The Music We Sing

A special choir conductor was invited.
The advanced choirs of several high schools joined him.
They practiced for days.
That's lots and lots of singing.

Then a special concert was held.

And those of us in the audience had the pleasure to just listen.
To sit for an hour and let these voices soak into our souls.
It felt like movement.
The notes carried through the room with a power to move you.
It was a gift.

The next day, Child #1 and I casually discussed the concert. Which songs were our favorites, which ones were difficult to sing. That sort of thing. And she asked about one song in particular. A song that the Director had given the singers free range to decide their own tempo and which notes to sing when. From where she stood in the group, it sounded terrible and uninspiring.

So I explained what it sounded like from where I stood. It was glorious. Every individual voice sang to their own rhythm. But when combined all together, it became living music. It felt like ocean waves on a current.

What a stark contrast. The sounds she heard compared to the ones I received. It's given me pause. To wonder about where we stand and what we hear.

Don't we often feel as if our efforts, our work, our daily tasks sound terrible and uninspiring? Too mundane to be anything but ordinary? Yes, I really think we do.

Maybe we simply need to take a little time to see how our voice is being received. How it's heard by those around us. It may just change the way we view the music of our lives. Because our words, our work, our efforts have the power to move. To cast the ordinary into a light that makes it shine like a gift.

No matter our rhythm.
No matter the notes we sing or the pattern we follow.
We all have music to sing.

Let it be glorious.