Why MUST Lent be so depressing?

If anyone reads this, they are going to think that this educated person who grew up in the church has some sort of religious dementia.  But think about it for a moment.  Why must we depress ourselves at church for 5-6 weeks just to feel good on Easter Sunday?  Shouldn't be painfully obvious to everyone in the world right now that church needs to be an ulifting, vibrant experience, not the kind of event that makes you want to go home and slit your wrists? 

I was told by the pastor that, for the next few weeks, the music of the services would be a bit slow and somber.  I realize that Lent is supposed to be a bit serious, but serious does not translate into dull, dreary, and depressing.  So, I shose a few anthems for the choir that were upbeat.  Nothing raucus.  Dear God, the one I chose for this week was a middle of the road arrangement of a Gaither Vocal Band song.  We had not even heard the pianist play the song yet, however, when I started to hear rumblings that 'this is a little upbeat, don't you think?'  I said 'Why, yes it is' and began to prepare to rehearse it.  I had already discussed my plans with the pianist, who agreed with me that alot of slow music could really bring the congregaton down.  Not two minutes later the choir president declared that she did not believe my selections were appropriate and went to our library to choose some 'more Lenten music'.

Any time I choose music that I think the congregation would like and would really get a message from at the same time, I am told that it is either too hard, or too fast, or 'we just can't learn these rhythms', and the choir stops trying.  Then, when I try to ... lower my expectations for what the choir thinks it can accomplish and still sound decent, I am approached and told that the only way they will get better is if I push them.  I have to admit, I can no longer fight that hard with an adult group.  I don't even have to fight that hard to get children at school to sing.  Why should it be so difficult with adults?  I think many of them are using the choir as a social hour instead of trying to come together and worship.  The biggest problem I have with choosing slower, more somber music, is that I have actually had people come up after I sing an upbeat solo and tell me they wish we sang more music like that.  Upbeat, uplifting.

This is just the latest data that has begun to convince me that I am not what the choir really wanted when they agreed to hire me as director.  Honestly, they may not have known what they wanted, but a musician was not in their plans.  Oh, I'm sure they wanted someone who had a little knowledge of music and could wave their arms to the beat, but they really did not want a director.  I have a very difficult time getting anyone to follow me.  I have even been known to stop conducting just to see if anyone is paying attention, and every once in a while, someone will realize this and point it out to the rest.  But on the whole, I feel that all I do is fill a hole at the front of the choir while things happen around me.  And really, there are people in that choir that knew I would want to push things in a more lively direction.  They could have warned the choir that this KID (which is how I feel I am treated up there) likes to play jazz and listen to the blues and really likes to do songs that don't sound ... pretty all the way through.  Do I like it to resolve nicely?  Yes, but I come from a school of musical thought (probably brought on by my jazz and blues background) where tension in the music makes the resolution that much more powerful and enjoyable.  Instead, I have conducted almost an entire year where all of the songs are pretty most of the way through. If they weren't written that way originally, the choir has changed them over the years to make them such.  As a musician, the monotony of this is driving me mad.  If I were to visit thsi church and hear the music w do week after week, I would honestly go somewhere else, just for the variety.

I know I started this about Lent, and I still believe that it does not have to be depressing to be powerful, but I kind of got sidetracked.  Maybe I'm just tired, or tired of.

Forgive the rant.

What Can Chevy Do For You?

For years, people have depended on Chevy for "dependable, long-lasting trucks.)  Today, one of those dependable, long-lasting trucks tried to help us pull down the broken parts of the backyard tree.  That's right, folks.  We drove the truck into the backyard, tied cords from the tree to the ladder rack, and pulled.

While not an overwhelming success, we did get part of it pulled down, then used the back of the truck as a ladder to reach alot more of the tree with the chainsaw.  At least now the tree is not laying on the house.  If it ever falls, it will only go to the ground, not through our back room.

Parenting, or Simply Procreation?

What is parenting?  What does it take to become a parent?

I never really thought about it much.  I knew that, in some way, I had become a parent over the years.  I had somehow gone from helping make a child to helping build an individual in each of my children.  Today, I discovered the difference between parenting and procreation.

We (my family of 4) went to Sam's Club today to pick up some things for my father-in-law.  Instead of traveling on the main aisles where all of the traffic is, we usually go up the back side of the aisles.  Today, as we walked past the mattresses, we came upon a little girl (2, MAYBE 3 years old) sitting on the display mattress next to the emergency exit.  I thought it was strange, but maybe here parents/guardians were on the adjoining aisle.  I see Suzie and Savannah (yes, the 6 year old) having the same thoughts I am.  As we pass the little girl, we all come to the realization that her family is nowhere around.  Savannah, the mouthy brains of the family, gets straight to the point - "Where are her PARENTS?!" 

We went back and asked where her Mama was.  'I don't know."

What's your name?   "I don't know."

So, being the family we are, we escort the little girl to the front desk so that the proper store officials can handle the situation as they see fit.  Mind you, no one EVER stopped to ask if the little girl that looks nothing like us belongs to us.  We hand the child to the CSM, and, a few minutes later, here the page go out for the parents of the child to come to the front.

Feeling we had done a good deed, we finished what shopping we had to do and went to the checkout.  We asked the cashier if the parents had ever come to claim their child.  'Yeah, about ten minutes after we called them.  They finished their grocery shopping first.'  Suzie and I are both thinking what bad parents would leave their child that long and finish their shopping, but we thank the cashier and are on our way.

We always get a drink for the ride home, and, as we were filling the cups, I noticed that the little girl is once again running around the front of the store...WITHOUT AN ADULT...and has another three kids with her, all about the same age.  Suzie went back over to the cashier to point this out.  The cashier called the CSM back over to explain the situation.  On our way out the door, the CSM came to us and thanked us for turning the child in.  Apparently, this family is in quite often.  The kids are ALWAYS running around the store while the parents do their shopping.

Apparently, this was just enough of a STUPID event that my Parkinson/Huitt/Human WTF gene went into overdrive.It took every ounce of willpower I had (and a lot that Suzie had) to keep me from going back inside and calling CPS right then and there. (Or finding the parents and giving an impromptu lesson on how to properly beat stupid people.)

I'm not sure I did the right thing by leaving the situation alone.  Granted, getting arrested for throttling idiots probably would not have done the rest of my family or career any good, but, in the best interest of the child, I was sorely tempted to test that out.  And this lead me to the answer to a question I had never really thought about before.  The difference between procreation and parenting is the direction in which hormones and their accompanying emotions is channeled.  Even people with no discernable intellect can procreate.  Those hormones and emotions are like homing pidgeons - they make a beline straight to where they belong.  Parenting takes those emotions and makes them fight to try to better the situations for people, both big and small, all around them.  Sometimes it makes us fight with ourselves because we have to use the mantra 'Not my kids, not my situation.'  Sometimes the mantra wins, sometimes it don't - that's what makes it a good game. 

I don't know if there is a moral of the story or not.  I just thought I had better warn you about the kind of ...people... we are sharing this world with.  Watch out for them - they help make our laws, teach our children, and decide how we live.  May God have the grace and mercy to slap them upside the head every once in a while. 

Amen.

Teachers vs. Educators

According to a news report, a certain private school in Victoria, BC, recently was faced with a unique problem. A number of grade 12 girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night, the maintenance man would remove them and the next day, The girls would put them back. Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night. To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror. There are teachers, and then there are educators ...

And the Moral of the Story Is...?