Te Deum
Yesterday was the day that we finally had our big choir performance. Remember, I sing in the Montclair Presbyterian Church Choir with Glenn and his mother Caroline? So for months we have been practicing Handel's "Te Deum in A" (1726) with 9 movements. It lasts about 15 minutes all in all and today we performed it for Palm Sunday- the church hall was lined with big palm leaves on each side to commemorate the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem when he was praised as King before his betrayal and crucifixion... We had a small orchestra to accompany us, and sang with our hearts and souls...it was nice to feel the energy and praise in the room. We practieced and worked hard on this piece, so it was nice when I actually felt the peace and joy we were singing about during the performance, rather than just blindly singing the prnted words. With the sun shining on our heads from the sky lights above I really felt like a holy angel singing from heaven..it was pretty neat.
I liked what the pastor Karen said before we sang, she gave us confidence and peace by reminding us that: singing in a church choir is singing in behalf of the whole congregation (the real choir), singing thier hopes and praises together with them and for them. It's also about singing together in unity, creating a unified sound that is about praising God and feeling the revelry and peace of creation. It's not about your ego trying to sing the loudest or best, but about humbly and proudly melting our voices together into a harmonious, joyful song that shows our gratitude to God for life, grace, and love and praises life of Christ for his inspiring example of compassion and love for all.
The Lady Washington
Saturday night I celebrated the full moon with Caroline and Glenn aboard the Lady Washington's Moonlight adventure sail from Jack London Square out on the Bay... It was with a non-profit called Gray's Harbor Historical SeaPort Authority, who does educational programs for youth to promote and preserve maritime history and teach kids about sailing, and also do recreational sails like adventure and battle sails with the public on the weekends!
My first time sailing, and it was in a historic tall sailing ship...in the full moon! Very cool experience...The adventure sail means that people aboard get to help the crew sail the ship- this is harder work than you think...the crew seemed to be running around the whole time from rope to rope "hauling your halyard" and "setting your gear" on the star bird side...basically pulling ropes to let down the sails, pulling other ropes to change the angle of the sail relative to how the wind was blowing and the direction we wanted to go...It is a lot of work to sail a ship like that, I can see why modern day ships have gotten a lot simpler- not so much work! But there's something really satisfying about knowing that it takes a crew of people working hard together, communicating clearly(repeating the orders of the captain and yelling when your ready), and singing songs together to make this big ship move...
Apparently you can volunteer for two weeks on the ship (for $500) and see what it's really like to live on the ship, learn the ropes, and become part of the crew. All the crew members started out this way. It's pretty tempting to want to escaoe to sea for a few weeks, or a few months...a simpler life with different worries and a lot of hard physical work, but a deeper connection with nature: being attuned to the direction of and power of the wind, and a deeper connection with yourself and those around you...It really is an escape from our reality of life living in a city- it's like having time hold still, stopping, listening, feeling...
That's what I envision anyways, I don't REALLY know since I only have the experience of 2 hours pulling some ropes a couple of times in the protected waters of the Bay...But I'm thinking that the sailing life must be similar to the backpacking life- majority of the time you are working, but your amongst the power and beauty of nature, you're with spirited companions, you live a simpler life by taking away so much of the technology and busy-ness that we get caught up in during our day to day existance in a modern day city...leaving time to think, and wonder, and sing, and dance, and fly with the wind:)
Yesterday was the day that we finally had our big choir performance. Remember, I sing in the Montclair Presbyterian Church Choir with Glenn and his mother Caroline? So for months we have been practicing Handel's "Te Deum in A" (1726) with 9 movements. It lasts about 15 minutes all in all and today we performed it for Palm Sunday- the church hall was lined with big palm leaves on each side to commemorate the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem when he was praised as King before his betrayal and crucifixion... We had a small orchestra to accompany us, and sang with our hearts and souls...it was nice to feel the energy and praise in the room. We practieced and worked hard on this piece, so it was nice when I actually felt the peace and joy we were singing about during the performance, rather than just blindly singing the prnted words. With the sun shining on our heads from the sky lights above I really felt like a holy angel singing from heaven..it was pretty neat.
I liked what the pastor Karen said before we sang, she gave us confidence and peace by reminding us that: singing in a church choir is singing in behalf of the whole congregation (the real choir), singing thier hopes and praises together with them and for them. It's also about singing together in unity, creating a unified sound that is about praising God and feeling the revelry and peace of creation. It's not about your ego trying to sing the loudest or best, but about humbly and proudly melting our voices together into a harmonious, joyful song that shows our gratitude to God for life, grace, and love and praises life of Christ for his inspiring example of compassion and love for all.
The Lady Washington
Saturday night I celebrated the full moon with Caroline and Glenn aboard the Lady Washington's Moonlight adventure sail from Jack London Square out on the Bay... It was with a non-profit called Gray's Harbor Historical SeaPort Authority, who does educational programs for youth to promote and preserve maritime history and teach kids about sailing, and also do recreational sails like adventure and battle sails with the public on the weekends!My first time sailing, and it was in a historic tall sailing ship...in the full moon! Very cool experience...The adventure sail means that people aboard get to help the crew sail the ship- this is harder work than you think...the crew seemed to be running around the whole time from rope to rope "hauling your halyard" and "setting your gear" on the star bird side...basically pulling ropes to let down the sails, pulling other ropes to change the angle of the sail relative to how the wind was blowing and the direction we wanted to go...It is a lot of work to sail a ship like that, I can see why modern day ships have gotten a lot simpler- not so much work! But there's something really satisfying about knowing that it takes a crew of people working hard together, communicating clearly(repeating the orders of the captain and yelling when your ready), and singing songs together to make this big ship move...
Apparently you can volunteer for two weeks on the ship (for $500) and see what it's really like to live on the ship, learn the ropes, and become part of the crew. All the crew members started out this way. It's pretty tempting to want to escaoe to sea for a few weeks, or a few months...a simpler life with different worries and a lot of hard physical work, but a deeper connection with nature: being attuned to the direction of and power of the wind, and a deeper connection with yourself and those around you...It really is an escape from our reality of life living in a city- it's like having time hold still, stopping, listening, feeling...
That's what I envision anyways, I don't REALLY know since I only have the experience of 2 hours pulling some ropes a couple of times in the protected waters of the Bay...But I'm thinking that the sailing life must be similar to the backpacking life- majority of the time you are working, but your amongst the power and beauty of nature, you're with spirited companions, you live a simpler life by taking away so much of the technology and busy-ness that we get caught up in during our day to day existance in a modern day city...leaving time to think, and wonder, and sing, and dance, and fly with the wind:)
"Unconditional"
I went to an amazing performance yesterady afternoon by the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company, called "Unconditional." They're a multi-cultural group of teens around ages 16-18 who combine different dance techniques from salsa to hip hop, with poetry, theatre, song, and spoken word to confront personal challenges, tell their personal stories, and make commentary on society to inspire social change. All this while empowering youth and creating community- all the performers are involved in the choreography, and the stories are all true, personal stories they have experienced in their lives. The show covered issues like racism, gender roles, family issues, media, immigration, violence, personal identity, accpetance, global warming, as well as love, peace, meditation, and hope. The stories (told in the form of cell phone conversations) were so moving and shocking: having close friends get shot right next to you, having a dad and family threatened to be deported after 20 years of living and working in America, having a cousin go to fight in Iraq with ignorance about oil interests or Shiite/Sunni conflicts, being a guy who has long hair, likes to wear pink and wants to be accepted for who he is, feeling fearful and hopeless in a world of climate change and conflict, being addicted to T.V. then realizing the it is fueled by the corporate media....
It was inspiring and refreshing to go to a performance that included such relevant and REAL issues prevelant in our society that are not featured, and most often intentionally dis-cluded from mainstream T.V. Then to see a group of youth who cared so much about REAL issues alive today in our world and to see them inspired, empowered, and hopeful for a better future despite really challenging experiences in their personal lives, made me feel there is some hope for the future. I wish you all could've seen it because it's so hard to explain the power, energy, and emotion in their performance- funny, sad, heart-breaking, hopeful, beautiful, real, dynamic...every second is different from dancers on ropes from the ceiling to highly energetic group dancing to gospel songs to satirical imitations of news broadcasts and corporate CEOs...they sell DVDs of their performances as well as a documentary about them online..it would be cool to get one so you know what I'm talking about. Or go to a performance if you live in the Bay area.
Destiny Arts is by far the most succcessful youth organization I have witnessed so far in empowering youth, and providing creative outlets for youth to learn about themselves and the world, and teach others how to keep hope alive. They have a program called Project Destiny, which goes to 21 different schools in the Bay to do afterschool programs in martial arts, dance, and theatre from elementary to high school. They also have afterschool programs at their main site for youth to take classes, with all of their classes incorporating the "five fingers of non-violence." It's really amazing to me how they bring a diverse group of people together, empower youth to hold keep hope alive even in the most heartbreaking circumstances, and empower them to be positive, resist violence, be educated and thoughtful citizens, learn about team work and have lots of fun with youth of different ethnicities and backgrounds! I am inspired:) ...One last thought to contemplate: "What would a world without racism look like?" Without discrimination based on race, gender, class, age, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, OR education ( I though that was an interesting one to think about)...Really think about it.
What would it look like?
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