Fall Cornucopia of Sacred Music

One of  my passions is music.  When I was small, music was the one thing that spoke truly to me.  It was one reason why I so enjoyed Church.  There was the rhythm, the words and the flow of heavenly sounds melting together whenever I went to Church.  To this day, it speaks to me and tells me that there is beauty on heaven and earth created by God for us to enjoy.

If I could do one thing over in my life, it would be to study music in college and pursue a musical career like music therapy or music education plus my farming.  It is always one of my life's regrets that I did not.  When we were testing for careers in high school, I tested highly into music therapy.  It was a new career field.   When I mentioned it to my parents, they were highly amused.  My Step-Mom thought it was funny because she didn't like me to sing.  I had a "bad" voice.  That comment was a major hang-up for me for years!  My voice was bad?

But since everything was a struggle at that time between my Step-Mom and me, I didn't press (whine) to be allowed to go into the band.  I did elect to study business in college.  I wanted to be better situated in life than my parents.  I didn't want the constant money fights.

Now I encourage every student to study a band instrument because I missed that opportunity.  Should have, could have, would have, if only, whateva', right?  Get over it, I tried, I truly tried.  But life has a way of leading you back to where you should be.

How many times have I dreamed of teaching a little boy or girl their first Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star on the piano, guiding their little fingers to play the melody.  Or helping a person recovering from a stroke enjoy a moment of music again.  Music is healing, it is the universal language.  I don't need to understand Chinese when a Chinese person plays a beautiful Mozart piece.

I remember my cousins had a gospel music family quartet that toured to the different churches on weekends and I always thought that was so great.  What a great way to earn extra money as a family.

Over the years, whenever my kids took music lessons, I did too.  I learned to play the flute as my daughter learned to play the french horn.  I took piano lessons as an adult.  When my daughter joined the Church Choir at 15, I did too.  I had to be there anyway because she couldn't drive yet.  Time was the biggest constraint.  Trying to balance my career against everything else that was needed of me was a constant pull.

I stayed in the choir, grateful that they allowed me to sing.  I tried to not call attention to my bad voice.  Recently I started voice lessons.  I have seen a big improvement in my voice quality during this time. I am as pleased as punch with my progress; I am certain I have damaged my voice teacher's ears. And I wish for more time to study and practice.  But I do what I can do with the time I have.  My voice is not operatic or distinctive like Celine's but it holds a tune true.  Solo performing in front of people is one of my biggest phobia's that I am trying to conquer.

Which leads me to this, my choir is presenting a Fall Cornucopia of Sacred Music and I am singing Amazing Grace and The Lone Wild Bird.   It is a beautiful line up of songs, both familiar and new.  Ya'll are welcome to come:  October 13th, 6:30 p.m. at Our Lady Queen of the Universe Catholic Church in Huntsville, AL.