Singing on Ash Wednesday...

When I was in High School I was a music nerd. I was in Marching and Concert Band, Show Choir and Concert Choir and the Girl's Glee Club. I was even Drum Major...yeah, yeah. Laugh if you must. Some of my favorite memories of High School are the beautiful songs that are forever in my heart. From Marching Band, I have the "Mars" movement from Gustav Holst's, "The Planets." At Christmas time, I can still play along on my imaginary alto sax to Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson. I can still perform almost every movement to "Bang on the Drums All Day" with jazz hands and a smile to dazzle you. In Girl's Glee Club, one year we sang a song about friendship called, "If I Could Catch a Rainbow," the composer of that song came and performed the cello part with us at a concert one year. The memories are endless. I could write for days about them as you can probably tell by now. Thanks for taking a trip down memory lane with me, now let's get to the point.
One year in Concert Choir we sang a song that had the words to Psalm 51 set to an absolutely beautiful piano medley. I can see the words and notes on the paper still. I can STILL hear the tenor solo that starts the song and I am almost sure it is written in the key of G with one F#. That tenor voice cuts through complete silence and begins to beg God for a pure heart. The choir joins and reinforces the one voice asking for hearts and spirits that are renewed and celebrate salvation. The basses then start a deep "Kyrie Elison" and are joined by the entire choir eventually asking for mercy upon them. The song continues to heighten and hits a plateau with the entire choir singing the same line in unison. "Have Mercy on Me" they sing and that one lone tenor voice from earlier comes in and sings, "Kyrie" and resolves the song back to the Major key.
What an amazing image for the beginning of this Lenten Season. One lone voice cries out for help and a community of voices join them. Once the community is involved, grace and forgiveness comes. And when the community is still singing about the hope that has been found, that lone voice comes back, stronger than before and able to sing loud and clear that God has had mercy.
I pray that this Lenten Season is one where you get to be both the lone voice and a member of the Choir. I believe that God is calling each one of us to be our true, authentic selves and that takes courage. Sometimes that means we sing alone. However, God is also calling us to surround those that sing alone, those that have had the courage to step forward. Then they can sing with the confidence of one who is redeemed.
And maybe next time we are the one who steps forward or the one who is in the choir. It all starts over again. Isn't that amazing?