Wish I Could Sing

-
I wish I could sing. When I was growing up I wanted to sing like Dionne Warwick or Barbara Streisand or Joan Baez. Oh! I would just sing and sing and sing along with their records and pretend I was onstage and belting out this great song, full of emotion and daring.

My sister and I would often sit at the piano and sing from all this huge collection of sheet music we had. Such FUN! Great memories.

Tonight was Evening Prayer, just like every Wednesday night at my church. I do a little Taize service -- beautiful really with lots of candles. And I use a CD of instrumental music for the songs. People kind of wait for me to begin the singing/chanting. Ugh, it's ugly. I'm OK on the lower notes, but I can barely make the C above middle C anymore. My voice just creaks and screaks and breaks. Pitiful.

I wish I could sing.

Comments

Terri said…
Voice lessons will help...singing is like exercising, we need coaches to learn how to do it to the best of our ability...
February 11, 2009 at 11:07 PM
Anonymous said…
Katherine, you have great timing. Just last night, my spiritual director told me that in many other cultures, there's no such thing as "not being able to sing." They think it's a completely ridiculous concept.

Joy and reverence are way more important than sound.
February 12, 2009 at 9:38 AM
Diane M. Roth said…
I was going to say, but Mrs. M beat me to it.

I think recordings have ruined us for realizing that singing can be for everyone. REcordings create the illusion of perfrection.
February 12, 2009 at 9:19 PM
Sylphstorm said…
Embrace your inner contralto. I can barely hit the C above middle C, and that don't bug me a mite. Revel in the alto-ness; it's underappreciated.
February 12, 2009 at 9:45 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"The Bible does not close discussions; it seeks to open them"

-
From William Sloan Coffin in The Courage to Love: The opposite of love is not hate but fear. If we are to broaden our vision and enlarge our hearts, we must allow risk to enter our lives, permit doubt to walk hand in hand with belief. It is a mistake to sharpen our minds by narrowing them. It is a mistake to look at the Bible to close a discussion--the Bible seeks to open one.... The Bible is no oracle to be consulted for specific advice on specific problems; rather, it is a wellspring of wisdom about the ambiguity, inevitability, and the insolubility of the human situation. It sings praises to God who...provides minimum protection but maximum support.... Finally, the Bible is a signpost, not a hitching post. It points beyond itself, saying "Pay attention to God, not me." And if, as the Bible claims, "God is love, and she who abides in loves abides in God, and God abides in her," then revelation is in the relationship. In all Scripture there is no injunction more fu...
Read more

Mother's Day...and Children Everywhere, It Seems!

-
Image
Diane has such a beautiful post, " Mother's Day Reflections from a Non-Mother. " She expresses so eloquently much of my own feelings. Thank you, Diane. I blogged last year about the grief I finally was able to experience at not being a mother. (See: Two Souls ) And I was so blessed to receive comments from dear Lovely Passionate Feminist and from blogging friends that, to this day, have stayed with me and given me such solace. LPF, GannetGirl, Linda, Jan, thank you. (GG, I am holding you in prayer, holding you in prayer, holding you in prayer...) This past year I have seen mothering in new ways. Although I am childless, children are playing an increasing role in my life. The children at my church, to whom I am "Pastor Katherine," are amazing. I'm with them for a couple of hours once a week, but many have revealed their hearts to me. It's probably the best thing about my "job," relating to these children, loving them. This picture shows some of ...
Read more

Returning?

-
Giving birth has always been a powerful metaphor for me. Not that I relate it to physical pregnancy, but since I started awakening, 20 years ago now, in my early thirties, I could feel the creative element in life moving within me, making me something new. I'm listening to Jennifer Berezan's CD, "Returning." She chants throughout: returning, returning, returning to the Mother of us all... This music is haunting, smoky, with rhythms that sink to the beginning of time itself. She recorded the music is a subterranean temple/tomb used by the Neolithic people of Malta. The 3-level labyrinth has 33 chambers, stairs, passageways, all carved out of the limestone with flint and antler tools. Some of the chambers, 5.25 meters beneath the surface, are egg shaped. Maybe now you can begin to imagine the haunting quality of this elegant sound. Our local public radio station aired an interview yesterday with a scientist who is using DNA markers to track human populations movements ...
Read more