How Can I Keep From Singing?

By Tom Brantigan

The summer is coming to a close and the new choir season will soon be upon us. Throughout the summer some of us have met to dream about what the choir program and music program in general can mean to Central Presbyterian Church - but more, what it can mean to the people involved in the Chancel Choir and those who hear it every Sunday. It is worship. It is spiritual growth. It is evangelism. It is a gift.

The first thing that always comes up is how grateful we all are for the talents God has given us and for the opportunity to be part of a musical tradition in the Church that has gone on for many centuries. Men and women have joined together to praise God from the earliest Biblical times. These original "small groups" of people worship together not just in Sunday services but also on Thursday nights during rehearsals.

If you have ever been involved in a choir, whether in high school, college, or church, you know that the cohesiveness of these groups is something that is difficult to explain. Members are sharing a level of communication that is far above words. Mix the sound with the Word, and you have something magic. Mix this with the faith you find at Central and you have something quite extraordinary.

I heard it said once that humankind lives in a natural chaos and that it is difficult for men and women to understand the oneness of their Creator. When we sing together, we come as close as we can come to speaking with one voice - to approaching the oneness of God.

When we dream of the future of the Chancel Choir, frankly, we worry a little. We want a future at least as bright as the past and perhaps even more so. The choir is made up of many people who have sung with the choir for 20 years or more. For the dream of the future to be realized, we need to encourage new people to join the ranks of the choir. We need sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses. All are welcomed.

If you have ever sung in a choir - and even if you haven't - come join us. There is no audition process. You won't be embarrassed and asked to sing by yourself! Come be part of this. If you are not sure, just come and try it out. The only warning I may give is that Christ is dangerous to the status quo, and you may just get hooked and become a 20 year member 20 years from now! Remember, we have the Christmas Brass concert coming up and next spring will do another concert with orchestra. This will be too good to miss; become a part of it!

We don't sing in choirs because we have time. None of us do. There are some Thursday nights where we all think we are too tired to work as hard as we do during rehearsals. But by the end of the rehearsal, we all feel elated, closer to each other, and closer to the Christ who saves us.

Think of the words of this Craig Courtney anthem:

My life flows on in endless song; above earth's lamentation,
I catch the sweet, though far off hymn that hails a new creation.

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

The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart, a fountain ever springing!
All things are mine since I am His! How can I keep from singing?

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?