I like to sing and enjoyed the service very much, probably more so because she was so encouraging of regular singers like me. Singing has been on my mind recently, with All Together Singing in the Kitchen, "Glee," and our new keyboard. And I'm trying to incorporate singing back into our and my day. When the kids were young, I'd sing so much more--clean-up songs, getting dressed songs, wake-up songs, lullabies, blessings at mealtime--but somehow that has been replaced by the iPod.
I'm especially intrigued by the idea of singing as a meditation, having picked up the book Singing Meditation: Together in Sound and Silence by Ruthie Rosauer and Liz Hill, which explains what, how, and why. I read the whole thing in one sitting and found it intriguing, even though I didn't need the chapters on becoming a leader or leading a session. But the discussion of the perceived tensions between text and music, the connection to the divine through tonal vibrations, the interplay between sound and silence, the forms of silent spirituality (prayer, meditation, and contemplation), the discussion of singing prayers in history throughout the world, the exploration of current singing traditions from kirtan to Taizé, the outline of the typical Singing Meditation gathering, even how singing is something we've abandoned to the professionals that we should reclaim, were all thought-provoking.
Taizé. I had seen that word on the banner of a local church for years now and vaguely wondered what it was, never investigating. Now I know. Taizé is an ecumenical Christian community in France dedicated to creating peace through worshipping in chants and now a worldwide movement in song and prayer directed at youth. The Singing Meditation group seeks to create a similar practice specifically for UUs.
Now, I don't find that UUs are great hymn singers and are rather reserved in general, though so many members are trained musicians (both at my last and current congregations). But we all seem to find value, meaning, and inspiration in music. Interestingly one of my most powerful memories of my early church-going was singing in my Southern Baptist church choir's production of Come, Messiah, Come. I loved the showtune-like songs ("Come, Messiah, Come. Come chosen one of Israel . . . " and "This is the day that the Lord hath made/We will rejoice and be glad!"), I loved the story (kids in an orphanage in the Holy Land at the time of the Crucifixion/Resurrection!), I loved the performance (and my costume!). But a few negative interactions--a kid in the audience making fun of me in school the next week, another kid warning me about ever signing up for choir in school because they made you sing outloud, not getting a part in my high school musical when my best friend did--turned me off singing, though I did try to reclaim my voice as a member of Chicago's lesbian-feminist chorus Artemis Singers (I made great friends but wasn't a great singer; luckily, they were open.). And I always loved singing around the campfire in Girl Scouts. Now, I am shy about singing in church at times, very aware of my not being able to read music or sing in tune. I want to reclaim some of that earlier joy. I'm looking forward to including more song in my daily practice, including some of my favorite songs sung in UU services (as far as I can recall; my hymnal is missing):
- "Enter, Rejoice, and Come In"
- "Come, Sing a Song With Me"
- "Come, Come Whoever You Are"
- "I Hear Music in the Air"
- "Where Do We Come From? Who Are We? Where Are We Going?"
- "Keep On Moving Forward"
- "Walk in Beauty"
- "What Could One Little Person Do"
- "How Could Anyone?"
- "Singing for Our Lives"
- "Finlandia"
- "Blue Earth Home"
- "Wake, Now, My Senses"
- "Fire of Commitment"
No comments:
Post a Comment