So an interesting thing happened to me last week. I was cantoring at church (this means standing up in front of the congregation and leading the songs - sometimes solo, sometimes just leading). I was feeling like CRAP, like I almost left in the middle of church I felt so bad. Without looking at the song list, I decided to grow a pair and told myself I could get to the end. (Ironically, I had done a great job singing if I do say so myself. My best performances at church are always when I am sick).
We get to the last song and I announce that it is "America the Beautiful." Now up to this point the congregation (fairly full, with several hundred at least) had just kind of blahblah'd along with me unenthusiastically, as they normally do. But suddenly the organist started pounding out the opening chords that we all know so well with great gusto. The people perked up and damn, did they sing.
And so there are the people singing really loud and the organist is playing her heart out and it inspires me to launch into my best little classical opera voice. It moved me to tears - all of us singing about our country and its natural beauty, the organ's strains just washing over us and the pride in the great big room at an all time high as we come to a close. "From sea....to....shin...ING.....sea."
And suddenly I'm like....wait, aren't we in church? I mean, we're there to praise God. And I've never EVER heard the congregation get this excited about singing. All day I kept thinking about it and I came up with a few theories.
- We (I mean my fellow church-goers) like God, but He just doesn't move us like patriotism does.
- It was Fourth of July weekend and we were all in the mood for "America the Beautiful" and not so much for mass.
- We love our country more than we love "The Church."
- Most of the music in the Catholic church kind of sucks. When we hear a familiar song that is actually good, people are moved to participate.
I considered all of these options and I'm going to go with the last one. I have just never seen a group of unenthusiastic mass-goers sing like that. Imagine the fun we would have at church if we had GOOD music! Imagine all the non-church goers who might join us! Hmmm, how to make church fun....that would be quite an undertaking, but I'm sure we could learn from other denominations.
I shared this story with my dad and he told me of an acquaintance who is an instrumental music teacher. This man left the Catholic church to become Episcopal simply because the music is better. He says he worships almost solely through music, so he had to go where the music moved him more. Not a bad idea. Plus they have female priests and gay priests and most likely better "rules" about birth control.
Maybe someday I'll try it out....but for now I'll stick with my fellow sleepwalkers and work to find the beauty in our sleepy music, as rare as it may be.
~
5 comments:
I went to Catholic schools my entire life. In high school, our masses didn't have "regular" church music. Our songs were from every genre, every era, including some Top 40. A lot of songs can be translated into relationships-with-God songs. It definitely made for higher participation numbers. :)
Sometimes I love our sleepy songs-tradition can be so nostalgic. But sometimes I long for the clap your hands, move your body, shout AMEN songs I had at my Catholic church in Birmingham, AL. I agree, great music(like yours)does help me be more passionate about Jesus! But, I do love the Catholic church. I know my soul would long for the Eucharist in a different church. Take over and bring us some cool music!!
Anne
All I can think of is Buddy Christ from Dogma when I read this post. :-)
However, my friend's wife passed away a few years back. I was expecting this very solemn Catholic funeral (they're the only kind of funeral I know for some reason) and instead, outside of one hymn, the entire funeral was nothing but pop songs from the 1950s. And I liked how this small Catholic church in Ohio let them tailor the funeral to her wishes. It made it much more about celebrating her life and her passing to heaven than about the misery of death.
Growing up, my church was in with the sleepy songs, and then a great energetic music minister came in and spiced everything up. And what happened when we stepped away from just the organ and actually had fun with the music? People got so much more involved. And not just in the music, but in many aspects of our small parish. Music is so important!
On a side, I once went to a church in Wyoming where there was no music (just the way old school chanting stuff)...kind of creepy.
Cathy
I've often wondered about the timidity of singing in some Catholic Churches.
I think you analysis of the mode and the holiday was right. Have you ever been to a Catholic Church in a predominately black community? I went to one where they really rocked out.
There is also some social norms going on. Some times my dad and I would start singing loudly and strongly and everyone would turn around and give us the evil eye.
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