Sunday, September 16, 2012

To the greater glory…

            I go to church to sing.
            There it is. I know I will be struck by lightning. For our family, God does not work in mysterious ways at all. Nope. He acts quickly and clearly.           
            Example:  My mother and my grandmother (her mother-in-law) were never very fond of each other. My father’s sudden death at age 54 left my mother, in her grieving and upended state, to be the one to keep a daily eye on my grandmother since my father’s sister lived 1,000 miles away in Florida. My mother religiously visited Grandma, who lived only minutes up the street from us. This was hardship duty, but she did it without a whimper. I was in college at the time and what I heard most often was how much my mother admired (not to say coveted) one of Grandma’s china lamps. After 3½ years, at the age of 82, my grandmother died in her sleep. My aunt came up from Florida, the estate was settled, my grandmother’s house was dismantled, and my aunt was fine with my mother taking the china lamp. By this time, I was home following graduation and my mother enlisted me to drive while she cradled the base of the lamp in her lap, with the lampshade, protected by a blanket, sitting safely behind us on the back seat. Not having decided yet the best placement for the lamp, my mother put it down in the basement on the floor so that there was no danger of its falling off a table. Less than two weeks later, a freak storm of nearly hurricane intensity sprang up and a mighty gust of wind blew open the cellar door. SMASH went the lamp. My mother told this story in a matter of fact way: it was not mysterious at all that God would frown on her taking possession of this coveted lamp once owned by a woman she did not like. A devout Episcopalian, my mother understood the message immediately and had no hard feelings toward God.
            Now back to me and church…
            I have been singing Episcopal hymns in Episcopal churches since I was old enough to stay “up” in church for the service instead of going “down” to the undercroft (read “basement”) for story time. And for decades I was singing from the choir stalls. Choirs, especially good choirs, are regularly reminded that they are not performing. Choir music is part of the service. No applause, no encores, no “bravos.” (Even if you happen to have done a fine job as soprano soloist in Schubert’s “Mass in G Major.”)
            But that was okay. During those decades, concurrent with singing in church, I had other singing opportunities that were performances. Applause welcome. (Plus any individual words of praise.). At Hollidaysburg Junior High I starred in the 9th grade operetta, “The Man from Venus.” In high school, the Baldwin Trio were featured at chorus concerts. (See “Harry Goes to Hollywood.”) In college, my rendition of “When I’m 64” was preserved for posterity in the first recording of my women’s a cappella group. As an adult, I sang with a number of organizations, from 150-member volunteer choruses that performed Verdi’s “Requiem” with the Philadelphia Orchestra to a 16-member professional chamber choir that performed Thomas Tallis in local churches.
            Once our children were both old enough to stay “up” in church, I stopped singing in the choir. I had all those other singing outlets and I wanted to sit in the pew with my family.
            About 13 years ago, I gave up even my extracurricular singing. Kids’ school events and our work schedules were just too tight to jam in any rehearsals. My only outlet for singing was from the pew on Sunday mornings--and that is not performing. I confess that sometimes I would get carried away, especially at Christmas, as I knew by heart all the fancy descants which I would then belt out with gusto. This led to embarrassment on the part of my children, but also, often enough, to someone turning to me and saying, “My, you have such a lovely voice.”
            Then the kids grew up. Going to church on Sunday has become less compelling then doing the crossword puzzle.
            However, when we were last up on the Cape driving to dinner in a new area, Jon pointed: “Look, there’s an Episcopal church!” He had struck a chord. I had been feeling like I was missing something. So the Sunday before Labor Day I went off to church. Seating no more than 125 souls, the building was a small jewel, with white-washed walls, dark wood beams, and brilliant stained glass windows. And they had a great music program. At the 10:00 a.m. service I was so happy to be chanting the liturgy and singing the Navy Hymn and “Come, Labor On” (hymns, coincidentally, from my father’s 1970 funeral that still make me tear up). When the service concluded, two people sped toward me, one still in her choir robe.
            “I heard you from the choir stall. Next time you are here, please come join us.”
            “Oh, that’s what I was going to say! You should be in the choir!’”
            And from the trim gray-haired woman in the seersucker suit who had been sitting in front of me, “My, you have such a lovely voice.”
            Ah. That’s what I’d been missing. Adulation…of me!
            I am a vainglorious creature, and fully expect to be a pile of ashes momentarily.

3 comments:

  1. What a nice post. I, too, have lost track of singing. Once I moved to New York I sang with Madison Avenue Presbyterian's Saint Andrew Chorale, led by the wonderful organist and music director John Weaver (of Curtis fame). I did that for about five years, but it became harder once I moved downtown and the girls were born. I did go back for a couple of years in the mid-90's, and took voice lessons too at Greenwich House Music School. Now, living in New Jersey, I'm thinking about joining a local choral group. The beauty of scared music and signing in a group is a powerful and heart-lifting experience.

    ReplyDelete
  2. She'll see you in Seventh-Heaven, dear,
    as will we all who git resurrected.
    Looky here.
    Though Im a hardcore Catholic,
    there's only One - Jesus.
    And in the following,
    the Voice gave this
    to this sinfull mortal:

    Earthling...
    Q: what's the MOST important objective
    N our grisly, papyrus, lifelong demise?
    A: winning Seventh-Heaven: in the
    Great Beyond, e-VERY-THINGs possible.

    Q: You gonna live forever?
    A: Yes, depending on where.
    Q: How long do our lifetimes last?
    A: 1-outta-1 bites-the-dust, child.

    When our eternal soul leaves our body
    and we riseabove to meet our Maker,
    only four, last things remain:
    death, judgement, Heaven or Hell
    according to the deeds WEE mortals
    have done in our finite existence.
    So... find-out what RCIA is and join!

    PS° Im a re-boot NDE:
    if you're RIGHT,
    you'll see the LIGHT.
    Follow that to the Elysian Fields;
    let's be tethered2forever Upstairs.

    ReplyDelete
  3. She'll see you in Seventh-Heaven, dear,
    as will we all who git resurrected.
    Looky here.
    Though Im a hardcore Catholic,
    there's only One - Jesus.
    And in the following,
    the Voice gave this
    to this sinfull mortal:

    Earthling...
    Q: what's the MOST important objective
    N our grisly, papyrus, lifelong demise?
    A: winning Seventh-Heaven: in the
    Great Beyond, e-VERY-THINGs possible.

    Q: You gonna live forever?
    A: Yes, depending on where.
    Q: How long do our lifetimes last?
    A: 1-outta-1 bites-the-dust, child.

    When our eternal soul leaves our body
    and we riseabove to meet our Maker,
    only four, last things remain:
    death, judgement, Heaven or Hell
    according to the deeds WEE mortals
    have done in our finite existence.
    So... find-out what RCIA is and join!

    PS° Im a re-boot NDE:
    if you're RIGHT,
    you'll see the LIGHT.
    Follow that to the Elysian Fields;
    let's be tethered2forever Upstairs.

    ReplyDelete