As I enter my 9th year with East Shore Unitarian Church I feel a great sense of gratitude. What I initially thought might be ‘a fun job’ has turned into so much more. At East Shore I have found a community of like-minded people all, as our chalice lighting states, trying to live lives filled with goodness and love. I have found the UU approach to life has helped clarify my own search for spiritual meaning in this life. More and more I find the answer to this search is some form of ‘together we thrive.’ As member Ed Borroff stated in one of his addresses to the church: “I believe in God. And I believe God’s pronoun is ‘we.’”
I have also found East Shore to be a place that deeply nourishes my life as a musician. I have worn numerous musical hats in my life as a professional musician. I have been a pianist, a composer, a playwright, a musical director, a conductor and a performer. In much of the settings where I wore these hats there always existed a pressure to be as perfect as possible. I had to present a ‘professional’ product, which meant in some situations long hours of struggle, grueling rehearsals, inhumane tech schedules and quite often storms of anger or floods of tears. I now reject the paradigm that insists that the creative process must be painful, and that one must strive for perfection at all costs. I see my work (my mission, really) as being one of creating increasing circles, connected with music. The first circle I love to encourage is the circle of one’s own relationship with music, and one’s body and mind; I believe everyone should make whatever music brings them joy. I find that is almost always found through singing. The second, wider circle is that which encompasses those with whom we are making music. This can be myself on the piano and a soloist singing a song. It can be three, or twelve, or 85 people singing together. This circle is such a joyous miracle to behold. At choir rehearsal we enter the space as separate beings. But as we sing we create a larger entity, sailing along on waves of sound and emotion. And from there, we create an even larger circle – one that embraces those who are in the room listening, participating with their hearts and minds, souls and bodies. In these cases we all create a larger entity, one that is lifted and enlivened by the utter joy of singing together. Another, wider circle is formed as people leave the space with a new sense of being, one that ideally puts a spring in one’s step and a song in one’s heart.
Striving for perfection takes the joy out of singing. It also leaves these interlocking and increasing circles to fade away. If I approach music from a sense of ‘this will probably sound really cool’ and encourage people to embody it, well, we end up achieving a sort of perfection that no number of long, grueling, painful hours can create. Instead we are focusing on and experiencing the joy of being in the moment, singing with one another, buoyed and fed by the sounds we are making with our mouths and lungs.
I love the words to the hymn ‘Draw the Circle Wide’ by Gordon Light:
Draw the circle wide, draw the circle wide
Let this be our song: no one stands alone.
We’ll stand side by side.
Draw the circle, draw the circle wide.
In addition to being a wonderful representation of what I experience in helping create growing musical circles, this hymn also reflects the joyous, radical ideal of inclusion that lives at the heart of UU principles. Welcoming, embracing and including is a great way to become the best people we can be.
With this in mind, I would like to welcome, embrace and include anyone who might like to join the East Shore Mighty Choir. There is no audition required. Previous experience is nice, but not necessary. The ability to read music helps, but there are a number of people in the choir who learn the songs by rote and by working with the provided rehearsal tracks. We meet in the Sanctuary from 7:00 to 8:30 pm on Thursdays (except for Thanksgiving) and sing approximately two service each month. Please let me know if you might be interested in joining, or checking things out to see how they feel. You can also just show up on a Thursday evening and we will happily say, ‘Welcome! We are so glad to see you!’
by Eric Lane Barnes, Director of Music