"Unexpected" is likely the best word for the National Youth Choir experience so far:
1) I was asked at all. I know there are better pianists than me in Nova Scotia, but I was still invited to accompany the group. I wouldn't have expected that even if I were a recording artist!
2) It turns out the music is all a capella. I learned it so I would be useful in rehearsal, and I am - sometimes. :) Anyway, there was lots of internal hype on my part, but I was able to calm down a lot.
3) I'm still loving the experience. Somehow, not really playing anything isn't hampering the fun factor or the experience of it all. It's wonderful!
4) Serendipitously, I'm really enjoying the conductor and apprentice conductor. The former had quite a reputation for being a task master, but it turns out that most of the reputation seems unfounded. His reputation for greatness is well-placed, as he is indeed fantastic, but he's also quite generous and flexible within his high expectations of this group. He's been a delight every day! I expected to feel a lot worse about myself by this time in the week, and everyone - especially this conductor who is so much greater than I am - is contributing to a content feeling.
5) After last night I expected a lot out of the choir today. They are honestly great singers, and they really started pulling together into a great choir by the end of last night, but some of the singers were lazy today. It felt like we were pulling teeth to get everyone on board. And as Mark said at the end of the night, if 39 people are there and one isn't, that one makes the difference between good and great. It was a good day, but I expected great. Maybe tomorrow....
6) I got to talk to Natasha way more than I expected. So, so, so good. :)
LE
08 May 2008
02 May 2008
We Are One
I was stricken yesterday with the events recorded in Joshua 22:21-30. In that part of the narrative, the two-and-a-half Israeli tribes whose land was east of the Jordan River were confronted by religious, political, and military representatives from the rest of Israel. The east-siders had built an altar, and the west-siders assumed that meant the east-siders would begin worshiping God their way, on their turf, possibly even including worship of other gods. They were ready to write off the east-siders if they didn't turn from their wickedness.
It turns out that the east-siders weren't being wicked at all. They suspected that the Jordan River would become more than a geographical dividing line, that the west-siders would think of themselves as a separate unit from the east-siders. Were that to happen, the east-siders felt they would be prevented from going to Jerusalem to worship, to share in the life of the Israeli nation. The altar was a reminder to both west- and east-siders that Israelis on both side of the Jordan River were still Israelis and should be accepted as such. People on both sides should be free to live as such, rather than treating one another like non-Israelis.
What struck me is how much this sounds like certain segments of the Church on North America (if not the West itself). I perceive there to be significant, understandable differences between the Church (meaning the universal group of believers in Jesus called the "Body of Christ" in 1 Corinthians 12) and the world (meaning those who do not believe). Scriptures are clear that faith line between the Church and the world is inevitable.
What the Scriptures do not say, however, is that faith lines between local churches, denominations, and individuals are inevitable. We have several humans in the Church, so we have many different experiences, understandings, and explanations of Jesus Christ. There are doctrinal and cultural dividing lines that separate some local churches, denominations, and individuals. Too frequently, these doctrinal and cultural divides have become battlegrounds more fierce than those created by our faith lines.
Why is that? As Christians, we even have a symbol - the cross - that should remind us that we have sisters and brothers in other camps around us. There are people in the family of God in Christ across our doctrinal and cultural lines that serve our God, who are not forsaking Christ. As the east-siders in Joshua 22 mentioned to the west-siders, natural dividing lines, whether geographical, doctrinal, cultural, or whatever, ought not to separate us. We aren't different people; we are one people. Our different camps/tribes aren't different nations; we're all the Body of Christ. There is no weaker, useless part of the Body, regardless of how unimportant or insignificant another that part seems. Each part has something to contribute, has equal rights in Christ, and has every opportunity for freedom to live as the people of Christ.
Since that is the biblical design, what can we do to extend peace to sisters and brothers in other camps, and how can we all join together to worship our great Lord together?
LE
It turns out that the east-siders weren't being wicked at all. They suspected that the Jordan River would become more than a geographical dividing line, that the west-siders would think of themselves as a separate unit from the east-siders. Were that to happen, the east-siders felt they would be prevented from going to Jerusalem to worship, to share in the life of the Israeli nation. The altar was a reminder to both west- and east-siders that Israelis on both side of the Jordan River were still Israelis and should be accepted as such. People on both sides should be free to live as such, rather than treating one another like non-Israelis.
What struck me is how much this sounds like certain segments of the Church on North America (if not the West itself). I perceive there to be significant, understandable differences between the Church (meaning the universal group of believers in Jesus called the "Body of Christ" in 1 Corinthians 12) and the world (meaning those who do not believe). Scriptures are clear that faith line between the Church and the world is inevitable.
What the Scriptures do not say, however, is that faith lines between local churches, denominations, and individuals are inevitable. We have several humans in the Church, so we have many different experiences, understandings, and explanations of Jesus Christ. There are doctrinal and cultural dividing lines that separate some local churches, denominations, and individuals. Too frequently, these doctrinal and cultural divides have become battlegrounds more fierce than those created by our faith lines.
Why is that? As Christians, we even have a symbol - the cross - that should remind us that we have sisters and brothers in other camps around us. There are people in the family of God in Christ across our doctrinal and cultural lines that serve our God, who are not forsaking Christ. As the east-siders in Joshua 22 mentioned to the west-siders, natural dividing lines, whether geographical, doctrinal, cultural, or whatever, ought not to separate us. We aren't different people; we are one people. Our different camps/tribes aren't different nations; we're all the Body of Christ. There is no weaker, useless part of the Body, regardless of how unimportant or insignificant another that part seems. Each part has something to contribute, has equal rights in Christ, and has every opportunity for freedom to live as the people of Christ.
Since that is the biblical design, what can we do to extend peace to sisters and brothers in other camps, and how can we all join together to worship our great Lord together?
LE
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