Music Matters

January 2009
Stained Glass

This morning, while doing my usual worship warm-up and prep at the piano, I looked back at the Tiffany window that graces the rear wall of the Sanctuary and it looked as if someone turned a spotlight on behind it. It glimmered and sparkled like I had never seen before. Maybe it is the special angle of the sun at this time of year; maybe I was just in the right place at the right time.

The music ministry at The Park is growing both in size and its breadth. One of the ways that we are trying to celebrate the wonderful diversity within our congregation is by drawing from many musical and cultural traditions. So, we started a Gospel Choir which has rehearsed over the past three weeks. It is a small group (we are going to grow as we go!) that sang in worship for the first time this morning. As might be expected, folks were a little nervous; and quite frankly, the first part of rehearsal made me nervous, as I sensed we were lagging vocally and struggling to get a good unison sound. However, we were well-prepared and I felt that pushing too hard was not going to help us relax.

So many choral directors struggle with this same experience: we wish we could bottle our rehearsals and take them out for Sunday mornings. But we work with human beings who have emotions, who wake up late or who struggle sleeping, or whose voices are just not as warmed up at 10 a.m. on Sunday as they are on Friday evening at 8 p.m. There is a delicate balance that we sometimes struggle to maintain - being gracious and affirming, while at the same time challenging people to offer their best. When we don’t get what we want or expect from folks, it is easy to get frustrated or even angry and I find that those of us who do full-time ministry in the church work have the hardest time of it. We work especially hard to get things just right - our anthems, our sermons, the bulletin formatting, the preparation of the worship space. Just like Tiffany, we put a lot of work into the details - all very important, mind you - and there is an art and a craft to what we do.

But what the Spirit whispered into my ear, and what I shared with the choir during a rehearsal break, is that we are like that stained glass. We did all that we could to prepare but ultimately it is not about us. We are beautiful, multi-colored, sometimes-imperfect but always-loved pieces of glass that the Creator shines through. We are nothing without the light, the living energy and presence of God through us when we open our mouths to pray, preach or sing. And the beauty of the window is the way that the colors combine and overlap to bring an even greater beauty and richness to the whole. It is more beautiful than we can even imagine!

I won’t claim that our singing was perfect, but I do want to believe that God got all the praise as we let the Light shine through us this morning. It is a funny spiritual principle - the less tightly we hold onto outcomes, the more we can be drawn into a different, deeper sort of participation. And when we get out of the way and let God do God’s work through us, it creates a space for others to celebrate God’s goodness and love with us, too. And that is worship in the end, isn’t it? It’s not a highly self-concious act but something that helps to redirect our focus and attention to the One who is worthy of all our praise.

—Paul M. Vasile

If you have suggestions or ideas for future columns, please contact:
Jan Kraybill
Principal Organist and Director of Music
Community of Christ Headquarters
Independence, MO, USA

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