Dear St. Paul’s Family,
Whenever I visit Bob Stephenson in the nursing home, we inevitably swap high school band stories. He was, as many of you know, a long-time and well-loved director of bands here in town. And I was, as many of you don’t know, a long-time bass clarinet player for my junior and senior high concert bands. Bob and I love comparing notes when we visit: we talk about the pieces we enjoyed performing, state superior ratings we won over the years, and, most importantly, the valuable life lessons we learned from being involved in the arts as kids.
Last week, when I paid Bob a visit at the Villa, I asked him about a memory that had popped into my head. I said, “Bob, there was one practice session when our band director was rehearsing O Sacred Head, Now Wounded with us for state competition. We were having trouble playing in tune, breathing in the right place, and getting a feel for the intense emotional weight of the song. So then he gave us a set of instructions that caught us all off-guard.
“Everyone, drop your instruments,” my band director said. “Let’s start from the beginning, but this time, sing your parts.”
We were dumbfounded. Most of us couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, and we were better off singing with the fire sprinklers on so we could pretend we were in the shower. But our director plowed ahead, handing out the lyrics so we could start. He raised his baton, and I started to sing the low, mournful bass line with the tubas and baritones. The clarinetists and flautists sang the haunting melody, and the French horn players and saxophonists sang the rich mid-range harmonies.
When I described the whole scene to Bob Stephenson, he smiled. “I bet it worked,” he said. “I used to do that with my kids all the time.” And he was right, of course. After we finished singing our parts and picked up our instruments again, we played the piece to near perfection. We played with better intonation, and a heightened sensitivity to the textures and emotions of the music. We listened to each other, breathed together, crescendoed together, and performed the piece all the way to a state superior rating later that spring.
“I don’t know why it works,” Bob told me. “It just does.”
If there’s a book out there titled, All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned from High School Concert Band, surely there would be a chapter titled, “If You Can Sing It, Then You Can Play It.” Because I think there’s a valuable lesson here that can apply to many aspects of life, particularly to the Christian faith.
I think about the many songs that people in both biblical and church history learned to sing, guiding them to new visions of freedom and beauty. Only after singing these songs could they claim the promise contained in them. I think about Miriam, the Kingdom’s first band director, who led the former Israelite slaves away from Egypt and into the wilderness by teaching them to sing the Shirat HaYam, the “Song of the Sea,” recorded for us in Exodus 15:20-21:
‘Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.’
And I think about the “Songs of the Suffering Servant,” from Isaiah, sung to a people in exile awaiting their liberation. The prophet stirred the imagination of the hopeless exiles, inviting them to envision the arrival of one who would bear their suffering and misery, and lead them to freedom.
Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench
(Isaiah 42:1-3)
And who can forget the incredible songs that emerged from the African-American slave experience? From them we learn a powerful example of how singing a song together can unify a people and encourage them never to lose heart in the face of seemingly insurmountable oppression. Can’t you hear them singing, “We Shall Overcome”?
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome someday;
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe,
We shall overcome someday.
The Lord will see us through, The Lord will see us through,
The Lord will see us through someday;
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe,
We shall overcome someday
And last February, with the world watching, millions of Egyptians marched through Tahrir Square in Cairo, staging non-violent protests against an oppressive dictator. Undeterred by threats of violence, the protestors pressed on, unified in one voice, singing together Sout al Horeya, “The Song of Freedom:”
I went down to the streets, vowing not to return
And wrote with my blood on every street
Our voices reached those who could not hear them
And we broke through all barriers
Our weapon was our dreams
And tomorrow is looking as bright as it seems
For ages we’ve been waiting
Searching but unable to find our place
In every street in my country the sound of freedom is calling
There’s power in singing together. It prepares us to perform.
I don’t know the kind of spiritual condition in which today’s Mid-Week Message greets you. We are, after all, in the middle of yet another Lenten season, traversing a journey that we know all too well. Perhaps your spirit has been numbed by familiarity, and you treat this Lent as just another season in just another year. Maybe, like our high school band that day, you’re just going through the motions, playing without passion, and thumbing through the notes with more apathy than melody. If your life is out of tune, and you feel like you’re not quite in harmony with God and those around you, then maybe it’s time to drop your instrument and start singing your part.
If you’re looking for a song to sing, then try this one. It’s the earliest Christian hymn, and one that is very appropriate to learn as we prepare for the cross:
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:1-11)
If you sing it, then you can practice it. And if you practice it, then you can perform it with excellence, beauty, and joy. I don’t know how it works, and neither does Bob Stephenson. It just does, and it’s worth trying.
Grace and Peace,
Magrey
The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org
ST. PAUL’S FEATURED IN NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
The United Methodist Review is the national newspaper of the United Methodist Church. Since we are one of four United Methodist churches to receive a clergy renewal grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., we will be featured in an upcoming article. This is a wonderful way to share with the denomination the great work of St. Paul’s! The reporter would like to have some pictures of me doing clergy-related work outside the pulpit, so if you have any pictures we can borrow and scan, please send them to the church office.
THIS WEEK: EXPIATION: TO CLEANSE US OF SIN
We continue our sermon series through the seven atonement theories of the cross by focusing on the image of cleansing. The official theological term is “Expiation,” which is the work that Christ does to clean us of the sins that stain our lives. The sermon is based on 1 John 1:5-9.
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
Please consult the display in the narthex for items that you can purchase and donate for this summer’s Vacation Bible School. Monetary donations are also welcome. VBS takes place from June 13-17, from 9am to 12pm, and we will have registrations available for the first two weeks in May. VBS is for kids Pre-K through completion of 5th Grade.
YOUTH MURDER MYSTERY NIGHT
All youth are invited to join us for a murder mystery event at the church on April 17 from 4:00-6:00. Please let the church office know by April 11 that you are coming, so that we can give you information about the character you are playing.
HOT DOG DAYS
We are exploring participation in this year’s Cherokee Hot Dog Days on May 12, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. We would like to take part in the event as an opportunity to promote our upcoming Vacation Bible School to the kids who attend. We are needing people to help set up, cook, and serve on that day. If you would like to help out with Hot Dog Days, please contact the church office.
NEW MEMBERS JOINING APRIL 10
We are excited to welcome about twenty new members into our church on April 10. If you are interested in joining, please contact the church office. And as a reminder, please wear your name tag over the next several weeks so that our new members can learn who you are.
TALENT’S FUND MEETING APRIL 10
Chuck Tolzin has assembled an exciting group of about ten people to serve on the revitalized Talent’s Fund, and he continues to seek the input of interested persons. If you would like to explore ways for the church to creatively fund the hiring of a new children and youth person, join the team on this Sunday for a meeting after the worship service.
To view past editions of the Mid-Week Message, visit http://mdevega.blogspot.com
For more information about St. Paul's United Methodist Church, visit our website at http://www.cherokeespumc.org
To download the latest Sunday "Daybreak" radio devotional, visit our blogsite at http://blog.cherokeespumc.org
To unsubscribe from this e-mail distribution list, please reply to this e-mail and write "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.
No comments:
Post a Comment