Resounding Choir

I love how things come together beautifully sometimes, especially when I feel that what I have done feels more like clean up duty rather than a wonderful piece of music or a Monet masterpiece.  Those moments when the different aspects of my life blend into one another in such a magical way inspire me to be greater than I am.  They help me keep my corner of the world in perspective, not only in thinking of myself as more than I am, but also in not selling myself short.

I simply love music!  I have been playing the flute since I was 12 years old and I love to sing.  When I am at my lowest points, I tend to feel better by turning on a favorite CD and belting along with the music until my mood is lifted.  It's very therapeutic for me, and there is nothing like the right songs to put a pep back in my step. 

I'm involved in choir at my church and thoroughly enjoy learning all the music that we sing.  Since I am a second soprano, I often enjoy being a part of the melody of the songs.  It's easy to keep in step with the soundtrack because usually I just have to listen for that melody in order to memorize the songs.  We have a rule:  listen to the music 3 times and sing along with it once.  In other words, just listen in order to get the parts down correctly.

Right now, we are working on our Christmas music.  And, as is customary, a few of the songs are simpler for me to learn.  There are, however, currently a few songs that we are working on in which my part has a harmonic background.  Those songs do make for interesting rehearsals for me, and they give me a sense of how some of the other parts may feel sometimes.

As those with a musical background may know, the notes to a harmony don't always sound right when done alone.  In fact, they may sound downright awkward and flat or sharp.  It can sound almost like fingernails on a chalkboard and discordant to the ears, quite unpleasant.  But when blended with the other harmonies and with the main melody, a wonderful choral sound is achieved.  That sound cannot come to pass unless some voices are willing to lend themselves to a part that seems less appealing than others.

The same is true in life itself.  Music is a wonderful example of how beautiful diversity can be when everyone works together to make a work of art.  For there is no greater work of art than life itself.  But life itself would be boring, less fulfilling, if everyone did the same thing.  We need that diversity in order not only to have beauty, but also to survive.

Think about it.  If everyone was a doctor and focused on the human body, then we would have trash piling up to our ears.  We need the sanitation workers.  We need the janitors and the coaches and the teachers.  We need the computer programmers and the farmers, the waiters and the busboys and the cooks, the window washers, the secretaries and the water conditioning plant workers.  We need the police officers and the firefighters, the bailiffs, the attorneys, and the judges. 

Some of these professions are looked at with envy.  Some are seen as a blight in the eye of the upper crust.  But they are all, as are many others, necessary for the environment in which we live here.  We all give something to society.  We must not take each other for granted or look down on another because their musical part doesn't sound as appealing as ours.  Nor should we see ourselves as less important because we are nannies, housewives, or dog walkers, an apparently minor voice in the world.  For I guarantee you, that it may be that very profession, that very voice, who gives the song of everyday life that special sound that causes the cacophony of this world to suddenly sing like a host of angels.