Summer - a time in the Church Liturgical Calendar that has several names depending on where you are: Trinity Season - Pentecost - Ordinary Time - Time after Pentecost. This is a time when we deliberately dig into scripture and listen to Jesus Christ - opening ourselves up to grow.

It's summer - with summer rains, crops are growing, the grass is constantly growing! This is a good time of year to think about - well - growing! But I am going to speak a bit differently about this aspect of our spiritual development and our physical and emotional aging.

Yes, I used those two words - development and aging.  2 Corinthians 5:17 "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" Becoming new is a gift of God's grace - and it happens every time we develop - and we only develop as we live and breathe, which means we develop while we age. By the way - that is a good thing.

Do you have a favorite song or hymn? Many church musicians save those favorites for summer as there are fewer or no choir members in the loft, They use the favorites knowing the congregation will sing them with great gusto - becoming their own leaders. The congregation has learned over the years as they have aged - and music is a great mnemonic device! So, instead of having a weaker
sound in the summer, you might sing "O God, Our Help in Ages Past"- or in more modern worship, your congregation might already use "You Are Mine" for  communion - and you might marvel at the strength of the singing.

The singing of the hymn is part of the learning and a symptom of our growth. Music is selected to be paired with, support or introduce the scriptures for the day. As congregations get used to singing a hymn over and over, we develop a sense of where the musician will get louder or softer; and develop a relationship with the song and the musician. Through good times and bad, we often lock on to particular hymn texts, taking comfort and strength from them - attaching to them on an emotional level. On certain Sundays, if we are paying attention, we also develop a greater insight into the Gospel.  In this, we are made new!

All of this from a hymn? Why yes - or from any song or familiar psalm or piece of liturgy. How often have you heard that Alzheimer's patients can respond to the Lord's Prayer or Psalm 23? Music is a platform for even quicker learning and development for many people.

But wait a minute, what if your local musician isn't bringing out the old favorites - what if he or she is challenging you with (gasp!) newer music! Take a deep breath and listen to the music, join in where you can and remember that you are also growing in this music. You are taking baby steps. You are still being made new - whether you are 16 or 76!

Music - old or new, comfortable or not, is a chance to grow. Even if, especially if, you think you cannot sing or make music. No one is there to perform, but to experience worship - to praise God, to thank God, to be in a place and with the people of the church where God comes to you in Word and Sacrament. Music can support that if you will let it. Please open your ears and your heart and listen to what God is saying in the moment in this season of growth.

I pray your music is wonderful, beautiful and always new. I pray you receive God this week and re-present God to others with whatever means has been given to you - whether it is through music, bible study, being thankful and polite to someone at the store - but always - with a song in your heart!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Lent, the 40 days (not including Sundays) before Easter, is a time of re-turning to God. This is a time that is filled with a different kind of music than we have heard for the last 3 months; music that leads us into contemplation, confession and to a different kind of listening.

Yes, listening – something our culture doesn’t always do well. When I started this blog, I had hopes of writing every week or two, of posting my thoughts and experiences as a church organist. I started talking to my colleagues and other organists – but realized that it’s not that simple. We are a different kind of musician, you see – and that is hard to put into words.

Because even though we may play the same instrument, we often have to be many different things to many different congregations – and that variety is hard to sum up in a few words.

So, I stopped writing the blog and started listening.

As I carved out more time for silence and listening to others, reading more of what other organists are struggling with – I realized that Lent is never really gone for us. As organists, we are always aware of all of the noise in the room – and for those of us who are also choir directors, we are ever vigilant to how we will balance the instrument, the singers and the room – we are constantly re-tuning and re-turning everything to the Lord.

So we re-turn to the Lord every week, praying for guidance, listening to the choir, the room and the people. And during this time of year, many of us find that some of the folks around us in our congregations have stopped talking as much and are listening – at least a little more. And this is our opportunity to give them a reason to keep listening.

So if, in the next few weeks, as you listen to prelude and special music, if you hear more silence, remember it is all part of the music – including the silence. For in the silence – the music lingers, and it grows, attaching itself to us. It weaves its way slowly through our ears, our minds and into our hearts – re-turning us to the room, the day, and the presence of God around us. For God is with us in the music too. The music, for some of us, is where we encounter God early in the day – whether the music is in our minds – ringing in the silence, or in our ears coming from instruments or voices, it calls us to re-turn.

Lent – Spring, new life – in the music, however it comes. Yes.

Pipe Organs

Pipe Organs, marvelous inventions that mimic our very breath and carry a phrase that impels us to the boundaries of our physical limitations, should we attempt to outsing one! An instrument that when studied and lovingly cared for can delight us with music that stirs our souls, puts a beat in our step and can wake us as if the final trumpet has sounded, or delicately lead us in a lullabye for a new child. The King of Instruments - the Pipe Organ!

Or as some people think is it not? Is it just an old fashioned instrument, something that takes more than it gives? "You know, Grandma had one in her church. They still use it to play an old rusty hymn - what is it good for?" No, you may have an electric or pipe organ that hasn't been cared for, or maybe even have one that has - but the person sitting on the bench, the artist that brings this beast to life - is just as much a part of the picture of the pipe organ's life as the professional stage musician is on his or her keyboard rack. (Where do you think the idea came for multiple keyboards being played at one time, hmmm? From organists - of course!)

Although there is a resurgence in the building of pipe organs in various places, there are many people who do not know anything about them - so they don't see a need for them. Can I change the level of ignorance that abounds today about pipe organs in a blog? I don't know, but I can write about folks who have a passion for this lovely instrument and hopefully by writing a few posts with the ocassional picture, I can share why these instruments and the artists and players who love them are more than a passing fancey of the past, but a vital part of our world today. Maybe those of you who read this will decide to try it out for yourselves! We can talk about how to do that, too!