Yesterday the Linworth UMC choir presented their cantata and I was in the middle of the second row, singing right along with them. Since we were going to be in Columbus most of December, and we attend the Linworth UMC with John and Jackie when we are in town, I contacted the Linworth choir director in November and asked if I could sing with the choir in the cantata. This was pretty audacious on my part, because I could only attend the rehearsals the week before the cantata.
But the Linworth choir director, Eric Johnston, was gracious, and welcomed me to sing with the choir. The cantata was a collection of Christmas carols arranged by John Rutter and all the songs were very familiar, so it was an easier cantata for me to learn fast. I sing soprano and we usually have the melody which made it even easier.
I attended choir practices on Thursday and Saturday and we sang yesterday at the first and third worship services. Some of the songs were accompanied by an orchestra and some were acapella (unaccompanied). A lot of the people in the choir are members of the Columbus Symphony Chorus and many of them are music teachers or music professors. All of them, like me, just love to sing and glorify God with our music.
The cantata went very well – the orchestra sounded wonderful and the choir sang beautifully. People enjoyed hearing and singing along to the familiar carols. A couple of them – ‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime and Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella – are not as familiar but they were two of the prettier songs in the collection.
The fellowship in the choir was very nice and I enjoyed meeting and talking to some new people. They were very welcoming even though I was only going to be with them for a week. Several invited me to come and sing whenever we were in town. I really enjoyed singing with them and I might do that.
Learning new songs can be hard. Changing circumstances ask us to sing in new ways and in new places. But when we sing the Lord’s song – our music is beautiful and pleasing to the One whose song we sing.
