How Can I Keep From Singing?

"My life flows on in endless song;
Above earth’s lamentation
I hear the sweet though far off hymn
That hails a new creation. . ."


The past couple of weeks have been. . .intense.

They were already going to be pretty intense, since I was in charge of the CROP Walk last Sunday, and we were supposed to have the new carpet laid in the fellowship hall Monday-Wednesday, and we were trying to finish up "Free in Christ to Serve the Neighbor" (aka sexuality study part three) so that we could get our comments in to the ELCA by the November 1 deadline, and I had two concerts with the Susquehanna Valley Chorale in two different performance halls, which meant beaucoup rehearsals, not to mention the concerts themselves.

Then two members of the congregation died on October 4th. And our organist's mother died on the 5th. Which just ratcheted the intensity up a couple more notches, because now there were three families in grief to care for, two funerals to plan and preside over (our organist's mother was a member of a sister congregation), a substitute funeral organist to find, and a carpet installation to reschedule.

And some people still think pastors only work an hour or two on a Sunday morning. :)

So like I said, it's been an intense couple of weeks.

And I have to admit, Monday night I was kinda cranky on the bus ride up to Williamsport for our first rehearsal with the orchestra and soloists. I was exhausted, I had already been through the first funeral, had plenty more to prepare for the second the next morning, and I was not looking forward to two hours of working out all the kinks and cues and balance issues in the hall.

But the music and texts on our fall program are so deliciously rich. . .it's impossible to remain in a bad mood when you're singing Vaughan Williams' "Five Mystical Songs," Tschesnokoff's "Let Thy Holy Spirit," William Payn's "With What Shall I Come Before the Lord," and Dvorak's setting of the "Te Deum."

I rode up to Williamsport annoyed at the imposition that the midweek concert was on my schedule. Turned out, this music was exactly the grace I needed to carry me through the week.

". . .Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul—
How can I keep from singing?. . ."

We capped these crazy weeks off in a major way in our final peformance at the Weis Center last night. We just had an awesome concert - the chorale was on, the orchestra was on, the Weis Center is by far the nicest space we have sung in since I have been a member - it was so uplifting to be part of this group of musicians, to be singing this gorgeous and inspiring music in a beautiful hall, to walk outside when all was said and done and breathe in the crisp, cool autumn air. . .

And adding to my joy this morning, those sneaky buggers in my congregation surprised me with a lovely "pastor appreciation day" reception in the very newly carpeted fellowship hall - a celebration that included my favorite treats, and the coolest gift ever: somewhere in the developing world, goats and pigs that were given in my name are running around, providing sustainable food and income for families living in dire poverty.

It's been an intense - and an incredible - couple of weeks.

". . .No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that rock I'm clinging
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?"

Peace,
Catrina

PS - Your inner church music nerd wants to know that the hymn verses interspersed above were written by Robert Lowry, who happened to be a professor at Bucknell, and a pastor in Lewisburg, for many years.