For the Common Good

None of us had ever played and few of us could read music, but when we received a used set of hand chimes, we started a choir anyway.

We selected “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” as our first piece. For each “musician” we highlighted the words that correlated to the notes to be played. We would learn by singing and chiming at the same time.

It was awful. We didn’t have any rhythm, people chimed at the wrong times, and none of us could even sing very well. We simply didn’t know what we were doing. It was so pathetic that we couldn’t do anything except laugh.

We were in it together, so we kept at it. After a little while, we started to sound better. One time, we actually made it all the way through the hymn without stopping. That time, we cheered.

After a few rehearsals, the hymns we selected actually sounded like hymns. In time we became a choir, coordinated and lovely.

The chime choir taught us a lot about church. Our life together is not about efficiency or expediency, but about coordination, shared gifts, laughter and community. Our life together is about staying side-by-side, sticking together no matter what.

God, unify your church. Amen. — LH