"He who sings scares away his woes."
Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist (1547-1616)
The new year is a turning, a time for revelations of things previously unseen, and so it is with 2007. If you recall, because of the power outage last December, many of us had come from cold homes to a church whose power had just been restored the night before. Coldness was in the air and on our minds and so, on December 17 when we found a welcoming fire burning in the Lounge fireplace and a not-yet-warmed-up Sanctuary, I suggested that we hold the service right there in the Lounge. Chairs and sofas were quickly arranged and our "family" gathered together near a welcome heat source and in the warmth of human closeness.
The service had a special feel to it that day and I noticed that the singing was more joyous than usual. Later, a member of the congregation came to me and said that she really enjoyed singing that day -- she felt like singing more because her voice didn't stand out as it does when she sings in the Sanctuary with empty pews surrounding her. If you will allow me this metaphor: like flowers in a vase or garden, when scattered and lonely, their "voice" is weakened; when clustered, their colors virtually sing out. And so it is with the congregation at KCC: if you cluster in the pews you will encourage each other to sing out!
The storm taught us many things. I thought it was disaster-preparedness, or at least Mother Nature's way of getting us to clean out our refrigerators. Never did I realize that this simple lesson in community singing would be part of the message.
I've noticed on those occasions when fellowship and food precede a service, people flock into the Sanctuary and sit up front! May we mimic that behavior and do it before the food and fellowship! Will you come into the Sanctuary and sit closer to the front, sit closer together, try a different spot from your normal location, start the new year with renewed singing energy? I assure you that it will enhance your worship experience.
I often tell the choir that a church service is "living theater," and, in truth, the first
theater was a church. In a UCC Musicians newsletter, author Thomas Bohlert reminds us that, contrary
to popular notion, clergy and musicians are NOT at center stage in the worship service. He quotes
Danish philosopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard (1813-55) who said that, "indeed, it should be
a performance, but in the theater of worship, clergy and musicians are the prompters, members of the
congregation are the actors, and God is the audience.!"
So, please sit together and sing together, sing to God
--- and scare away your woes!
Ele Nash