type person. Not only is she a music teacher, but she also is an able musical director, in fact, presently she is a choir director with a community choir in the West end of Toronto.
Now, I have had the occasion to hear glimpses of this choir as it has practised and it is truly a very gifted group of singers. They sounded rich and vibrant as their harmonies effortlessly blend together. This is a choir that would give the cast of Glee a run for their money!
Recently I asked my friend when the choir would give their first performance, with her as their director, and she commented that a public performance wasn’t on the horizon anytime soon. In fact, they probably won’t perform publicly this year at all.
Quite frankly, I was surprised! I mean to my untrained, over-strained, old ears, they sounded ready for prime time. From their perspective, it seems they have lost a few members so they are feeling a bit lacking in some areas. I have no way of knowing if their fears are founded, but it doesn’t sound to me like they are. They seem more than ready to spread some musical love right now.
I mean, if I had the pipes that any of the people in this choir have, you would find me singing anywhere and everywhere. I would even sing my sermons! (I only do that now when I am illustrating the reality of hell as a place of everlasting torment. If I want to express the idea of degrees of torment in hell, I finish up with a country song.)
I bring this story to your attention because after our talk, I couldn’t help but get this picture in my mind of a group of singers, practising every week, without any particular goals to go out and perform. I mean they aren’t practising for any upcoming event or competition. They aren’t planning to sing in an old age home or a church somewhere, or for some community fund-raising event. At this point in time, they just get together, practice, have some fun, do a bit of socializing and then call it a night.
I am sure that I am missing something. I probably don’t have the full story, but it just seems to me that you practice as a choir so that you can then go out and perform and share your gift of music with others. It just doesn’t seem to me that singing for singing’s sake is enough, then again with my voice, it would never occur to me to sing just for the sheer enjoyment of singing.
Perhaps, I am being a bit harsh here. I mean, aren’t we just like this choir in the church sometimes? Don’t we come to church to practice, socialize, have some fun and then we call it a day? Do we not have a hard time taking our songs to the streets? Don’t we often gather without any set goal in mind? Don’t we see being singers in the Kingdom as the thing we do only together on Sundays, rather than the thing we do as we walk out the door on Monday mornings?
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16, NIV)
