I’d never participated in a large acapella sing before.

But there I was at a funeral with some friends, and I realized there was no piano and no organ. When it came time to sing a gentleman came to the front  and started the hymns. Next thing you know there was vigorous singing. People sang parts. It was quite wonderful.

I believe in community singing. I believe that singing together brings us together. It’s true in this case I had to strike an agreement with myself that i would pay no attention to the words in the hymns (oh! the words in the hymns!) and listen for the harmony. What was joyful for me was that many of these hymns were ones I’d grown up singing, so I could join in where I was needed. On all the hymns but one, I knew all the parts but the bass.

So I got to play around, because some of them were too high for the song leader. It’s good for me to sing soprano!

What was also sweet, even though this was this church’s tradition, is that the man who had died sang barbershop. His wife is my voice teacher. So it was good that there was music…

But it renews my determination to have community sings. once a quarter — once a month, i don’t know… some… and invite the world. and sing. Sing across boundaries. Sing across traditions. Let us bring our hearts and bodies into rhythm together. Let us sing for Peace.

I’m only sorry there’s not more time in this snowy weather to get together and sing, something joyous about gathering in the cold and warming up our voices and our hearts. But we’ll start when we can and we’ll keep singing…