Thursday was my wife's birthday, and because I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could, I traded choir rehearsal that evening for a date with her to see the Avengers movie. :) That meant, of course, that this morning I revisited the balcony seats nearest the loft (or as some of us have come to call it, the "penalty box") to observe the broadcast rather than be in it. It was a good experience though. I had a good friend to my right, and a good friend to my left, and I felt a lot of love for them as we went through the "observing experience" together. I also had a couple of my choir friends come up to me during the break to give a hug and say hello. I felt blessed!
Rewinding a bit though...Before I took a seat in "the box" this morning, I said hello to a choir member and we started talking about how difficult it's becoming to be REALLY excited about various choir events (ironically, this topic came up on the very day 30+ new people were completely stoked to be on their first broadcast!) It's not that we don't want to be excited. It's just the natural way things go when you do things over and over and over again. The only remedy for avoiding that trap of complacency and indifference is to REINVENT. The meaning of this word, according to the dictionary, is "to change something so much that the thing seems completely new." So how does one effectively do that?
As I've been giving this some thought, I've come up with the following Top Ten "Instead of" list as it pertains to reinventing the role of a member of the Tabernacle Choir:
1. Instead of saying "Gosh, I've sang this song at least 20 times already," say "There's someone out there who may be hearing this song for the first time--so I should sing it with all my heart."
2. Instead of singing a well-known song during rehearsal without looking at the music, pull out the music anyway and see if you can't find at least one note or rhythm that you may have been singing wrong all along.
3. Instead of going for technical expertise, feeling proud that you made it through the song perfectly, try actually thinking about the song's message and what it means to you, both while you're singing it, and afterwards.
4. Instead of relying on your experience and talents to carry you through, come to Choir with a prayer in your heart that those who listen will be able to receive, and that you, yourself, will receive what God may want to teach you.
5. Instead of treating time in the penalty box as a time to be uninvolved, look at it as a time to listen, to appreciate, and to recapture the wonder of the choir and its inspired mission.
6. Instead of looking out at the audience and seeing them as one massive group of people, see them as individuals, each as a son or daughter of Heavenly Parents who have come with heavy burdens, and who are relying on YOU to help them feel hope and solace.
7. Instead of being content with your current choir friend group, look for ways to meet someone new--especially someone who recently joined the choir and is full of the excitement you seek.
8. Instead of staying in the "now"(which definitely has its place), remember back to when you finished the rigorous audition process and received that letter in the mail welcoming you the Choir School. How awesome was that! (and then let that memory inspire your reinventing conquest)
9. Instead of thinking that any sort of correction coming from the director doesn't pertain to you (because, after all, you HAVE been here many years... Ha), really think about whether it just might.
10. Instead of just singing to those in the audience, think about the people that mean the most in your life, and try dedicating various songs to them. New joy and fresh perspective may just be the result.
It's not too hard to come up with a list like this (and really, the concepts in this list can apply to anything you've become complacent with), but it's another thing to actually remember and implement these non-complacency strategies. To be honest, sometimes I forget about them--and sometimes I'm just not that great at implementing them. But, I really hope I can do better. After all, I don't want complacency or indifference to hold any of my choir moments hostage.
Not even one.
Until next time, God be with you.
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