Categories: uncategorized
Date: 16 January 2005 14:00:07
I have just a little time remaining of my day of rest, before I revert to my blizting mode. I am steadfast in my resolution to spend today blitzing too, despite Yay's obviously evil plan. Yes, I sussed her motives immediately - trying to undermine my exemplary decluttering by luring me back to insaniquarium... but I have willpower, I have, I have. Not that you'd believe it if you counted the number of chocolate bars I have got through in the last 24 hours, mind!
I decided not to try to do housework this morning before church as I did not want to find myself resenting having to go to church in the middle of my prime working hours. SO instead I devoted the time between getting up and going to church to practising the hymns (yuk - difficult or what?) for the morning service and taking my cup of coffee and a book into the bathroom for the luxuriating bath I should, by rights, have had last night. Hmm... with my first uninterrupted bath in years I managed to fall into a luxurious bubble-enclosed sleep and woke with only twenty minutes to get dry and dressed and do the fifteen minute drive to church! And to think that last night everyone had been saying that I would have no excuse for being late with not having to take the boys swimming first! Thank you P for standing in for me and playing the organ for the pre-service praise session!
Church was a bit of a trial, actually. I get little from the actual service when I'm playing the organ, and this morning was no exception. The hymns were rather tricky to say the least. And for one scary moment when I sat down at the organ to play the very first hymn, I couldn't remember quite where the keys were. It was not a pleasant experience - sheer panic for what was probably only a micro-second while I decided just to hit the ones which I thought were the right ones and hope for the best. Fortunately the memory loss was short (not that you could tell, from the notes I played!). Then, horror of horrors, the organ decided to syphon again and there was an unremitting high "g" note which just wouldn't go away, whether I was playing or not. I ended up having to abandon the organ mid-hymn and race across to the piano while the congregation sang one verse unaccompanied (which sounded rather nice, actually... might do that more often! ). But at least I got a compliment from some visitors who were impressed with my virtuositiy *blush* - obviously my high-speed instrument swap had distracted them sufficiently from the numerous wrong notes!
Of course, they'd also heard me play accordion last night. I hadn't intended to play, actually. I did so to stop myself getting irritated. In some ways I should have said more strongly what I felt I wanted to say but decided that action was probably the best method of dealing with my irritation. One member of our church congregation has severe learning difficulties. He's a lovely chap and the two loves of his life are God and music. His enthusiasm for both is a delight. He plays the accordion - he taught himself to play it and has an amazing repertoire of singalong tunes but struggles with the left hand (the chords) and tends to play one chord throughout, which makes them harder to listen to. But this is his gift, and it gives him great pleasure to be able to share it with the congregation where he feels so at home, something he can give. So it made me really quite irritated to hear some people (who should know better) complain that he was playing the background music while the tables were being set up for our meal last night, saying "Do we have to listen to that noise?" almost loud enough for him to have heard it if he hadn't been so absorbed in his music. Too cowardly to be as blunt as I should have been, I went and fetched my accordion from the vestry and asked him if he'd let me play duet with him. I think we both enjoyed picking out songs together, and most people had a good time singing along too!
Music's such a great leveller, isn't it? I love the fact that the Psalmist said "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord". God doesn't care if the notes are right. Let's revel in the joy of sharing music and raising praise to the God who gave us that amazing gift.