This morning I’ve taken to wistful
reminiscing . . . yep, again. I guess it’s a sign of my times. Numerous
and varied events surrounding the Advent and Christmas season have been part of
my life from as far back as I can remember. However, from the not-too-distant
past was the annual Inter-Church Advent Service in Watford, Ontario. Let me share a
memory of one, with you.
Credit: drumcircle_org Google |
Even if I hadn't included the phrase in the title, above, there's no prize for guessing that our piece was
The Little Drummer Boy. We practised in a Sunday school room at the United
Church and then headed over to Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Church for
the service. Our big moment came. Christine, Fred, Tom, Richard and I jostled
into position with our instruments. We got off to a nice start, but the drums
seem to beat ever faster with each line.
You-know-Who, ca 48 years ago in
Aberdeen Scotland.
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It felt like a dizzying race to the finish. Ehm, but why’s everybody looking at me? In truth, the congregation were not only looking, but laughing! And so were we.
If it seemed to most everyone in the
sanctuary that the guy playing the accordion was getting carried away, speeding
things up, faster and faster, they’d be correct. What was the likely cause?
I quickly reasoned that, surrounded by the four
drums in the spacious, lofty sanctuary (compared with the closeness of the
classroom where we’d practised), I was reacting to the reverberation of
the drum beats. From where I was situated, my ears were bombarded by both the initial drum sounds and the echoes, so that for every beat, it sounded like multiple beats.
So much
for hopes of surprising the congregation with our 'wonderful' rendition of that
well-loved Christmas song. We’d have been better rehearsing a verse and chorus
in the sanctuary before the start of service.
We can be so wrong at times; and how wrong I was. It certainly induced a laugh, and the unintended joke was on Yours Truly and truly on my account! 😄
Fact
is, at the moment when I needed to fulfil my task well and with clear thinking,
I’d been deceived by the echoes around me.
Life can be like that.
We really do need
to be alert to interpret well the cacophony of voices bouncing around us,
invading our personal
world.
We can be so wrong at times; and how wrong I was. It certainly induced a laugh, and the unintended joke was on Yours Truly and truly on my account! 😄
Credit: Google Free |
ClickArt |
May the Christ of this season be to all of us a
source of joy and peace, bringing a fresh experience of God’s love and life
into our hearts.
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Peter A. Black is a retired pastor – well, sort of retired – and lives in Southwestern Ontario. He writes a weekly inspirational newspaper column, P-Pep! and is author of Raise Your Gaze ... Mindful Musings of a Grateful Heart, and Parables from the Pond -- a children's / family book. ~~+~~
5 comments:
I smile because in retrospect we can always find joy in the absurd and embarrassing. So glitches and such are actually an investment into our later years. But I know there is nothing laughable in the moment it is happening. Nice post, Peter. Merry Christmas and keep drumming.
Heh! Heh! Drumming ain't my thang, Susan. In the story in my post it was my ministerial colleagues who were the drummers and I was the accordion player who got flummoxed.
This Advent and Christmas season have my wife and me scheduled in a number of musical endeavours - both of us vocally, and with me using variously accordion, piano / keyboard and organ. As a predominantly ear/ instinctual player I find my memory lets me down a bit now at times, but I'm grateful to God for enabling me (indeed, both of us) to continue serving others in His name through music. A Merry and Joyous Christmas to you, also. ~~+~~
Oh, Peter. This made me laugh out loud. Not at you, of course! But more at the panic of the moment and how you thought you were making things right by speeding things up. I think there is another lesson in there - something about how 'speeding up life' only serves for us to become stressed when, if all we had done was prepare better, then we could hear the drum beat and keep pace. Or something like that. Hahaha. You are so funny in your reflections sometimes and I love your sense of humour. And oh what sweet memories you have. I was the drama leader for years in our church and although it wasn't quite the same, I remember those panic moments - but God always used them to do one of two things: keep us humble and/or teach us a lesson of some sort. Merry Christmas, Sir. Well done.
An entertaining post, Peter. I enjoyed reading it. Merry Christmas and may this year's participation go well.
Thanks Carolyn. And a blessed and merry Christmas to you and your family, too. ~~+~~
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