The Beatitudes for Choir Singers

Last Sunday Pastor Doug preached about the Beatitudes. In researching that topic, I stumbled on a fun site that listed out “The Beatitudes for Choir Singers”, and I’ve picked and adapted a few of those to share with you tonight:

• Blessed are the prompt in spirit, for they shall have their music in order.
• Blessed are the passionate, for they shall move the hearts of listeners.
• Blessed are they that mourn when forced to miss a rehearsal, but do notify the director of anticipated absences, for in them shall the director find comfort.
• Blessed are they that hunger and thirst when rehearsals end, bringing with them neither gum nor goodies nor snacks, for they shall sing without distraction.
• Blessed are the merciful, who take pity on the music’s composer, careful to read the original notes with the intended rhythm, for they shall make splendid harmony.
• Blessed are they that look up from their music, for they shall not drag.
• Blessed are the pure in posture, for their lungs shall be filled.
• Blessed are you, singers, when the director seems to persecute you for the sake of a particular passage; be patient and rejoice, for of such perfection is the music of heaven!
• And lastly, Blessed are they who are good stewards of their music, for that is really the message tonight.

As we enter this New Year, one thing we as a choir are going to improve on is being good stewards of our music when it is distributed. In fact, that’s my Presidential Resolution. So I’m going to go over four basic rules on how to be a “Blessed Steward of Music”:

Rule number one: Know your folder number. That’s easy enough, as it’s labeled inside many of your folders. But for those who don’t know or can’t remember, you can always look on the music slot doors for a quick reminder.

Rule number two: Know how to identify your slot for new music. Each slot is labeled with your folder number on the inside of each slot, on the inner right and left hand side. When new music gets put there, make sure you’re taking the music intended for you.

Rule number three, and this one is key. If new music has been removed from your slot by somebody forgetting rule one or rule two, DO NOT just take music from another nearby slot, or even from a slot that is not nearby. Instead, tell somebody. Go tell Jane, or Sandy, or me, even, and we can sort it out properly. You know, like the song says, “Go and tell John.”

And rule number four: If you find you are missing any piece of music, there is a box of spare copies kept in back in the shopping cart. But, before grabbing something from there, double check and triple check your folder first. There aren’t enough copies to support duplicates for everyone, so let’s use that resource consciously.

Those are the four rules, and if we stick to them (and I know that we can), our librarian staff will rejoice and be glad! And if we do it really well, maybe they’ll even call us “Blessed”.

Dear Father, thank you for this choir. Like those Jesus spoke of in the Beatitudes, we too are “Blessed” to be part of such a caring community together. We lift up tonight’s rehearsal – may we learn our music well, so that we may richly express your message throughout the coming weeks. In your name we pray, Amen.

(source: http://www.joke-archives.com/spirit/choir.html)