Those Latin words mean “O Great Mystery,”  and the text with which they are associated is an ancient hymn of praise expressing wonder that God would chose simple animals to be the first witnesses to the birth of the Messiah.  It’s a text that has inspired a whole host of sublime musical settings over the generations.

But tonight,  I’m thinking about other Great Mysteries that I was privileged to experience this past weekend….   nothing involving barnyard animals in Bethlehem – but just moments when life transcends the ordinary and offers up the most delicious and inspiring sort of surprises, such as. . .

Singing in a foreign language as though it were your own . . .  My voice student David Duncan delivered his senior recital Saturday night and what was truly thrilling was how David turned a corner artistically and sang with more sophisticated and convincing expressivity than I had ever heard from him before.  And interestingly enough,  it happened most dramatically not in any of the things he sang in English but rather in the German songs of Hugo Wolf!  As David and I talked today at his first lesson since the recital, he related how there were many times in those songs when he had the odd sensation that he was singing in his own language,  even though the words were German!  But he knew these texts so well that for the first time in his life as a singer he could inhabit the texts from the inside out.  Until now,  most of his singing in other languages (and this is true of most young singers)  was with a much more generalized sense of what the words were about:    these words are happy so I’ll smile –  these words are sad so I’ll frown – etc.   But at one of his last lessons,  David asked for help with how to make more of the song Verborgenheit, and as we talked through this incredibly rich text you could just see the twinkle in David’s eyes,  and when he began to sing that song,  it was as though a door had opened that had never been opened before.   What a great mystery revealed. . .

GIving a quiet caregiver a standing ovation. . .   Yesterday was an extraordinary day at Holy Communion. It was Pastor Bill Grimbol’s last Sunday before going on a two month leave of absence,  so there it was already a rather emotionally charged day.   But on top of that was the news that a member of our congregation had died the day before after a long and courageous battle with brain cancer.  Pastor Bill acknowledged her death and her husband’s tender care for her in his sermon, which was touching enough.  It  was only as people came forward to receive communion that most of us first realized that this woman’s husband – as well as their daughter – were in church that day, even after all that they had just been through.   And Pastor Bill, obviously touched by their presence,  took a moment at the end of the service, right before the benediction, to say that too often we give standing ovations to people who don’t deserve them and fail to give them to the people who do.  He then asked that we take a moment to acknowledge two heroes- Dawn for her courage in the face of cancer,  and Steve for being such a tireless, patient, and compassionate caregiver.  And the applause nearly blew the roof off of the place.  Obviously it was not a gesture that was going to take away their pain, but it had to be a transformative moment for anyone there who was or had been a caregiver,  if for know other reason than to feel not quite so alone.

Making Music with a Master . . .   Sunday afternoon was the Carthage choral concert for which the esteemed Weston Noble served as guest conductor.    Had I known what a magnificent concert it was going to turn out to be,  I would have exhorted everyone I knew to come.  All three groups- the Carthage Choir, Chapel Choir, and Women’s Ensemble- sang beautifully,  both under their respective conductors and of course at those special moments when they found themselves under the baton of our famous guest.   As I said in a previous blog,  I was mostly a spectator Sunday,  which was great.  I could just sit there and drink in the wonderful music and smile – or at least smile when I wasn’t crying.   The final piece of the concert was a setting of “O Magnum Mysterium” by  Kevin Memley which features the most amazingly rich harmonies that carry such a feeling of awe and wonder-  almost to the point of pain in trying to take it all in.   It was extraordinarily beautiful-  and beyond that, it was also so meaningful to have these young adults singing under the assured and sensitive direction of this 89-year-old legend.   Earlier in the concert,  our department chairman, Dr. Peter Dennee had asked for a show of hands from the audience – who had sung under Mr. Noble in the 2000’s, 90’s, 80’s, 70’s, 60’s, 50’s?  (There were a couple of people who had sung under him that long ago.)  In posing the question as he did,  Dr. Dennee was reminding all of us of the extraordinary and likely unprecedented scope of Mr. Noble’s influence and legacy.  Think of all who have been touched by him and changed forever.   And now names of young singers like Liz Tindall and Fletcher Paulsen and our other freshmen can be added to that list of singers through the generations who have been so incredibly blessed to sing for and with Weston Noble.

And after all of that,  Sunday night, when by rights I should have been pulling up the covers around me and crashing to sleep,   instead I was in Siebert Chapel….. rehearsing The Marriage of Figaro.  And I can honestly say that I did not feel even a tiny bit sorry for myself . . . nor the tiniest bit weary. . . because just being around those energetic cast members, raising their wonderful voices so enthusiastically in this glorious music,  was like the most miraculous blood transfusion.  The energy just surged through me like a mighty force of nature.  But it wasn’t just so much the wonderful music or the lovely voices that was the most invigorating- – although what could be better than that?!?  But it was much more the sense of camaraderie amongst those students,  and their heartfelt willingness to engage this amazing score with all they had to give,  that enlivened me the most.  How great it felt to have those students gathered around me, tired themselves I am sure, but ready and willing to work hard and work together.   To be there with them did my soul a world of good, which has helped to sustain me through the subsequent days.

I am so thankful for these Great Mysteries…. when life exceeds our expectations in such exciting and inspiring ways.

*** Begun last Monday….. but only finished Friday.  It’s been one of those weeks!

P.S. – “Marriage of Figaro” performances are Saturday night at 7:30 and Sunday afternoon at 3:00 at Siebert Chapel at Carthage.  Admission is free.