The Sound of Music April 2010
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity… It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
~ Melodie Beattie
“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.”
~ Eric Hoffer
This past fall was challenging because of the losses of many who were closely involved with our Music Program. These losses were due to changes of physical location, job conflicts, or the need to “take a sabbatical from church.” I was discouraged, disheartened and felt worn and spent before the church year had begun. And, I felt responsible somehow and double-checked to make sure it was not something I was doing and could correct. I learned valuable lessons from this experience. I learned to accept comfort from friends, to deepen my trust and faith, to persevere, and most importantly, the fact that I have choices with my attitude. I can choose to fight or resist whatever is happening, and create resistance, or I can accept things the way they are, be in the flow, and find things to be grateful for. I chose an attitude of gratitude and shifts began to occur. And new people began coming to sing – eleven new singers – and new music to share emerged that I would never have dreamed of.
This month I want to focus my gratitude on the members of our adult choirs. These dedicated singers come to rehearsal, week after week, often driving in snowy and icy conditions, and several commute two hours. They often work on music at home with sound files that are provided, and they arrive early on Sunday mornings to rehearse and share the gift of music. They try new ways of singing and work hard to convey the meaning of the music. And I am grateful. I am grateful for our faithful members who have sung for our church for years and I am grateful for our eleven newer singers this year - Bev, Carl, Chris, Emily, Felicity, Heather, John, Karen, Karen, Katie, and Sarah. Each choir member has been a great source of inspiration to me, and to paraphrase Albert Schweitzer, rekindled my light with a spark from their light. And I am grateful.
This month I also would like to lift up Bob Gross as our unsung hero. He quietly gives so freely with his beautiful music and will be offering, yet again, one of his beautiful chamber music concerts Sunday, April 4, at 3 PM. Come and enjoy the exquisite beauty of the music Bob and his friend share and allow the music carry you to a place of acceptance and gratitude.
Other music in April will include:
4 Voices of Community – “Festival Gloria”
11 Scott DeVeaux and friends
18 Voices of Community – “We are One” and “Come in Peace”
25 Chamber Singers
If you would like to share your gratitude and honor someone who has rekindled your light we are still in need of large print hymnals and songbooks, and we have special dedication plates and inserts for you.
And lastly, I express my most heartfelt gratitude to all of you and would like to extend a warm invitation to attend a glorious concert Saturday, April 10, by the Women’s Chorus from UVA. This is my other part-time job, and there are four free tickets available to the first four people who write a sentence or two about music and worship.
With gratitude,
KaeRenae Mitchell
Director of Music
434-293-8179, 4#