As promised to a number of friends at OPC, the Lessons and Carols portion from last year’s Christmas Eve Service has finally gone through a file recovery and editing process. It will be posted on Youtube, which seems to be the simplest and most obvious way to share the occasion for future memories.
It was the last Lessons and Carols evening for our family at Oakridge Church in London, although we weren’t aware of this at the time. There is always a sadness in moving on or letting go of former plans and goals. We reach these ‘Camelot’ moments in our lives, as I’ve mentioned before in a previous blog, where everything seems to be going so well and we somehow assume that things will keep continuing in the same wonderful way, but that is not how life works.
Lessons and Carols are a traditional way to present the Christmas nativity story through scripture readings and music. This program uses 7 traditional readings, out of a possible twelve that are sometimes used.
There were close to 80 of us involved with singing and playing, from ages ranging from 5 to eighty something. We worked on the program at weekly, separate practices for close to 2 months, with the final practice run-through times for everyone together limited to 2 rehearsals. It is always an unspeakably moving experience to be a part of a presentation such as this, and although not all moments may be perfect, that is not what it’s about. It’s not supposed to be a TV-land sort of thing.
Although I landed on me feet of the organ pedalboard at Siloam United Church in London in December, where I’m now serving in an interim capacity, there was no hiding that our departure from Oakridge at the end of June was a somewhat painful one.
Many thanks to the many who have participated so enthusiastically in our OPC Ministry of Music for the 7 years that our family served with this Congregation. There are countless incredible moments that we’ve shared together and we are grateful for them all.
The number of volunteer hours that go into an involvement in a choir or ensemble is something that is sometimes taken for granted by those who have never experienced this type of musical commitment. It is not unusual to have someone singing in a choir who has faithfully participated for over 60 years. I remember one dedicated chorister, when we were serving at Knox Church in Dundas, who at age 90 left the choir and Dundas to move in with her daughter in Toronto. Helen was one month short of singing with that choir for 70 years. She showed me a photo that was taken of the choir the year that she had first joined it at the age of 20. She pointed out a few other members of the choir back then who no longer sang with them but were still members of the Congregation. Though the photo was in black and white, I’m sure that her memories were in full, living colour.
Life seems to zip by so quickly, in terms of what memories remain vivid. I can look at choir photos gong back many years from one of the 8 Congregations I’ve served with as a director of music, and I can hardly believe how the years have passed. So many faces and voices and moments together come back so freshly, that it seems like far less years have passed than what has actually taken place.
Many say that when you are doing something that you enjoy and that you’re somehow meant to be doing, time passes in unaware ways. Perhaps that’s a lesson for all of us, in terms of how and why time sometimes, or overall, seems to pass quickly by in our lives, seeming to virtually fly by at times in our memories. Despite heartaches and hard times, life itself is such a precious gift and the time passes quickly because we enjoy our time here, and that’s why we lose track of how quickly it’s passing by at times.
Who would think that less than four months after this Lessons and Carols presentation took place, choirs, ensembles and bands around the world would be shutting down because of the COVID threat. Seeing each other again on a regular basis to make beautiful music together is something that I’m sure most of us will never take for granted after the past year. Perhaps that will result in a new ‘revival’ in musical memberships in volunteer choirs and musical organizations. Those who were thinking, ‘maybe I should …’, will perhaps be saying, once it’s safe to make music together again, ‘maybe I better, now that I can!’.
That is all it takes to join most choirs and many ensembles. Perhaps you will also get lost in the passing flow of time in this blessed way, and discover how much music can add unspeakably marvelous meaning to your life.
(Youtube link soon to be inserted here)