“What a night! What a night!
Who could have thought that a Church Choir could get itself so tied up
in knots?” said I to Mother.
I had comeback from our
Thursday evening Choir Rehearsal, donned my Le Noeud Papillon red velvet
smoking jacket and my matching red velvet Prince Albert slippers and we were
sitting at the Sheraton table in the solarium enjoying a mug of E. Guittard
Grand Cacao Drinking Chocolate
“Mother,” said I, “Choir
lasted an inordinate amount of time this evening, wrestling with, of all things,
the recent music selections. It seems
that Ima Hatchett has a burning desire for us to sing BUT THE LORD IS MINDUL OF
HIS OWN by Felix Mendelssohn. That of
course is an alto solo, and Ima is an Alto.
What particularly has her incensed is that the soprano section seems to
get an unfair share of the music selections.
According to her, ‘Nobody likes the Music!’”
“Remember, Alfred,”
replied Mother, “that Ima Hatchett objected to the lead soprano’s ear
rings. If it’s not one thing with Ima,
it’s another. She seems to have a deep
need to be the star of the choir.”
“Yes, Mother, you are
quite right, but this time she has gone to the extent of circulating a petition
for the removal of our Choir Director William Weaver. Not only that, she has declared that she is
going to bring the feeble leadership of Father Goodfellow to the attention of
Bishop Portly in order to resolve the problem.
Frankly, I was annoyed, and said
so. That started a heated discussion
between several choir members who supported Ima, and the rest of us who thought
that the whole thing was rather silly.”
I put down my Kirkham
English Rose mug and continued. “Throughout all this our Choir Director
William Weaver was a model of decorum. I
am embarrassed to say that I used to call him ‘Beaver Weaver’. I think that was most unfair of me at the
time, but I have learned a few things since then.”
“Well, Alfred,” said
Mother, “how did William Weaver handle the situation?”
“Mother,” said I, “He listened most
patiently, accepted the petition from Ima, and said he would convey it to
Father Goodfellow; then he put us to work.
But Ima will not be satisfied with that.
I expect that she will be very busy over the phone. ”
I continued, “The next
things that William Weaver did was handle the situation with Handel and
instructed us to get out our copies of the Messiah. For the next half hour he kept us busy
reviewing some the pieces we had sung for Easter. The next piece he presented us with was an
old classic by Stainer, ‘For God So Loved the World. ’ I could hear Ima
muttering about that being old and worn out.”
“But that’s a lovely
piece, Alfred,” said Mother, “I have always enjoyed it. Every time I hear it, it stirs something
within me.”
“Yes, I know, Mother,”
said I, “It was one of those wonderful pieces of music that nestled in my
subconscious and it wasn’t until last Easter that I finally understood what it
meant.”
With
that Mother looked away. “Alfred,” said
she, “I know it’s late, but would you like to watch a Dorothy Sayers mystery
with me?”
“Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time.
After that, have nothing to do with him.
You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is
self-condemned” (Titus 3:10-11).
